I had hoped spring was here. It is snowing. It’s not white-out conditions, but it’s quickly accumulating. It almost feels like it’s time to go back to bed and hibernate. I was surprised no one volunteered to help with the proofreading. I guess it was the size of the novel, 60,000+ words, that put people off. I can’t fault that.
Moving on, I like to talk about “intellectual empathy.” It is a psychological term. The website https://psichologyanswers.com/library/lecture/read/34346-what-does-intellectual-empathy-mean#0 defines it as, “An individual achieves intellectual empathy when they actively put themselves in someone else’s shoes in terms of how they think and feel.” They say there are five skills needed to achieve intellectual empathy. Some like “knowing that social identity is intersectional” require a knowledge of the field. However, one is very easy to understand, “recognizing our mutual vulnerability.” The war in Ukraine and the scenes of refugees fleeing the war disturb us because we can feel their fear and loss of everyday lives.
On the other hand, we probably cannot understand Putin’s reason for starting the war. They say he is trying to re-create the old USSR. It isn’t just nostalgia for something that once existed. He feels he is a great leader that can re-create the old USSR. With that in mind let’s look at another psychological term, “psychopathy.” The Marion Webster dictionary defines it as a “mental disorder especially when marked by egocentric and antisocial activity, a lack of remorse for one’s actions, an absence of empathy for others, and often criminal tendencies.” Sorry for the long sentence, but clearly, it’s not something that’s easy to define.
Putin has no concern for the people dying, both civilians and military. It’s simply the cost of re-creating the USSR. He will continue until he feels personally threatened. When that happens, no one can predict what he might do. He might think that he’ll take everyone down with him and widen the war. Perhaps, even nuclear war.
That’s what makes him ultimately dangerous. A psychopath doesn’t care about other people. Some of those around him might act to stop him, but the one who succeeds is likely to be another psychopath. Dictators or psychopaths with nuclear arms can end the world. There’s nothing you and I can do to stop it. It is our existential crisis.
