Some people can admit that other races are completely equal to their own in all appreciable ways, and yet still be bigots. They're not racist, they just hate other races.

Likewise some males can see that females can do anything males can do, and yet are still misogynists. They're not sexist, but they still hate women.

How and why can people hate without any reason?

Hello GooGooBaBa and welcome.

People are just people. Some more open-minded than their closed-minded cousins. Some are clever, some are stupid, most people are somewhere in between. The more ignorant people are, the more likely they are to fear things, behaviours, cultures, ideas, etc., that they don't understand, and rather than asking for information, or making an effort to learn more, they use the lazy way out: different = something to hate.

Mostly 2 reasons, sometimes both:
They think they have a good reason. (Stereotypes etc.)
Their fear for the other is so strong it overides their capacity for rational thought.

Thomas Eshuis wrote:
Their fear for the other is so strong it overides their capacity for rational thought.

Yes, I think that must be it.

How would you advise them to get over that fear/hatred?

You can try reasoning, but that doesn't usually work. People who feel extreme dislike, and are able to express their hatred of others are too closed-minded to hear that their generalisation based on one bad experience isn't the reality.

GooGooBaBa wrote:

How and why can people hate without any reason?

Fear of outsiders is may be something we evolved with, might have to ask an expert. Same with misogyny.

It's also how a lot of people are brought up. So environmental factors most certainly would come into it.

People are also just aggressive in general and don't trust those they are most unfamiliar with.

It's also weird now that immigration is much more common, people still have the same hatred for other races despite the fact they are probably good friends with many from that race. The common excuse is "oh, but they are good arabs/asians/ect...", yet the "bad" ones almost always exist entirely inside their imagination. It's just irrational fear driven by hearsay.

Then again I doubt they really mean it if they have friends from other cultures, it's just that they are so used to saying and thinking it that they still do. When push comes to shove I doubt they are as likely to take action on these irrational beliefs.

Yes... I suppose "fear of the unknown" is not an adequate explanation for bigotry, considering few people are completely ignorant of the subject of their hatred. So forcing a misogynist to get to know women might not ease his anger.

GooGooBaBa wrote:Some people can admit that other races are completely equal to their own in all appreciable ways, and yet still be bigots.

Like who? Can you provide an example?

They're not racist, they just hate other races.

People who hate based other people based on their race are, by definition, racists.

Likewise some males can see that females can do anything males can do, and yet are still misogynists.

Again, do you have an example? Otherwise this is an exercise in anecdotes.

They're not sexist, but they still hate women.

Likewise, people who hate people purely because they're they're a member of the opposite sex are, by definition, sexist.

How and why can people hate without any reason?

Again, do you have an example of someone who hates without reason? The bigots and misogynists I've observed usually have a reason, it may not be valid, but it's still a reason.

In a country like ours, where the ideology of the politics was built on hatred, it's hard for people who grew up with an "us" and "them" attitude, to change their minds. Even when people appear to be friendly, and kindly disposed, towards members of the "out" group, they can be pretty nasty about them when they're not around. The problem is, is that they behave as if everyone in the "in" group feels the same. That's when the trouble starts, name-calling begins, a fight breaks out, and politics becomes a reason for people not to speak to others for decades. I prefer to just remain silent when people indulge in an "out" group conversation. It's not a fight I'm going to win, so I just roll my eyes and say nothing.

GooGooBaBa wrote:

Thomas Eshuis wrote:
Their fear for the other is so strong it overides their capacity for rational thought.

Yes, I think that must be it.

How would you advise them to get over that fear/hatred?

Just let 'em get on with it.

GooGooBaBa wrote:Yes... I suppose "fear of the unknown" is not an adequate explanation for bigotry, considering few people are completely ignorant of the subject of their hatred. So forcing a misogynist to get to know women might not ease his anger.

It fits into the same category as racism. Mostly it depends on how people are raised.

GooGooBaBa wrote:Yes... I suppose "fear of the unknown" is not an adequate explanation for bigotry, considering few people are completely ignorant of the subject of their hatred. So forcing a misogynist to get to know women might not ease his anger.

You shouldn't be forcing anyone to change their views anyway, especially if they're born out of fear. It won't work, you'll probably entrench them more.

Agrippina wrote:You can try reasoning, but that doesn't usually work. People who feel extreme dislike, and are able to express their hatred of others are too closed-minded to hear that their generalisation based on one bad experience isn't the reality.

With real bigots it's a lost cause from the start.

[quote="GooGooBaBa";p="1911074"How and why can people hate without any reason?[/quote]

Because people are fucking idiots.

I think things are confused a bit in this thread from the start. Prejudice is a huge subject area. There are "pro" prejudices, and "con" prejudices, and there are all sorts of non-positive, non-hostile prejudices as well. If you ask why someone is clearly bigoted about a subgroup which contains a number of people they are friendly with, you are mixing the "anti=" prejudices with the "pro" and "neither" prejudices.

And don't forget the egalitarians bigots, who hate others as a group, but comport themselves politely around them, because they think "they can't help themselves, so we must oppress them compassionately."

I think that in the main, the formula for those who actively and openly hate, is based on the sense of a threat, and/or the conviction that THEY are the ones being oppressed. Even when they are in the majority.

Lots of misogynists are WONDERFUL to females, even to the point where they are surrounded by females who adore them to the point of worship. There are racists who make a life of helping members of the race they are prejudiced against.

The active haters I've seen, all felt that they HAD to attack the objects of their hate, or be overwhelmed by them. That's true of most of the religious bigots especially. Often, the sense of threat and the prejudices feed back in a loop fashion, and the haters build up ADDITIONAL hatred, and more mythological explanations for their hatred, often in an effort to try to prove that they are logically justified in their hate, or that they are actually NOT afraid, when they really are.

Why do some people hate other (races, classes, groups) without a direct, personal reason?

Because they have been taught to.

There's a long, long thread about racism that answers the questions in this topic.

igorfrankensteen wrote:I think things are confused a bit in this thread from the start. Prejudice is a huge subject area. There are "pro" prejudices, and "con" prejudices, and there are all sorts of non-positive, non-hostile prejudices as well. If you ask why someone is clearly bigoted about a subgroup which contains a number of people they are friendly with, you are mixing the "anti=" prejudices with the "pro" and "neither" prejudices.

And don't forget the egalitarians bigots, who hate others as a group, but comport themselves politely around them, because they think "they can't help themselves, so we must oppress them compassionately."

I think that in the main, the formula for those who actively and openly hate, is based on the sense of a threat, and/or the conviction that THEY are the ones being oppressed. Even when they are in the majority.

Lots of misogynists are WONDERFUL to females, even to the point where they are surrounded by females who adore them to the point of worship. There are racists who make a life of helping members of the race they are prejudiced against.

The active haters I've seen, all felt that they HAD to attack the objects of their hate, or be overwhelmed by them. That's true of most of the religious bigots especially. Often, the sense of threat and the prejudices feed back in a loop fashion, and the haters build up ADDITIONAL hatred, and more mythological explanations for their hatred, often in an effort to try to prove that they are logically justified in their hate, or that they are actually NOT afraid, when they really are.

This is the closest to what I am talking about. The only caveat would be that some bigots do not attribute any qualities to their hatred, other than personal revulsion. It's as if I said, "Women are equal to men in all ways. I hate women."

If the misogynist wanted to be cured of his illogical hatred, what would be the best course of action?

GooGooBaBa wrote:Some people can admit that other races are completely equal to their own in all appreciable ways, and yet still be bigots. They're not racist, they just hate other races.

Likewise some males can see that females can do anything males can do, and yet are still misogynists. They're not sexist, but they still hate women.

How and why can people hate without any reason?

in these cases i imagine that these haters know through reason that what they are feeling is wrong, also maybe because it is out of fashion nowadays to be racist and chauvinistic, so they don't want to feel left out and be called bigots.

the feelings they have can't be helped tho and so they live in a state of denial to themselves and others, when they have these negative feelings they detest the people who they hate even more because of having brought up these emotions that they dislike in themselves.

The only caveat would be that some bigots do not attribute any qualities to their hatred, other than personal revulsion. It's as if I said, "Women are equal to men in all ways. I hate women."

If the misogynist wanted to be cured of his illogical hatred, what would be the best course of action?

My calculation is that people who claim only "personal revulsion," fall into two categories: those who are too lazy to figure out why they think or feel as they do, and those who want to HIDE their prejudices.

As for someone who claims to want to overcome their prejudices, that's very simple. They have to ACTUALLY want to do so. Most people I've run across who claimed to want help with such, actually wanted to know tricks on how better to hide their problems.

If they ACTUALLY want to improve, it's a simple matter of self examination, and direct observation. They need to figure out exactly what they believe and why, and then actively work to find what the people they hate are really like. About the only way someone else can help them, is as a warning klaxon: hang around them, and say "now" whenever they exhibit their prejudices. They still have to do the work to end them, and that means rebuilding THEMSELVES from the inside out.