Is lack of empathy another force that supports dehumanization? I think not. There is a big difference between actively denying someone’s human traits—dehumanization—and not thinking about these human traits but instead focusing on other aspects of the person. The first is terrible; the second is not. To elaborate on this, consider some examples. A couple is lying in bed and the woman uses her partner’s stomach as a pillow. Or a man in a crowd moves behind someone to keep the sun out of his eyes. Or a host is having several people over for dinner and needs to figure how much food to order from
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A weak response. I think this is an important chink in Bloom's armour.
