>>10890310>So basically it's bad because people think it's bad, not because it's actually bad?Reducing human behaviour to 'people think its bad' is dangerous. This is something that has happened with every culture in every time period. Its simply part of human nature, no different from the feeling of acceptance or shame. It has popped up more than enough times for it to be more of a statistical fact about life on Earth. Every being has a tendency to empathise more with beings who are closer than those that are distant in every way (phenotypically, behaviourally, culturally, etc.). Its easier for you to relate to and empathise with a family member or friend than with a stranger, then a domesticated animal, then a wild mammal, then birds, then fish and reptiles, then plants and then microorganisms. If you run over a dog with your car, you'll react differently than with a pidgeon, a grasshopper or a patch of grass.
Every living being has a kind of 'kin preference' if they are complex enough to exhibit this behaviour. Apparently, being wary around non-kin increases your chances of survival. Based on what usually happens when humans are under racial tension or cultural clash, can we really say we're different from every other life form and handle it in a perfectly rational way? Having kin preference is perfectly natural and even healthy. Being irrationally hostile to a seemingly civilised person based on it alone is stupid.
