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I posted this in a thread below, but I think the word "empathy" is an overloaded term and was the wrong one for the author's point. Some people take it to mean
by brundolf 6y ago
I posted this in a thread below, but I think the word "empathy" is an overloaded term and was the wrong one for the author's point. Some people take it to mean "the ability to care about others on a moral level", and others take it to mean "the emotional intelligence to detect and understand the nuances of another's thoughts and feelings". But those are independent things, and I believe the author was talking about the second, not the first. It's entirely possible to be an idealistic and good-hearted person without having the least bit of emotional intelligence. Conversely, it's entirely possible to have lots of emotional intelligence and use it to manipulate people instead of help them.
- adrianmonk 6y agoI was just about to say this. Caring about another person's needs or sensing their feeling is one thing. Being able to set aside your own view, shift your mindset, and put yourself in someone else's shoes is another thing. You probably need at least some of the first, though, because the second one takes real effort.
- brundolf 6y agoI don't think you even need to be able to sense others' specific needs or feelings to care about making the world a better place.
- adrianmonk 6y agoThat's fair. You might do it just because of pride in your work or because you want the software to succeed. Maybe I should say that if making someone's experience better is meaningful to you personally, that adds to the motivation.