Political leaders stoking fear

On this, our 311th Evolutionary Lens livestream, we discuss what is happening in Minneapolis. First: research finds that on average, men and women experience empathy differently: men do not have empathy for people who have done wrong; women have empathy for people regardless of context. Then: Was the Alex Pretti shooting by ICE officers in Minneapolis a cold-blooded murder, or a justified homicide? How would we know? Few of us were actual eye-witnesses to the scene, but our modern media environment tricks us into believing, unconsciously, that we know more than we do. This feels like Portland in 2020. We are being manipulated into disjunct narratives, taught to distrust and fear one another, at ever greater distance from simply being good neighbors and fellow citizens. Finally: an invitation to submit Covid Era Stories.

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Mentioned in this episode:

Singer et al 2006. Empathic neural responses are modulated by the perceived fairness of others. Nature, 439(7075): 466-469. Draft pdf: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2636868/pdf/ukmss-3669.pdf

Tucker Carlson and Tim Walz: https://x.com/tcnetwork/status/2016539262230184357

Fox on Pretti: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX9y3612Rlo

CNN on Pretti: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FR-fz57PEU

Covid Era Stories: https://naturalselections.substack.com/p/covid-era-stories

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