It's good that you linked to that article because said article in turn links to another concept I'd long forgotten about: the philosophical zombie. And there's research suggesting some people might not have an internal monologue of any sort, raising the question of whether or not we're all conscious on the same level. I wonder if there's research attempting to explain why some people (like me) can think up the term "NPC" on our own and refrain from outright labeling the masses (we don't like or relate to) as such because we realize that it's pretty dehumanizing, not to mention a lot more complicated than that, and why some people decide "nope, perfectly acceptable, and anyone who disagrees with me is probably also an NPC".
I'd like to chalk it up to an utter lack of empathy but like with everything, I figure it has to be way more complex than that and can't pretend I know much of anything.
It's good that you linked to that article because said article in turn links to another concept I'd long forgotten about: the philosophical zombie. And there's research suggesting some people might not have an internal monologue of any sort, raising the question of whether or not we're all conscious on the same level. I wonder if there's research attempting to explain why some people (like me) can think up the term "NPC" on our own and refrain from outright labeling the masses (we don't like or relate to) as such because we realize that it's pretty dehumanizing, not to mention a lot more complicated than that, and why some people decide "nope, perfectly acceptable, and anyone who disagrees with me is probably also an NPC".
I'd like to chalk it up to an utter lack of empathy but like with everything, I figure it has to be way more complex than that and can't pretend I know much of anything.