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I greatly disagree that empathy is innate. It's exactly what separates "teenagers" from young adults, and is very much a learned skill.
by arnarbi 13y ago
I greatly disagree that empathy is innate. It's exactly what separates "teenagers" from young adults, and is very much a learned skill.
- JoeAltmaier 13y agoI believe its learned, before the age of 4 or not at all. citation? here it is: Wikipedia article on Empathy: "most children do not show a fully fledged theory of mind until around the age of four"
- jeremysmyth 13y agoAbsolutely. Find anyone who tests as an introvert but behaves (in some circumstances) as an extrovert and you're looking at someone who's learned empathy as an adult.
- gte910h 13y agoThe effect you're referring to is a symptom of lack of mylenation on the neural pathways to the prefrontal cortex. It keeps developing in many people till the mid 20s. It makes it so accessing empathy (and judgement in general) non-instantaneous for teens. Adults have the mylenation, so can far more quickly access the prefrontal cortex's gifts in a split second manner. http://hrweb.mit.edu/worklife/youngadult/brain.html http://hrweb.mit.edu/worklife/youngadult/brain.html for more on this effect While you certainly may be able to learn things as well, this is a developmental brain function issue too. There is a limited amount of training, and a certain amount of waiting, involved in getting an adult.
- arnarbi 13y agoThank you! Very happy to learn that for once, science backs up my mental model of something.