We can’t change until we know exactly who we are!
Question from the Internet:
“What is the psychology behind taking joy in somebody else’s misery (schadenfreude)? What does that say about the inner workings of the other person’s mind and their own ego?”
It is simply how our inherently self-serving, self-justifying, individualistic nature works. We constantly have to prove that we a are better, higher, stronger, more successful than others.
This is why - knowingly, unknowingly - we enjoy the suffering, failures of others, since than we feel better, higher than them.
Most people deny such “inner workings” in them, believing that such qualities, inclinations are beyond then, some believe they don’t even have an ego, and even those who sometimes feel such negative tendencies believe that they have positive, opposite qualities in them.
Even well-known religious, spiritual leaders publicize, teach that Humans deep inside are good, with the capacity to care for, emphatize with others, unconditionally help, love others.
And it is true that we have to find ourselves in very dramatic scenarios, or in a unique, purposeful, methodical environment to learn, recognize who we truly are and what desires, intentions, forces drive us. And since this is not a pleasant recognition only very few people are ready to look into the brutally honest mirror.
But we don’t have a choice!
First of all our seemingly negative, egotistic, exploitative inner program is not our fault. This is the “software” Nature’s evolution installed in us purposefully. And without recognizing this self-destructive program inside - which is driving Humanity towards self-destruction in our generation - we don’t have a chance to change ourselves and develop towards positive, mutually responsible, mutually complementing connections our survival depends on.
And it is for this conscious, fully aware inner change, self-correction, self-upgrade did evolution give us the original “negative” qualities, so we could complete, improve on ourselves by our own efforts, with free choice, to prove our advantage over other animals.