What are the most disturbing/frightening aspects of humanity?

Hmm… maybe the most frightening aspect is that no one will be able to give a “final response” to this question. There is always a new level of depravity that we can sink to.

Selfishness/greed. How selfish people can be I find disturbing and how greed can rule people’s motivations is truly frightening.

The ability of some to inflict pain, in whatever form, on others. Rapist, child molestors, or even those couples involved in bitter breakups that hurt the kids to get back at the other partner. There’s a lot of other examples, but that always bummed me out.

I don’t even know where to start…...

I would say our tribal mentality that allows us to hate others for illogical reasons, especially when that blind faith makes people violent or so intolerant, they try to influence their enemies’ lives through authority or legislation.

Many people take decisions in critical situations depending on what would benefit them, not caring about how they might affect other people around them like family or friends. This could be selfishness, this could be ability to inflect pain. It’s even painful just to think of it…
It also can be presented on a wider scale as @Adiron described..

The tendency to blindly obey “authority” even when they should know that to do so is wrong

@CaptainHarley I think they do that to protect themselves as they believe that disobeing authority will get them to being questioned, for example, or being punished in whatever form.

The depths of depravity are too much for my pea-brain to contemplate. For all our intelligence, for all our talents, for all our superiority over lesser “animals,” we are, in my opinion, victims of our own innate frailties.

I liked Blackberry’s reference to our tribal mentality—yup, we love to huddle in our flocks and jump with the other sheep, and I mean no disrespect to the sheep.

@jessyamr

Experiments suggest otherwise.

The ability to dehumanize other people, especially infants and children and women.

@CaptainHarley shouldn’t there be a reason for that behavior?

@jessyamr

There is: pack mentality.

And it’s so obvious to bring it up, but I’m still confounded at regiments like the Nazis. I just can’t believe Hitler got so many followers to do so many horrible things. Adults were taking orders to straight up kill families like it was another day at the office. I don’t believe that’s even close to normal human behavior and it shows the power of proselytization in the face of desperation.

@Blackberry

Exactly. And those who think it can’t happen here in America are living in a fool’s paradise.

How easily people dehumanize others, how easily they kill, how easily they rape.

I’d say that the most frightening aspect is also one of our most wonderful aspects: our technical prowess.

We’re not much worse than many other animals in our predilection for tribalism or our capacity for aggression. We have other traits, too, that can act as potent counterbalances to these negative forces. But when you add our extraordinary ability to manipulate our environment and to create implements that magnify our power tremendously, then our potential for harm can grow out of proportion to our wisdom and foresight. That’s truly frightening.

Ginger pubes?

Lool!

And the fact that such smooth humans can still grow a massive, disgusting bush.

Yeah, it’s like having the Jackson five in ya underpants!!

@ucme that was an unneeded mental image… Lol

I bet they’d sing their classic hit I shave your crack while they’re down there….....“A buh buh buh buh.”

@ucme

Dude! You ain’t quite right, ya know? LOL!

I’ll take that as a compliment Capn Ahab!! :¬)

@ucme I’m teaching a course on abnormal pych this semester. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind dropping by so the kids could get an idea of what kind of nut character they might meet in this line of business. I’ll buy you a cup of coffee for your trouble. Never let it be said that I’m cheap.

Are you hitting on me old fella? Coz if you are, it’s not working. Come on, you gotta do better than that.

we’ll make a cup of coffee together ;-)

ROFLMFAO! @ucme !!!

Guys who just want to own women as slaves to use them as sex objects without any love or romance :-p

The need for external validation, the mob mentality, as some of the others have talked about above.

I believe it feels the same, in the moment, to get cheers from doing something kind or brave in public as it does to lead or be in a mob. It looks like a drug high when I observe it happening.

pretty much . everything….

also ignorance, and the fact that people can be pecieved however they say choose….(Lie)

Man’s apathy for his fellow man. It’s really scary and depressing how much one will fuck up another or several people due to gain, fear, cultural interest and what have you.

But because I’ve never skull stomped someone or killed a buncha kids, I can’t say I’m exempt from that trait. I just hope my environment doesn’t ever bring me up to something that severe. :( As if environment is the sole factor though. This world sucks.

Pride. You can never figure it out for sure because it can be masked and you don’t know when one can retaliate.

@Symbeline you should try skull stomping, great stress reliever. :)

@ucme I don’t know if I’m hitting on you or not. How big are you?

@wundayatta Now look, as I told you in PM’s, this is bordering on sexual harassment.
You are very definitely not my type!! Besides, I don’t know anything about you. Better luck next time…..player!

@ucme Bordering on sexual harassment? I must be losing my touch.

And what does type have to do with it? Surely you must know my type? In fact, that’s all you know about me… what I type!

[Which, unlike what you have to say, can never be taken seriously]

Kline bottle logic, for anyone who is keeping score.

You feel better for that? Good, you go & lie down now, you must be exhausted…..poor thing.