I still say basic compassion is innate to each of us and socialized to what society sees as being acceptable.
Since this development is haphazard and often occurs in tandem with abuse, our compassion becomes a somewhat weak and unpredictable thing. We can't rely on it in ourselves, we can't rely on it in others, at times we might be surprised by it, at other times we might despair at our own lack of it.
That's fair enough. I'll definitely grant that it's not an entirely consistent thing; people who seem kind-hearted can become suddenly steely and cold to particular kinds of suffering, whereas someone who appears to have a heart of stone may prove to be easily moved given a specific set of circumstances. And I agree that it's idiosyncratic and peculiar to each person's experience.
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Since this development is haphazard and often occurs in tandem with abuse, our compassion becomes a somewhat weak and unpredictable thing. We can't rely on it in ourselves, we can't rely on it in others, at times we might be surprised by it, at other times we might despair at our own lack of it.
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