There is a common delusion among those who choose hatred: the belief that the superiority gained by demeaning others will become a permanent asset of their own. However, this is akin to high-interest usury. The self-esteem grasped in the moment is sweet, but the interest that follows eats away at the very foundation of one’s life. From a long-term perspective, hatred is the most inefficient and “low-cost-effective” action a human can choose.
The Narrowing of the Self: The Loss of Opportunity Cost
Investing energy into hatred means wasting resources that should have been allocated to the “creative variables” of personal growth. The energy required for high-functioning activities we discussed earlier—such as “sequential thinking” or the “instrumentalization of environment”—is instead consumed by the low-level computations of despising others.
Hatred confines the world into a simple dichotomy of “enemy and self.” In this process, the only things gained are a cramped vision and rigid thinking. What greater loss of opportunity cost could there be than voluntarily blocking the chance to make the infinite data of a bountiful universe one’s own?
The Collapse of Trust Capital and Isolation
In human relationships, the most powerful cultural capital is “trust.” A person who habituates hatred plants a seed of fear in those around them: the fear that “I, too, could become a target of this person’s hatred at any moment.” In the long run, this results in self-isolation from high-quality human networks.
Ultimately, the hater is left surrounded only by low-level elements who similarly use hatred as their fuel. They find themselves trapped not in a healthy set capable of mutual advancement, but in a “minus-sum” group where members erode one another. This signifies the total bankruptcy of both social and psychological capital.
Contamination of the Internal System: The Toxin of Rage
Hatred seems to be directed outward, but its toxins spread first within one’s own interior. To maintain the logic of hatred, the brain must constantly sustain a state of anger and aggression. This interferes with high-functioning thought processes and destroys emotional homeostasis.
Eventually, hatred becomes not a shield that protects me, but a flame that burns me from within. The “fake superiority” gained through hatred evaporates quickly, but the “empathy” and “tranquility” destroyed in the process are notoriously difficult to restore. What remains in the later stages of life is a hollow shell, filled only with cynicism and nihility.
Morality as the Smartest Investment
A truly intelligent person, one who genuinely weighs cost-effectiveness, chooses morality. While morality requires a high initial cost and demanding maintenance, it pays out massive dividends of “trust” and “dignity” over time.
If hatred is the act of drinking seawater to quench an immediate thirst, morality is the act of sweating every day to dig a deep well. It is self-evident who will lead a richer life in the long run. Your statement—that nothing is less cost-effective than hatred—is a declaration of a noble intelligence: “I will not sell the value of my life at a bargain price.”
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