What does it mean to be indifferent? Is it possible for someone to behave with ABSOLUTE indifference?
Indifference is usually treated on a daily basis as a type of behavior that expresses apathy or lack of interest in something or someone. It seems to be the chosen attitude when you want to demonstrate that something is worthless.
They say that offering someone a stance of indifference is worse than offering a stance of hatred, because in hatred the value of a person is understood, that is, their power to provoke a strong negative reaction, but in indifference their complete lack of value is implied.
In other words, indifference is the gesture that says, in practice, that something or someone "is worthless". But is that true?
What is indifference?
Determining meanings and concepts is not an easy task, especially when dealing with abstract beings. A quick query to google takes us to some virtual dictionaries. I selected the Priberam and Dicio dictionaries, to indicate the possible meanings of indifference. Among the meanings pointed out by dicio.com.br are:
ability of those who remain calm, showing no concerns;
lack of interest, lack of consideration;
condition of those who are not influenced by feelings.
Dionario.priberam.org reveals among them:
lack of interest or attention to someone - neglect, disinterest, negligence;
absence of interest or response to a stimulus - apathy, ataraxia;
feeling of arrogant superiority towards someone - disregard, disdain, contempt.
Although not all the meanings attributed to the word are presented here, we will analyze three main sets that encompass different meanings: apathy, absence of interest or neglect and a feeling of superiority. Indifference as apathy
Apathy can be considered a condition of insensitivity or inability to be moved by something. Perhaps, this form can be considered indifference in its purest conception, since it does not involve the effort of the subject who exercises it. The condition of a particular object for the subject that remains apathetic towards it, is that it does not offer any value or characteristic that is capable of provoking a reaction in the subject that perceives it. The object can even be noticed, but it does not cause oscillation in the subject who notices it. The latter does not reflect on the value of the object, is not disturbed by it - it just ignores it. There is no feeling of astonishment or disdain, of attraction or disgust, of pleasure or displeasure at the sensory experience caused by the object. This is completely harmless to the feelings and thoughts of the person who perceives it.
Following the trail of that first sense, it would be possible to say that any attempt to be indifferent is in itself a departure from the essence of being indifferent. For any intentioned effort is no longer indifference, it is already the effect of an external interpellation. Every programmed effort is already an indication of some reaction. And if there is a reaction, in this sense, there is no indifference. It can be concluded, in this context, that only those who observe the indifferent are able to perceive indifference. The indifferent would never be aware of his indifference in this first sense addressed. When it comes to the feelings and situation of other human beings, an individual in that circumstance would have to be amoral to be indifferent - someone capable of abandoning all morality and all sense of right and wrong. "I don't care" - indifference like absence of interest or neglect
The popular saying "I don't care" expresses indifference as a lack of interest. Although the expression can be used in the last sense, that of the feeling of superiority, it clearly illustrates the verbalized posture of someone who is trying to show disinterest in something, someone or a certain situation.
Indifference here is something "less accidental" or "less unconscious" than in the first case and becomes a practice of the subject. It perceives a certain circumstance or object, but forges a behavior of detachment or lack of interest. However, disinterest may be related to lack of affinity. Even so, this lack of affinity is already a sign of some reflection on the object, and therefore, when referring to feelings such as repulsion and rejection, it already denotes oscillation in the subject. This situation is something that is not seen in the first sense discussed above. What has now been described would be the most passive sense of this second sense of indifference, when the subject becomes a recipient of the impressions that led him to distance himself from the object or to circumvent it. But there is a more active sense.
In the most active sense of this second aspect, we have a type of attitude that does not fit the idea of indifference very well, but is perhaps more linked to the notion of revenge or the "call for inertia". However, as many people use the term indifference to camouflage this distinct type of posture, it is good to talk about it. I once heard from someone that the most appropriate attitude to deal with a certain person was "to pretend that he did not exist". In other words, ignore it or behave with indifference towards it. On another occasion, a friend, revolted by the political situation in Brazil, said that, from then on, what he could do better would be to foster a "feeling of profound indifference" in relation to everything that was happening. It is also common to observe couples of boyfriends who, after having some disagreement, forge a carefree behavior towards the other and what happened, to "give a lesson" to the partner or to get their attention.
In all the examples mentioned above, what you have is a decision for a type of behavior. Such a decision comes from a reaction caused by a given stimulus. As the decision for a behavior, in this context, is an effect, and the commitment to behave the way it was chosen is an effort, so there is no longer indifference, but a reactive practice. In all of them there is a work to react originated by a specific stimulus. In the first example there would be an effort to ignore a person, in the second case a kind of call for inertia and in the third case, perhaps, a kind of revenge or a strategy to attract attention. Someone with this kind of indifference to a human being who is experiencing physical needs or a situation of regret, needs to be immoral to continue with their indifference, that is, someone who knows what is right or wrong, but prefers to ignore what You know. Indifference as a feeling of superiority And finally, there is indifference as a feeling of superiority, something that is common to observe. The person reacts with disdain, contempt, contempt or neglect to prove his superiority or to make the other feel inferior. Or, he sees a circumstance as if he were above it. It ignores a person or his situation, with a conscious or unconscious intention of complaining that he is not at the same level. This is not the purest type of indifference, as it is mixed with connotations of pride and vanity and involves a certain reflection and oscillation before the perceived object or circumstance. Can one practice indifference? In the first case, that of apathy, it would be an unconscious practice. Only an observer would be able to detect the indifferent posture of the "practitioner", since the perception of the object does not even "tickle" him in the conscious. It is this kind of indifference, perhaps, more pure, that attributes, even if unconsciously, a null value to the object to which its indifference points. For him, the object of his indifference is really "worthless".
The second type, in its passive or active version, has a kind of practice, since there is perception and a certain level of reflection on the object, that is, there is a reaction. The same for the third type of indifference addressed. In all of these, there is value in the object for the subject, which value, whether positive or negative, has generated some kind of response, be it the mere notion of disgust or its deliberate practice.
Concluding It can be said that much of what is seen in our society in relation to the lack of empathy for social problems is, in fact, an indifference of the second or third type, or perhaps, even a pseudo-indifference. In it, the individual is aware of the value of the other, but prefers to circumvent it or see himself at a higher level. In other words, it acts in a certain way with immorality in the face of a situation in which it could contribute to improving. It is clear that this type of attitude is being explained in generalized dimensions, and only the specificity of the individual and the situation in which he acts would be definitive to assess his behavior as indifferent or not. It must be said that there is also good indifference. But that is a topic for another article.