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I find the amount of people that have a complete and utter lack of empathy staggering. Average people really couldn't care less if someone they don't know is hu

by Mahn 12y ago

I find the amount of people that have a complete and utter lack of empathy staggering. Average people really couldn't care less if someone they don't know is hurt as long as they have what they want; coming across somebody truly empathetic is really a rarity. I've always found this rather depressing.

toomuchtodo 12y ago
I'm not quite sure how to fix this problem. I'm empathetic (I believe) because I've had terrible things happen to me in my life. I'm not sure everyone has to go through terrible things to be empathetic, and I worry about what my children would have to go through to have that same level of empathy. How do you teach something where you have to feel it to understand?
- GauntletWizard 12y ago
  I'm no longer empathetic, because whenever I felt bad for people because terrible things happened to them, I saw them repeat mistakes. Empathy is behavior that only works if those around you are trustworthy. Societal empathy destroys the requirement to be so; and therefore makes it dangerous for individuals and society to be empathetic.
  - toomuchtodo 12y ago
    > because whenever I felt bad for people because terrible things happened to them, I saw them repeat mistakes. Keep in mind, there are terrible things that happen to people because of their choices, and terrible things that happen to people that are beyond their control. There is a difference. > Societal empathy destroys the requirement to be so; and therefore makes it dangerous for individuals and society to be empathetic. Fixing society is currently beyond my experience cone unfortunately :/
  - coderzach 12y ago
    > Empathy is behavior that only works if those around you are trustworthy. I would argue that this isn't true, so long as you make decisions rationally and not emotionally. Sharing an emotional state with someone can be a valuable tool in understanding them. Just don't let this shared emotional state cloud your decisions.
  - thomasatethose 12y ago
    sounds like me when I play settlers of catan
  - eevilspock 12y ago
    > Empathy is behavior that only works if those around you are trustworthy. You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means.
  - rhizome 12y ago
    whenever I felt bad for people because terrible things happened to them, I saw them repeat mistakes. I think this would point to having a shallower level of empathy than you know is necessary.
  - agumonkey 12y ago
    Paradoxically empathetic way to not empathize. You still care about their well being.

by Mahn 12y ago

toomuchtodo 12y ago

I'm not quite sure how to fix this problem. I'm empathetic (I believe) because I've had terrible things happen to me in my life. I'm not sure everyone has to go through terrible things to be empathetic, and I worry about what my children would have to go through to have that same level of empathy. How do you teach something where you have to feel it to understand?

GauntletWizard 12y ago
I'm no longer empathetic, because whenever I felt bad for people because terrible things happened to them, I saw them repeat mistakes. Empathy is behavior that only works if those around you are trustworthy. Societal empathy destroys the requirement to be so; and therefore makes it dangerous for individuals and society to be empathetic.
- toomuchtodo 12y ago
  > because whenever I felt bad for people because terrible things happened to them, I saw them repeat mistakes. Keep in mind, there are terrible things that happen to people because of their choices, and terrible things that happen to people that are beyond their control. There is a difference. > Societal empathy destroys the requirement to be so; and therefore makes it dangerous for individuals and society to be empathetic. Fixing society is currently beyond my experience cone unfortunately :/
- coderzach 12y ago
  > Empathy is behavior that only works if those around you are trustworthy. I would argue that this isn't true, so long as you make decisions rationally and not emotionally. Sharing an emotional state with someone can be a valuable tool in understanding them. Just don't let this shared emotional state cloud your decisions.
- thomasatethose 12y ago
  sounds like me when I play settlers of catan
- eevilspock 12y ago
  > Empathy is behavior that only works if those around you are trustworthy. You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means.
- rhizome 12y ago
  whenever I felt bad for people because terrible things happened to them, I saw them repeat mistakes. I think this would point to having a shallower level of empathy than you know is necessary.
- agumonkey 12y ago
  Paradoxically empathetic way to not empathize. You still care about their well being.