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On the origins of empathy for other species - Works in Progress

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‘Can’t you feel it?’ ‘Feel what?’ I asked ‘How we are turning into greedy predators, just like wolves. We have this need to kill more and more. Even if we had two hundred sables we wouldn’t feel satisfied, would we? Just like the devil, you see.’ He paused for a while. Then he added, ‘I suggest we calm down and stop hunting for a week or so.’ – Rane Willerslev, Soul Hunters If you ran out of food, would you hesitate to eat your dog? If stranded on an island, have you put any thought into how you would carve up the family cat? What is it that separates these animals from the ones you can encounter on a farm? If this question is difficult to answer, then you have a certain general unease about killing and eating animals. Why, then, would you choose to eat meat? An ongoing question in the psychology of empathy is why, if people love animals, we nevertheless choose to kill and eat them. This question, known as the Meat Paradox, is one whose answer could help to resolve many of the modern c

‘Can’t you feel it?' ‘Feel what?' I asked ‘How we are turning into greedy predators, just like wolves. We have this need to kill more and more. Even if we had two hundred sables we wouldn’t feel satisfied, would we? Just like the devil, you see.' He paused for a while. Then he added, 'I suggest we calm down and stop hunting for a week or so.’ – Rane Willerslev, Soul Hunters Get the print magazine Subscribe for $100 to receive six beautiful issues per year. Subscribe If you ran out of food, would you hesitate to eat your dog? If stranded on an island, have you put any thought into how you would

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