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This sounds like some anthropology shower thought I'm not sure I'd hang a theory on.
That's a very easy way to dismiss an idea without actually engaging with it. Could you explain what specifically you think is wrong with it, or offer a better alternative explanation? Otherwise it just comes across as 'I don't like the sound of this.'
It's really overly simple and makes a lot of assumptions. We only knew people in our immediate area ergo empathy is part of our hardcoded biology. Is there any research backing it up?
Five-Year Olds, but Not Chimpanzees, Attempt to Manage Their Reputations, Jan Engelmann, 2012
Reputation, Pat Barcley, 2015
Reputation and Socio-Ecology in Humans, Angelo Romano, 2021
Nobody's watching? Subtle cues affect generosity in, Haley, Fessler, 2005
I can link you more after you're done with these. It's a highly studied subject and I'm sure you could've just googled all this by yourself too.
And where does any of that link it to your theory of only knowing a few people around us made us biologically empathetic?
I haven't made such a claim. If you think I'm wrong, then let's see the studies backing that up. I've already spent 10x the effort and good faith in my responses compared to what I've gotten back from you, so now's the time to return the favour.
This is why I said it sounded like bs in the first place. You said now there are other people but we still care in a "hardcoded" sense. How does knowing only a few people connect to our empathy?
I haven't said a word about empathy. The discussion is about reputation management and social status.
My claim is that caring what other people think about you is in our biology and can't be turned off.