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Empathy, no. Being charitable in your appraisal of your opponent, yes. Meaning, don't assume off the bat that your opponent is malicious unless you have good re

Empathy, no. Being charitable in your appraisal of your opponent, yes. Meaning, don't assume off the bat that your opponent is malicious unless you have good reason to believe that. Also, acquaint yourself with the views of your opponent before dismissing them as stupid. Charity, not empathy, is the proper attitude. Empathy prioritizes feelings over truth and reason. This is dangerous, foolish, and wrong. Truths may be painful, and where appropriate, we should be charitable toward those in error and find the truth painful, but we should never sacrifice truth or prefer feelings over truth and reasoned arguments. We are also foolish to expect everyone competent and capable of reasoned argument. That is why we have authorities. Really, the authorities are at fault here because they have given the masses license to behave aggressively and boorishly when they should be discussing instead of peddling their latest tendentious sophistry and bullshit.

lemmsjid 8y ago
I think it’s easy to conflate empathy with forgiveness. Empathy is about understanding someone’s viewpoint to the degree that you feel a reflection of their emotions. This requires a mixture of reason and emotionality: reason to bridge the gap in world views. It does not preclude truth or judgement. One can empathize with a murderer by understanding their background and motivations, but still want them to be locked up. I think it is important to empathize with criminals for the express reason that you want to find out how to prevent further criminal acts. I quite agree with the article. I am quite unabashedly liberal, but I understand why conservatives exist (here I’m using the United States polarity) and even why they need to. The idea that one side or the other is an inherently destructive force is repellent. I’m using your comment as a springboard for these thoughts btw, I’m not disagreeing with you.
commandlinefan 8y ago
I often have to remind myself that I actually agree with liberals on a lot of things like abortion, gay marriage and immigration - I just find myself reflexively disagreeing with them because of the unfair way they portray their opponents.
tjr225 8y ago
Agreed. It is so easy to assume the worst from anyone - especially on the internet. It helps me, personally, to reread through someone's words and try to grasp what they are saying as strongly as possible before reacting.
mcguire 8y ago
Keep in mind that, while there is one truth, there are many reactions to that truth. Understanding that your reaction might not be the only reasonable one is a function of empathy. Couple that with the fact that the truth may not be apparent and the possibility that things about which you are certain may not be true, and humility and empathy begin to take a more central role.

lemmsjid 8y ago

I think it’s easy to conflate empathy with forgiveness. Empathy is about understanding someone’s viewpoint to the degree that you feel a reflection of their emotions. This requires a mixture of reason and emotionality: reason to bridge the gap in world views. It does not preclude truth or judgement. One can empathize with a murderer by understanding their background and motivations, but still want them to be locked up. I think it is important to empathize with criminals for the express reason that you want to find out how to prevent further criminal acts. I quite agree with the article. I am quite unabashedly liberal, but I understand why conservatives exist (here I’m using the United States polarity) and even why they need to. The idea that one side or the other is an inherently destructive force is repellent. I’m using your comment as a springboard for these thoughts btw, I’m not disagreeing with you.

commandlinefan 8y ago

I often have to remind myself that I actually agree with liberals on a lot of things like abortion, gay marriage and immigration - I just find myself reflexively disagreeing with them because of the unfair way they portray their opponents.

tjr225 8y ago

Agreed. It is so easy to assume the worst from anyone - especially on the internet. It helps me, personally, to reread through someone's words and try to grasp what they are saying as strongly as possible before reacting.

mcguire 8y ago

Keep in mind that, while there is one truth, there are many reactions to that truth. Understanding that your reaction might not be the only reasonable one is a function of empathy. Couple that with the fact that the truth may not be apparent and the possibility that things about which you are certain may not be true, and humility and empathy begin to take a more central role.