this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2025
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“The fundamental weakness is empathy,” Musk recently told radio podcast host Joe Rogan. “There is a bug, which is the empathy response.”

As Musk has established himself as at least the second most powerful person in an administration seeking a wholesale remaking of institutions, rules and norms, what he said matters, because it encapsulates a political plan. What the Project 2025 report set out in over 900 turgid pages, Musk’s remark captures in a simple pithy mantra for the social media age.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 6 hours ago

For those of you who haven't yet, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with Curtis Yarvin's "Dark Enlightenment Theory," because that's what's informing all of these chuds.

JD Vance has cited this guy. Peter Thiel is a huge fan. Based on his views, Musk is almost certainly reading this stuff.

The "theory" basically boils down to that tenet: empathy is weakness, might makes right, and it's only natural for the strong to dominate and brutalize the weak.

Remember that kid in elementary school who refused to play with anyone at recess and just spent the whole time frying ants with a magnifying glass? That kid grew up and has an "intellectual following" now.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

Empathy is strength, love is strength, unity is strength, solidarity is strength, divided we may fall but as one united working class we can stand forever.

While we stand together they tear eachother apart and in their disunity we the workers shall have our revolution. For they are weak and we are strong, they produce nothing and we create all of the value.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 hours ago

he's right. we need to let go of our own empathy to make us more effective soldiers in the fight to defeat him and the people like him.

i look forward to the day when these guys beg for mercy as we ease them into their excruciating fate with cold, unblinking eyes.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 hours ago

The fact that this is even a real headline should trouble everybody. I know the answer, but the question still is:” what kind of a state is the USA in where someone even feels the need to write this, rather than it being an assumed norm?”

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 hours ago

Billionaires live in a weird bubble. Money and power twist the mind and destroy the soul.

Never idolize a billionaire, they're the closest thing to evil incarnate that walks the Earth. Remember, the Devil will present itself as friendly, alluring, and attractive. So, at least we know they aren't the Devil, but as close as reality can get, maybe.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Musk: "The fundamental weakness is empathy" Also Musk: "Why are people so mean to me"

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 hours ago

Oxy, meet moron.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

he has neither intelligence or empathy. he turned intoa space karen, because he mangled his penis in a botched surgery

[–] [email protected] 6 points 13 hours ago

I'm down with calling him Space Karen from now on, actually.

All opposed?

[–] [email protected] 43 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

You know who lacks empathy? Psychopaths.

This paper says this about it:

Importantly, empathy is such an essential component of healthy human social interactions that absence of it may lead to severe social and cognitive dysfunctions. A personality structure often marked by a lack of empathy is psychopathic personality.

Musk is once again pretending to know about things he's clueless about.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Lack of empathy is how I characterize Republicans or conservatives in general. It explains every single one of their policy position.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

there also very good at pretending to have empathy, which is another key trait. hence why we seen "so many people" become super right wing as time goes on.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 hours ago

Ya, I think that's psychopathy and also pretty common.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 16 hours ago

Musk is a weakness

[–] [email protected] 23 points 21 hours ago

Empathy is a weakness for sociopaths, and only sociopaths can be billionaires. So it's not a universal weakness, but it is a weakness for him.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 1 day ago

Empathy is one of the foundational blocks of the society he abuses.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (1 children)

Musk found out that the people that like him now, after pissiing off the nerds and tech enthousiasts, base their world view on the works of Ayn Rand, who peached that empathy and governement help is bad.

Disregarding that Rand died penniless and on governement hand outs.

But musk will find out again that, no matter how much money he flings at it, nobody will like him for who he is and that void will eat him up though it may make him do more silly things. And That's a shame

[–] [email protected] 5 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Ya know, the irony here, nobody is gonna feel bad for him either.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 12 hours ago

Yup no pity

[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 day ago

The fact he says this, he proves that he really never cared for the human good, all that talk was just to people buy his shit.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 day ago (7 children)

I guess it closes the debate about Musk being autistic. Autistics are more likely to be hyper empathetic.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Narcissists can display similar traits similar to autistic people. You’re right, he’s not autistic, just a narcissist.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 22 hours ago

Narcissistic Personality Disorder, perhaps?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Speaking as someone who is autistic, autism is rarely a one-size fits all diagnosis.

While Hyper Empathy can be a side-effect of Autism, another is the exact opposite where your sense of empathy is limited to "So what have you done for me lately?", in this case the person has absolutely no understanding of interaction outside of it being transactional.

Musk is definitely this kind

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 hours ago

First, I didn't write all of them.

Now on the subject of autism and empathy, empathy is widely misinterpreted and misunderstood in autistics. The lack of empathy stereotype is based on the deficit model of autism and therefore on the lack of theory of mind. This model has roots in eugenic and neocolonialism (also known as neurocolonialism) and is deeply ableist.

We have great research with good methodology and ethics (the opposite is true for the deficit model) about autistics not lacking theory of mind and being empathetic (often hyper empathetic). They just show empathy differently than the neurotypical. This is in fact true for many stereotypes about autism. Autism is a different cognitive style to process information, communicate (including emotions) and learn.

It's where the Double Empathy Problem of Dr. Damian Milton comes in. It's the difference and not the lack between two or more individuals/group of individuals that makes the understanding issue.

We are plenty of autistics on Lemmy.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 21 hours ago

What an asshole

[–] [email protected] 38 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Empathy is a skill and he doesn't have it.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 day ago (12 children)

It's a useful skill if you're trying to cultivate a popular following. The funny thing is that he used to have it and was quite good at feeling people out for a popular vibe. Now he's too ketted out to feel anything. Just a rolling ball of Id, bouncing between hungry, cranky, and horny.

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 day ago

Empathy as a weakness is exactly what I'd expect to hear from a sociopath. If everybody thought this way, we'd have no civilized society.

[–] [email protected] 183 points 1 day ago (8 children)

The lack of empathy, however, has been linked to psychopathy by study after study after study.

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 1 day ago (5 children)
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[–] [email protected] 6 points 21 hours ago

That… Makes absolutely no sense.

[–] [email protected] 61 points 1 day ago (11 children)

Fuck Joe Rogan for letting him say shit like that unchecked.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 day ago

#shitsociopathssay

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