Is hatred healthy?

[dilloduck]

I recently stumbled across an idea expressed that hatred is always healthy and unhealthy for a slew of reasons. But the idea that certain types of hatred cannot be viewed as totally unhealthy astounds me. So I wonder, what do other people think?

ps, please do not say you hate me because it turns me on.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Semi-protected
"Hate" redirects here. For other uses, see Hate (disambiguation).
"Hates" redirects here. For the German singer, see Adrian Hates.

Hatred or hate is a word that describes intense feelings of dislike. It can be used in a wide variety of contexts, from hatred of inanimate objects (e.g. homework, vegetables) to hatred of other people, or even groups of people. Philosophers have offered many influential definitions of hatred. Rene Descartes viewed hate as an awareness that something is bad, combined with an urge to withdraw from it. Baruch Spinoza defined hate as a type of pain that is due to an external cause. Aristotle viewed hate as a desire for the annihilation of an object that is incurable by time. Finally, David Hume believed that hate is an irreducible feeling that is not definable at all.[1]

In psychology, Sigmund Freud defined hate as an ego state that wishes to destroy the source of its unhappiness[2]. In a more contemporary definition, the Penguin Dictionary of Psychology defines hate as a "deep, enduring, intense emotion expressing animosity, anger, and hostility towards a person, group, or object."[3] Because hatred is believed to be long-lasting, many psychologists consider it to be more of an attitude or disposition than a (temporary) emotional state.

The neural correlates of hate have been investigated with an fMRI procedure. In this experiment, people had their brains scanned while viewing pictures of people they hated. The results showed increased activity in the medial frontal gyrus, right putamen, bilaterally in the premotor cortex, in the frontal pole, and bilaterally in the medial insula of the human brain. The researchers concluded that there is a distinct pattern of brain activity that occurs when people are experiencing hatred.[4]

I think hatred is natural and feeling it is part of being human. To deny you feel it is unhealthy and to allow it to wreak havoc with your reasoning is also unhealthy.
Same way that I feel about love.

Your pseudo barrier of hatred will never keep me from loving you Eel lady. The die are cast

 

[inquisitive]

I hate things not people. I don't even hold onto ill feelings if I don't like somebody. If I see them I'll speak, and I will most likely remember why i don't like them but I refuse to harbor negative feelings in my bones and dwell on why i don't like 'said' person. It is unhealthy physically and spiritually!

 

[Dis]

I recently stumbled across an idea expressed that hatred is always healthy and unhealthy for a slew of reasons. But the idea that certain types of hatred cannot be viewed as totally unhealthy astounds me. So I wonder, what do other people think?

ps, please do not say you hate me because it turns me on.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Semi-protected
"Hate" redirects here. For other uses, see Hate (disambiguation).
"Hates" redirects here. For the German singer, see Adrian Hates.

Hatred or hate is a word that describes intense feelings of dislike. It can be used in a wide variety of contexts, from hatred of inanimate objects (e.g. homework, vegetables) to hatred of other people, or even groups of people. Philosophers have offered many influential definitions of hatred. Rene Descartes viewed hate as an awareness that something is bad, combined with an urge to withdraw from it. Baruch Spinoza defined hate as a type of pain that is due to an external cause. Aristotle viewed hate as a desire for the annihilation of an object that is incurable by time. Finally, David Hume believed that hate is an irreducible feeling that is not definable at all.[1]

In psychology, Sigmund Freud defined hate as an ego state that wishes to destroy the source of its unhappiness[2]. In a more contemporary definition, the Penguin Dictionary of Psychology defines hate as a "deep, enduring, intense emotion expressing animosity, anger, and hostility towards a person, group, or object."[3] Because hatred is believed to be long-lasting, many psychologists consider it to be more of an attitude or disposition than a (temporary) emotional state.

The neural correlates of hate have been investigated with an fMRI procedure. In this experiment, people had their brains scanned while viewing pictures of people they hated. The results showed increased activity in the medial frontal gyrus, right putamen, bilaterally in the premotor cortex, in the frontal pole, and bilaterally in the medial insula of the human brain. The researchers concluded that there is a distinct pattern of brain activity that occurs when people are experiencing hatred.[4]

I hate you.

(Did it work?)

 

[masquerade]

As a kid I would say I hated things. And my mother always said to me "hate is too harsh of a word to use and mean." She said you dislike something or whatever very much. But you dont hate anything. So I cant answer your poll. I firmly believe what my mother had said to me. To this day (39 years of age) I do not use the word hate. And even in my thoughts I only dislike things alot.

Good for you! I tell my children exactly what your mother told you!

 

[masquerade]

Hate is never good, and learning to turn the other cheek, or forgive your enemies, or never return a bad turn for a bad turn is one of the most difficult and rewarding things I've learned in the last few years.

I agree with everything you posted, but the bold hits home with me.

 

[Big Black Dog]

I hate it that you're an asshole... Just saying...

 

[masquerade]

Hate is NEVER a good thing, though I do believe there are different levels and degrees of hate. Sometimes I'll throw in detest or despise. For instance, I despise Nancy Pelosi!

Regardless, hatered is evil and it eats away at one's soul. At least it did mine.
Just a few short months ago my entire being was full of raging hate! And I was miserable. Hate used most of my energy and left me looking and feeling drained and exhausted and older. Big black circles under my eyes and a look of hopelessness.

Today, I am a different person. Through therapy, affirmations, self-awareness, positive thought and forgiveness, I have changed my life around.

One thing to remember ... you don't have to know how to forgive ... you just have to be willing to forgive.

 

[Anguille]

Hate is NEVER a good thing, though I do believe there are different levels and degrees of hate. Sometimes I'll throw in detest or despise. For instance, I despise Nancy Pelosi!

Regardless, hatered is evil and it eats away at one's soul. At least it did mine.
Just a few short months ago my entire being was full of raging hate! And I was miserable. Hate used most of my energy and left me looking and feeling drained and exhausted and older. Big black circles under my eyes and a look of hopelessness.

Today, I am a different person. Through therapy, affirmations, self-awareness, positive thought and forgiveness, I have changed my life around.

One thing to remember ... you don't have to know how to forgive ... you just have to be willing to forgive.

Your hate was just dysfunctional.

You still hate. You just call it despising.

 

[masquerade]

Hate is NEVER a good thing, though I do believe there are different levels and degrees of hate. Sometimes I'll throw in detest or despise. For instance, I despise Nancy Pelosi!

Regardless, hatered is evil and it eats away at one's soul. At least it did mine.
Just a few short months ago my entire being was full of raging hate! And I was miserable. Hate used most of my energy and left me looking and feeling drained and exhausted and older. Big black circles under my eyes and a look of hopelessness.

Today, I am a different person. Through therapy, affirmations, self-awareness, positive thought and forgiveness, I have changed my life around.

One thing to remember ... you don't have to know how to forgive ... you just have to be willing to forgive.

Your hate was just dysfunctional.

You still hate. You just call it despising.

No. That is where you are wrong.
I don't hate. At least not anymore.

I dislike mushrooms, but I don't hate them. The word hate is part of our culture and because we've used it for so long, it feels like a natural thing to say. I catch myself saying it at times, and then think ... hey .. I don't really hate whatever it was my focus was on. Hate is too powerful of a word unless one really means it. If I really hated mushrooms, I would use ample amounts of thought and energy to hate those mushrooms! I don't. But mushrooms are gross.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Nope, I'd say hatred is pretty bad. It's healthy to UNDERSTAND hate, but hate itself... uh, don't think there's really anything nice about it.

"Healthy" is not the same as "nice". My 1-year-old had a big, healthy poop today, but it sure as hell wasn't NICE.

I think whether or not hatred is healthy depends on who or what you hate, why you hate, and what you do about it.

 

[xsited1]

Is hatred healthy?

God hates divorce, although He's all powerful and stuff.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Hate is NEVER a good thing, though I do believe there are different levels and degrees of hate. Sometimes I'll throw in detest or despise. For instance, I despise Nancy Pelosi!

Regardless, hatered is evil and it eats away at one's soul. At least it did mine.
Just a few short months ago my entire being was full of raging hate! And I was miserable. Hate used most of my energy and left me looking and feeling drained and exhausted and older. Big black circles under my eyes and a look of hopelessness.

Today, I am a different person. Through therapy, affirmations, self-awareness, positive thought and forgiveness, I have changed my life around.

One thing to remember ... you don't have to know how to forgive ... you just have to be willing to forgive.

Hate IS sometimes a good thing, depending on what you hate, and what you do with it. By all accounts, Jonas Salk HATED polio, he HATED what it did to people, and he was driven by that to find the vaccine that has eradicated it from the modern world. I think I'm safe in saying that the people who spearheaded the abolitionist movement around the world that led to the end of slavery in America and the English empire HATED slavery. I'd imagine "hate" wasn't even a strong enough word for how they felt. I'm sure the people who fought for civil rights in the 60s HATED racial injustice and prejudice, and well that they did. And I'm told that police officers hunting down truly heinous criminals frequently come to HATE those people and what they do, and that it drives them to put an end to that evil. I think that's a good thing, so long as once those people are brought to justice, the officers are able to let go of that hatred and not let it eat them up.

There is no emotion natural to humans which is intrinsically bad, because they all have a purpose for being. The Bible even instructs us to hate. It tells us to hate evil, to hate sin. It is always about what you do with it.