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Comment by staunton | Hacker News Reader

You misunderstood my comment.

I'm not saying anything about what behavior is "acceptable" or endorsing anything. I'm saying that people and animals have been acting that way for a very long time. Tolerance for strangers is more in need of sociological explanation than the opposite. Certainly, the trend towards tolerance exists and is rising over the course of history, which I very much like. It's about asking what the default state is from which society makes "progress".

Or are you disputing the historical claim that humans on average have never been more tolerant towards strangers than today?

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I'm saying that people and animals have been acting that way for a very long time

So? Just because people have done something for a long time doesn't mean it's right.

Or are you disputing the historical claim that humans on average have never been more tolerant towards strangers than today?

This seems like it is true but what's the evidence for this claim and why are you asking if I dispute it? Where did I say anything about changes in tolerance over time?

Tolerance for strangers is more in need of sociological explanation than the opposite

Why? What if humanity over time grows and learns thanks to our ability to store information, like in books.

More importantly why do we need an explanation and why does it matter?

If you are trying to use the fact that something happened for most of human history then changed recently and that makes it abnormal. Think slavery, rape, woman's right, etc

> So? Just because people have done something for a long time doesn't mean it's right.

Like I very explicitly said, I do not think it's right. That's not what I'm talking about.

> What if humanity over time grows and learns thanks to our ability to store information, like in books.

That's going for an explanation.

> why do we need an explanation and why does it matter?

The original post I responded to asked for an explanation.

I'm saying that people and animals have been acting that way for a very long time. Tolerance for strangers is more in need of sociological explanation than the opposite. Certainly, the trend towards tolerance exists and is rising over the course of history, which I very much like. It's about asking what the default state is from which society makes "progress".

You're asking what the default state is? I assume you mean instincts right?

Why does it matter, what's the relevance?

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