I just recently saw "The Devil wears Prada", and it made me think of "cruel" humans. My question is what makes a "Heartless" Human?

I then thought to myself, how have I been cruel. I never cried at my grandparent's funerals when I spent much of my weekends with them, and they were there for me. I never even felt sad at their funerals. When my pets died, or had to go, I never felt remourse. I spent so much time with my pets, and I didn't even care about it. When I knew people, and they commited suicude, or died, I never felt anything, where as many people around me even if they didn't know them, they would cry. Some where guys, and some where girls.

Tell me now, do you think i'm a "cruel" person?

No, I don't think anyone is heartless unless they only think of themself and only themself.

You're porbably just really hard to get emotions going. I'm sometimes like that. Something you know is sad, but you just can't BE sad.

Heartless people are ones such as Adolf Hitler, who wanted everything for himself and deleted all 'impure' people.

I think that heartless people are becoming more and more abundant.

Ever been to New York or Phillidelphia? If you were on fire in the middle of the street, people would just step over your flaming body as they scurried off to their destinations....nice, not great, but nice.

As for what causes people to be heartless, I think it could be one of two things: Either they have had a past traumatic experience that caused them to become hardened against the world, or they are just self centered and could honestly care less about other people.

Either one is bad, and I think that Humans as a species really need to start having a little compassion for each other.

Same here with the funerals, etc. I never cry at them. But that doesn't make me "heartless", I think it makes me "good". Because my Grandad was suffering form bowel cancer. And he was too weak to regain enough strength to stand up. So, hopefully he went to a better place. (Tell me if I had the wrong thoughts on that.)

Also, one I laughed and shoved a first year down. I don't know if this counts as "heartless", but I think it was just plain bullying. Meh, never do things like that anymore. (Back at hose times, my friends were all chavs.)

DisehMoh, what you described is not being heartless but just how you morn differently. But if you did all of that while showing no emotion and any sign that you cared then it can be heartless.

Being heartless is pretty much not caring what happends espeacialy at other peoples (even more if you are close to them) missfortune.

Wow I think I should move to new york now, I'd fit right in.

Asking yourself those questions proves you're not entirely hartless. Everyone expresses themsevs in different ways... you just need to discover yours.

Being heartless is showing no emotion whatsoever at what causes other people pain, and not caring. But not at funerals, it isn't illegal to not sob your eyes out. I didn't cry at my great-grandfather's funeral, and I loved him a lot. I cared, but I didn't publicly express my emotions. By my definition- example:
You murder someone, confess, plead "not guilty" at the trial, and while awaiting your sentence you are a brick wall that doesn't care.
Okay, don't see if murdering someone makes you heartless or not, but you get the point.


-Gardevoir~

I don't know, I just didn't really care almost that they died. I moved on the next second, as if I never knew them.

When my Grandfather died, I was like six years old. I was very, very close to him and had a hard time grasping the concept of death. I remember standing there at his funeral, wondering silently to myself when he was going to wake up. Then, as the ceremony ended, I can recall a quick, jarring bolt of panic criss-crossing my heart because he never woke up, and I guess the fact that he wasn't coming back finally hit home. Anyway, I had that single streak of grief for only a few seconds, and then numbness.

It has been twelve years since he died, and I have yet to shed a single tear for him. I don't think that it makes me heartless, though. Alot of people tell me that I am actually one of the most loving and passionate people they know. I do however, think that it scarred me somehow, as the sight of a car wreck makes me physically ill (My Grandfather got rear ended by a semi on the freeway and his car was sent flipping like a tin can into the air, crumpling in on itself upon impact with the street.).

So one can have a heart and not show grief. I hardly ever show grief, sadness, or anger to people outside of my immediate family...I haven't for twelve years...but I still am very compassionate and full of empathy for other people.

Remember, people don't make memories, memories make people.

Too many people are heartless. Most kids at schools are usually horrible, mean and nasty. I may feel that they might not exactly have "experienced" enough so they just have no way to relate to the ways the make their peers feel. But I sure have that... a little too much of that experience, is that why I'm kind? Is my disorder really a handicap in some ways such as that? Oh... never mind. But you would think adults would be kinder, having more experience in the terms of feeling how people feel. But do they care abouit that usually? Not mostly it just happens to seem. Adults seem to be ran by reckless greed and need to make themselves feel better. Always in a hurry to forget about others. I think too many people have it too easy. But the ones who suffer more an have a harder life usually turn out to be the kinder people. As for me, I feel like I had so many experiences in my young life, yet not enough knowledge of what the world is really like. I feel llike I'm too close to death, but i have only begun to live, an octogenerian twelve year old. I think people just become "heartless" because of lack of bad experiences, thinking they are above those who suffer, not to care about them. I always wish my life was better, but what would that make me? A spoiled heartless devil.

You have a heart silly. If you didnt have one you would die. HAHA. Being serious i think you do have a heart.

I have watched a lot of sad movies and I teared up on 1 of them.

I'm fortunate enought to have my grandparents still alive but I am very close to them and I imagine I will cry a little bit when they are gone.and I won't be embarassed if I do.

In my case, I dun know if I

A heartless person imho is...

> Somebody that discriminates/takes the mick out of homosexuals or anybody with a different type of sexuality.
> Somebody that beats old people up. It happens. Its sick.
> Somebody who couldn't give a rat's backside to care that there are other living people on this planet.
> Somebody who kills without permission, like murderers.

There are more, but they're enough at the mo.

If you don't cry at a loved ones funeral, it doesnt make you heartless except if you hated them, love/hate relationship.

I dont cry for loved ones often, I want to if one dies, but I cant, it has to sink in before it hits me and mkaes me cry. I do cry about other things very easily, if in kickboxing somebody taller than me kicks me in the face it'll just happen, i'll be out of sync and bam, there are tears randomly.

Yeah. I dont like heartless people, i'd join the army/police force, but I have a fear of sharp pains. (Knives/bullets/nails)

In my point of view, not crying in your grandparents' funeral or other related events is just your own natural reaction. Some people take things to heart more often and at smaller situations then others. Maybe you are, let's say, emotionally stronger or apathetic. Not that it's a wrong thing, it's just the way you are. Lots of people are like that.

For example, when the twin towers went down, I didn't cry. I wasn't that shocked as most americans were. I was, though, very surprised and amazed. It all depends on how much you are attached to things and how sensible you are. I am not an american and I didn't have any close relatives who got involved in the accident, so there wasn't actually a reason for me to cry or to feel deeply depressed. Am I being heartless for not crying over something that doesn't have that much to do with me? Or should I become some hypocritical and say I care for every human in this planet as much as I care for my parents and family?

I wouldn't say so, because I'm myself a person who takes things to heart very easily and I have my own problems to deal with, and I can assure you they touch me. Perhaps I won't react crying, but I'll certainly feel it somehow, and that emotion will be very unpleasant. I cried when a boy from my class, who I didn't know very much, but yet, a classmate who I saw everyday, suffered serious injures on a car accident. However, I wouldn't cry when, let's say, someone else from some other school, someone I don't know, died. I will be amazed, but in a general conception of urban violence and those problems we have to deal with every single day, and not because of that specific individual.

My concept of being heartless is beyond hating or not loving. Psychiatrists see things like that every single day. People who kill someone, torturing them and tell the authorities "yes, it was me and I enjoied it". People who could care less for anyone except themselves. Or perhaps didn't care about anyone at all, and give a damn for their lives or people surrounding them. I feel most deeply frustrated with those kind of attitudes, but am I to blame them for being born with those diseases or that behaviour?

So, does the concept of "heartless" is exclusive to how you were naturally supposed to be? Or perhaps we have to include how society "corrupts" people on that aspect? And if that indeed counts, can I blame the person for that? By that I mean racists, robbers, killers. Are those cases some kind of mixture of biology and environment influences? Or are people simply stupid? I don't know. Maybe both, maybe neither.

In the end, heartless, for me, is someone who takes advantages on someone else's suffering when they needn't to do so. Severely corrupted, ambicious people. For example, our politicians, who diverts the money that was supposed to go as an investiment for developing hospitals, buying new material and hiring good professionals, to their own pockets. And they use our money, from the taxes we are obligated to pay, to buy jet skis, giant houses and as many cars as they want. Then, our public hospitals suck: they don't have a decent structure, with rats running all over the place and no lights or plumbing, they lack medicine, important technological devices and doctors simply can't work on those conditions. I mean, when that politician watches the tv and sees people diying on the line, while they were waiting for the correct treatment, what do they think? Don't they have any HEART? Was the society who corrupted them, or are THEY the ones who corrupt people? What kind of example is that? Don't they just FEEL a thing at all? I mean, people are dying because of them. How worse can you get?

I used the hospital example because I'm a medical student but that, unfortunately, applies for our education and every other aspect you can think of. That, in my opinion, is being heartless.

I hate when I make more questions then statements in a reply to a thread. X(

No, you're NOT heartless. I've only cried at one funeral. My cat died in my arms after I had stayed home from school the whole day. He died right before my mom got home. I think I was only 7 at the time, I still cry about it.

But at other funerals I don't cry. & I've been to a lot. I think of somewhere
else I could be, not because I'm heartless, I just don't like seeing other people cry.

YOU ARE NOT HEARTLESS!!!!!!