Is it in our nature to pick on others because of weaknesses beyond their control?

Haven't you observed all of us do it all the time -very few of us are sensitive enough not to take advantage of any power differences that may allow us to strike at their Achilles heels. For example:





Someone is poor -


Not looking like he would fight back if attacked-


Not belonging in the ';right'; social circle








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Only if we learn to STOP any urge to pull this power difference everytime, fewer conflicts in the world.





Opinions?Is it in our nature to pick on others because of weaknesses beyond their control?
yea! I vitnessed it so many times and I used to be like that and but I changed dramatically. I stand up for myself now and I defend my friends if someone's picking on them.


The weak can only save themselves!! People WON'T stop discriminating unless people take a stand. Sometimes, it's the weak people's fault because they need to learn from experience and be strong for themselves.








Anyway, sometimes people attack to feel greater and sometimes, they might do it naturally, not knowing- which is still wrong of course. This is like bullying.Is it in our nature to pick on others because of weaknesses beyond their control?
Au contrare, mon ami! I find it's the disadvantaged, uneducated, unlucky people who constantly begin such conflicts.They don't know or understand how to cope with adversity.
Yes it's innate to humans' selfish and insecure nature and we put others down in order to lift ourselves up (standing on someone to be taller).
Only losers do that.
Surely not natural. It's picked up on the way due to parental influence or bad friendships/company.





It is irrational to think that you can 'step on someone to become taller' or 'push others down to come up'.
I'm not sure about that. I know even thinking back to my own childhood, I never picked on the 'weak' ones. I saw lots of others do it, but I'd tend to befriend the person in question or just be especially nice to them.





Personally, I think it's more of something that people are somehow taught or conditioned to do. If kids see their parents laughing at people and making fun of them, they might tend to do it too, for example. I think it comes from an attitude of being somehow better than that other person, which is false.





I'm not sure what the exact answer is, but I definitely don't believe it's something inborn in people. I think they pick it up along the way by getting an attitude of their own superiority. I also think other things can play into it. For example, I talked about when I was a child never being mean to other kids. None of my older brothers ever were either. We were all pretty compassionate, even as kids. But we were raised to be that way. And even further, our father was an abusive alcoholic, which I think made us more compassionate to others who were suffering I guess.





Interesting question.