• cynar@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    A hypothetical “toxic empathy” could be our evolved hunting technique. We would run down prey with endurance hunting. If we lost them, we could use empathy to put ourselves in their mindset, and so predict their movements.

    Even this would be “venomous empathy”. Toxic masculinity is partially defined by the way it hurts the man doing it. It’s toxic to the host. It’s misused enough however to muddy that, considerably.

    • Bgugi@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Toxic empathy is when you bite them and feel bad. Venomous empathy is when they bite you and you feel bad.