Dislike for people is called. Misanthropy - the new normal? I hate people. What to do

Recently, the word "misanthrope" has been appearing more and more often in films and publics. Despite the popularization of this concept, not everyone knows what it means. Let's try to understand the meaning of this word.

Misanthrope. Meaning

In general, this word consists of two Greek words meaning "hatred" and "man". That is, misanthropy is, practically, "misanthropy". Such people cannot stand humanity as a whole, opposing themselves to society.

Flexion and extension of the arm have differential implications for relationships.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology65, no. fifteen-.

Misanthrope would be the most appropriate term, but with a large shadow of philosophy hanging over it, a deeper understanding may be needed, although in general usage and less demanding contexts, some pedantic details may be left out.

But the etymology is clear. With that taken care of, the next step is to exclude yourself from everyone's disgust. This is where things get tricky, as misanthropy can come in many flavors, and on the other hand, some ideas that may look like misanthropy are not.

At a superficial glance, it may seem that a misanthrope is the same as a sociopath, but this is not at all the case.

Misanthropes do not love all of humanity as a whole, all this incredible mass, especially the rules established by it, social norms, and so on.

They hate people for weaknesses, for unfortunate blunders and mistakes.

At the same time, they are able to love, to experience good feelings in relation to specific individuals. Most often, this type of people prefers to communicate with several trusted friends all their lives and is not looking for new acquaintances.

One early definition of misanthropy can be found in Plato's dialogue Faedo. For misanthropy is clothed in an excessive trust in anyone, regardless of skill, and believing that a person will be completely truthful, sound and trustworthy, then found a little later that he is bad and unreliable and again with another; and when someone experiences this many times, and especially those who consider themselves closest and dearest, so often offended, he ends up hating everyone and finds that absolutely no one sounds at all.

Basically, it's about someone setting unrealistic expectations for others and then crushing disappointment when they fail. This does not mean that doubts about the value of humanity extend to this topic, but it can make a person separate from society.

Today, misanthropes in their pure form are, however, rare. Rather, it is a kind of book image. Many consider themselves misanthropes, but they are more likely to be introverts - self-absorbed, focused on knowing their "I", people.

What are the signs of a misanthrope and its differences from an introvert

How to understand yourself, to understand that you are not just an introvert, but you experience much deeper negative feelings to humanity?

Thus, the Aristotelian qualification would allow the misanthrope to become reclusive in order to avoid the trap of intellectual dishonesty or become pitifully tough as Alcester, a character from Molière's satire Le Misanthrope. And, on the subject of gods, one can be an autoistic misanthrope. The Nietzschean idea of Hubermensch and other forms of radical individualism has also been criticized for such neglect of humanity.

On the other hand, although Schopenhauer proclaimed that "human existence must be a kind of error", misanthropy does not necessarily mean malicious hatred of others. We could all be cursed creatures doomed to suffer together.

There are signs that indicate this state of mind:

Discomfort when in an elevator with strangers. It seems that they are only looking at you, standing extremely close, talking unbearably. Time in the elevator stretches endlessly, everyone is hated because of whom it is necessary to stay in this company even for a second longer. An introvert in such situations simply plunges into himself, not paying attention to others.
Annoying if they sit next to each other in transport. An introvert is able to simply ignore this fact, not even notice the presence of outsiders, while a misanthrope literally hates anyone who violates his personal space. The only thing worse than that is sitting between people.
Joy, if joint plans with someone are cancelled. Even if it concerns loved ones. In this case, it becomes possible to be with the best person in the world with yourself. There is no need to interact with others, to tolerate the possible presence of strangers. However, this item also applies to introverts, who will also be happy about the cancellation of plans.
"There is no bad weather for a misanthrope". More precisely, there is, but they love it. But not because they like to watch a thunderstorm through the window, but simply as another reason not to go out to meet someone.
Preference for SMS calls. Communication is already a necessary measure, so it is better to replace verbal messages with written ones.
When meeting with a stranger, first of all, attention is drawn to his minuses. Initially, misanthropes see only negative traits in any person; they already hate outsiders when they meet. They are all badly dressed, they are untidy, they have a strange speech impediment, they do not know how to joke and in general ... are not good.
Unacceptable group communication. It's unbearable - so many outsiders with their stupid opinions. Even chatting on Skype with a group of friends quickly tires.
Hatred of sneezes. Again, if you take an introvert, he simply will not notice this fact. Whereas the misanthrope will hate the sneezer even more than before.

You are an introvert or a misanthrope, you are simply indifferent to people or you hate them unbearably - you should not demonstrate this.

The misanthrope despises humanity and does not like the idea of society, but narcissists, "unethical" egoists, megalomaniacs and other radical egoistic types either seek validation from society, or its subjugation or exploitation. Rejection, as you show in this question, is another self-defense mechanism.

Along with music, religion, irony, and a host of other complex concepts, researchers are on the hunt for the neurological underpinnings of hate. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has begun to reveal how intense emotion begins to emerge in the brain. Neuroscientist Semir Zeki of the University College London Laboratory of Neuroscience conducted a study last year that examined the brains of 17 adults as they looked at images of a person they professed to hate. Parts of this so-called "hate circuitry," the researchers noted, are also involved in initiating aggressive behavior, but the feeling of aggression itself, as well as anger, danger, and fear, show up differently in the brain than hatred.

Any person, including such an outstanding one as a misanthrope, must hide his attitude towards humanity, then it will be much easier to live.

Sometimes it happens that over time, global hatred is reduced to the size of a negative towards certain groups of people.

How to live a misanthrope?

In fact, it is not so difficult for him to live, because this is not a problem, but a state of mind. However, it may happen that the hatred just overwhelms, or it interferes with the progress at work, or there are other reasons to think about how to reduce this all-consuming hatred?

Of course, disgust can come from positive feelings, such as romantic love. But love seems to deactivate areas traditionally associated with judgment, while hate activates areas in the frontal cortex that may be involved in judging another person and predicting their behavior.

Some similarities with love, however, are striking, the study authors note. However, in this initial study, not everyone is convinced that researchers have found the neurological root of hate. It's very early in the game, says Scott Hettel, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University who was not involved in the study. Other emotions like happiness and sadness are much better understood, he says, "Even things like regret have pretty clear nerve coordinates."

You can try several ways:

"fall into childhood". Recall those sensations that are available to children: curiosity, delight, joy, universal love and the ability to love everyone in return.
Communicate with animals. These are not people, so life with them does not tire, but can teach love. Animals do not think about why they love, they just give their affection and sincerity.
Loneliness. Like an introvert, it is very important for a misanthrope to be able to be alone. Maybe even live alone. Many draw strength for further communication and the ability to live in human society in some little things done for the beloved themselves: a foamy bath, reading books alone, walking in remote corners of the park where you don’t meet a person.
Humor and empathy. Yes, a misanthrope, like an introvert, is able to sympathize with others, he is not a psycho. Using this feeling, you can deal with irritation. Rather than be angry with a person for his incredible stupidity, for his vile appearance and disgusting voice, it is better to feel sorry for him for this.
Understanding what everyone likes is not necessary. It is enough to maintain equal relations with colleagues, neighbors, acquaintances. It already takes a lot of energy. Therefore, there is no need to welcome strangers. There is no desire to communicate - it is better to say this right away.

It is important to understand that an introvert, misanthrope and philanthropist is not a mental illness or deviation, it does not need to be treated, you just need to control it so as not to harm yourself and not to annoy others too much.

The next step, Wetel points out, is to do more research into well-defined aspects and types of hate, including group hatred, rather than for people, and then test them in several different situations. It's also important, he notes, to look for cases in which parts of the brain have been damaged and emotional tendencies have changed. “Once you show positive activation and disruption when an area of the brain is damaged, you have good evidence that you have at least part of the circuitry,” he says.

What is the goal - the emotion of hatred, also still guesses. While some argue that this feeling has an evolutionary advantage - it can help a person decide who to confront or despise - Wetel notes that, as an indication of a highlighted neural circuit, it's all just "educated guesswork."

How to become a misanthrope

Of course, you can become a misanthrope, but why? Most often, such a life position is typical for people who have experienced tragedy, betrayal, serious illness, accidents of varying severity. Misanthropy is often the product of a wrong upbringing. But hardly anyone is able to want to consciously hate all of humanity, to live in constant irritation. In this case, we can already talk about a mental illness that requires medical intervention.

In terms of etymology, many of them were reduced to similar words that had already been taken or were too rewarding to adapt. So, for example, we already have sexism, and sexuality is wild and doesn't sound right. Homoism sounds too close to medical and anthropological terms.

A similar example is pedophilia, which literally means someone who loves children. Technically speaking, a parent is a pedophile, where when someone is attracted to children, it is more properly called a pederast. But all this language developed in ancient Greece, where it was about love, not about sex, and these terms did not change over time.

The opposite of a misanthrope - who is it?

Misanthropes have the opposite - this is a philanthropist. It is easy to guess that these are people who have, if not love, then very good feelings for everyone around them, they are constantly trying to help everyone and everyone, to make life easier.

A philanthropist always does charity work, often even to his own detriment. The philanthropist and the misanthrope are at opposite ends of the worldview and will never be able to understand each other.

Most prejudice comes from the perplexity of fear. A racist doesn't arbitrarily hate migrants, they usually hate them because they're afraid they'll take their jobs or rape their women or make them feel socially excluded by speaking a foreign language in front of them or starting an invasion, etc. The cultist may not be afraid of women, but if they weren't, they would have nothing to lose by giving women full equality - they are afraid of what they might lose by doing so.

Homophobia is usually the fear of others. The idea of "disagreeing" with someone's "way" is a fairly common argument against supporting gay rights. But realistically it shouldn't affect you. You may not be gay yourself, and you may find the idea of being attracted to other people of the same sex strange, but that shouldn't actually stop you from fighting for a gay marriage because no one is asking you to be gay. Usually you are afraid of something. For most homophobic men, this is rape.

Notable misanthropes

History has heard of misanthropes who became famous despite their reluctance to contact people.

It is worth mentioning some of these, popular at different times, introverts:

Jean Jacques Rousseau - composer, thinker, writer. It is known that he had a very complex character;
Schopenhauer is a philosopher. He believed that he was born in the most disgusting world, had no family, avoided benefits, took care of his own health. He became famous for his ambition and extreme suspiciousness;
Nietzsche. Thinker. Introvert. Refuted the basic concepts of morality, culture and religion;
Chaikovsky. Conductor, composer, teacher. I tried to live without communicating with people.
Przhevalsky. Actually, dislike for people, the desire to avoid communication and made me study animals and travel.
Bill Murray is a film actor. Despite his public profession, he remained a misanthrope and an introvert.

Whoever a person is, an introvert, a lover or a hater of people, it is important that he learns to live in harmony with himself and the world around him. It is necessary to build your own life in such a way that you have to be stressed as little as possible.

So homophobia may not make sense in the context of racism or sexism, but pretty much every prejudice comes from a place of fear, we just don't always call it that. Homophobia, as it is currently used, is not a true phobia. Phobias in the medical sense refer to an anxiety disorder, an irrational fear of something.

He used it like medical term and described it as such. The term has been defended by the media and gays and lesbians, and its use has since shifted not to a medical condition but to sexual prejudice.

At the same time, hurting other people is unacceptable - you need to learn how to maintain a neutral relationship.

Among the most famous misanthropes are Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jonathan Swift, Franz Kafka, as well as favorites of millions of TV viewers - (House Md) and (The Вig Bang Theory). Do all these so different people and characters have a common feature? Or does each of them have their own dislike for people, special? We decided to look into this issue, and here's what happens ...

Who is a misanthrope?

Misanthropy (from the Greek words "hatred" and "man") - lack of interest in people, either contempt or hatred for humanity, its weaknesses, moral values or their absence. At the same time, all these components cannot be mixed, since they mutually exclude each other: the indifferent does not pay attention to others and enjoys loneliness, the despising one admires himself against the backdrop of a mass of mediocrity, the hater is actually afraid and suffers from his unsociableness himself.

Regardless of the above, misanthropes can be divided into two categories. The former show a general dislike for humanity as a whole - that is, homo sapiens as an imperfect species full of contradictions and vices - and, in principle, notice many typical shortcomings in themselves. The latter, on the contrary, love humanity as a whole and themselves as part of it - they are not indifferent to the future, they can fight for the conservation of nature, educational reforms, etc. At the same time, they experience restrained hostility and distrust of individual people - they demand nothing from others but do not expect from them. Such people could not go to a desert island and live like in paradise - they need to at least feel the presence of their own kind.

In any case, it is wrong to interpret misanthropy as complete isolation from people. As a rule, misanthropes maintain normal, warm relations with a small circle of select people who have shown themselves worthy of respect, are honest with themselves and others, know how to control their ego and, as a result, are capable of true friendship, affection, devotion and love.

Determining the misanthropic disposition of a personality in practice can be difficult: firstly, it can be corrected, including due to the awareness of social prestige. Similarly, the mask of a misanthrope can be a method of defensive behavior, social mimicry, the purpose of which is the maximum blockade of social and communicative ties.

Causes of misanthropy

Misanthropes often become people with above average intelligence, who, due to their genetic predisposition, education (and maybe the number of lives lived), rise above the "average" people. The misanthrope does not necessarily treat the rest with arrogance and considers them "cattle" - he may realize that everyone is reasonable because of their capabilities (after all, no one despises primates because they are not as smart as people). However, an intellectual does not want to spend time in such a society and cannot even - it is unbearably boring for them to listen to "communication" ordinary people, immersed in petty, meaningless fuss, gossip, squabbles, the desire to impress someone ...

A separate case of forced misanthropy in gifted people is a response to the attitude of others around them. Outstanding personalities are often misunderstood, not accepted, hated and often subjected to bullying, ridicule and persecution. No wonder that a gifted person reciprocates a crowd of wounded mediocrities.

Another one possible reason misanthropy is idealism. Some people, faced with imperfection real world and its inconsistency with utopian order and harmony, do not withstand this contradiction. Intolerance to the shortcomings that you meet at every step, pour into hatred. The difficulty is that this kind of misanthrope often becomes people with a fine mental organization, who very keenly feel everything that is nasty that is in people, and sincerely worry about it. Trying to fix, "cure" humanity, they face the futility of their efforts, and begin to hate people even more.

Misanthropy as a philosophy of existence and a model of (anti) development of society is a disease of our age in principle. Many people were brought up in the spirit of “survival of the fittest” and “after me, even a flood”, and to this day they are guided by these principles. They do not ask themselves where these slogans lead, they do not think about who created them and for what purpose they propagate them. They are misanthropes from a lack of intelligence, and not from its excess.

There are also such misanthropes for whom hating everyone and everything is just a way to feel unique, without having any real reasons for it. These people (most often teenagers) are psychologically immature, do not truly love themselves and project this dislike on everyone around them. At the same time, he, of course, does not understand the true reason for his “outstanding non-standard”, which lies in the absence of close and trusting relationships in the “parental nest”.

Not to be confused with sociopath

Sociopathy is a fashionable diagnosis today, which is thrown at misanthropes, simple introverts and people who are in protracted depression. However, antisocial personality disorder manifests very differently: it is characterized by a disregard for social norms, impulsiveness, a tendency to aggressive behavior and violence, irresponsibility and lack of guilt, an inability to benefit from life experience and punishment, an extremely limited ability to form attachments, callousness and indifference to the feelings of others. of people. As an additional symptom, constant irritability may occur. True sociopaths also have a pronounced tendency to blame others or put forward plausible explanations for their behavior, which grossly does not correspond to prevailing social norms and brings it into conflict with the environment.