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Kevin Street
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Comments by "Kevin Street" (@Kevin_Street) on "The Insane Biology of: The Chimpanzee" video.
I think the chimpanzees are aware of the suffering their actions can cause others, but I'm not sure they feel empathy for everyone the way humans (Ideally!) do. For the chimp empathy is a scarce resource, used mainly on the individuals they're closest to. In other words, for them empathy is relational. They'll feel deep empathy for their closest family members and friends, and somewhat less but still substantial empathy for the other members of their troop. And that's about it. As the Jane Goodall anecdote shows, it's possible for them to stop feeling any empathy at all for "traitor" chimps that are no longer considered part of the group. Humans have the freedom to construct general moral principles from emotions like empathy, but chimps just can't. Their lives are too hard to feel sympathy for potential competitors.
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