It sometimes seems to me that we really don't need to be malicious, hateful or deliberately unkind to hurt others. Pretty often, just a lack of empathy or understanding is quite enough.
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Empathy and understanding...
- Thread starter Evangelicalhumanist
- Start date
vulcanlogician
Well-Known Member
Interesting point. One of my dear friends became addicted to opioids at a given point in his life. He wasn't exactly a saint before or anything, but the opiates seemed to have taken away any basic concern or AWARENESS of what others around him were going through.
Empathy is different from compassion. Compassion is a "virtue" or "activity" or "wy of seeing others" or something like that. But empathy is AWARENESS. Nothing more. Nothing less.
I used to think my friend's ADDICTION is what turned him into an *******. But at one point I learned that that was not the case. He cleaned up for a month or so and his old personality came back. He actually gave a crap about inconveniencing people and stuff like that. And I was there the day he resumed his opiate use. In a matter of hours he was the exact uncaring piece of crap he'd been for all those years on opiates.
It helped me stop blaming my friend for being so uncaring. It was a lack of AWARENESS of others emotions and interests, that's all. It was a lack of empathy... NOT a disposition toward hateful or callous behavior.
Empathy is different from compassion. Compassion is a "virtue" or "activity" or "wy of seeing others" or something like that. But empathy is AWARENESS. Nothing more. Nothing less.
I used to think my friend's ADDICTION is what turned him into an *******. But at one point I learned that that was not the case. He cleaned up for a month or so and his old personality came back. He actually gave a crap about inconveniencing people and stuff like that. And I was there the day he resumed his opiate use. In a matter of hours he was the exact uncaring piece of crap he'd been for all those years on opiates.
It helped me stop blaming my friend for being so uncaring. It was a lack of AWARENESS of others emotions and interests, that's all. It was a lack of empathy... NOT a disposition toward hateful or callous behavior.
Heyo
Veteran Member
All it takes to hurt somebody is honesty.
mikkel_the_dane
My own religion
But there is a limit to understanding and empathy as connected to the law of non-contradiction.
If you for your behaviour in effect rely on X is Y and not Z, yet I understand it as X is Z and not Y, then I in a sense can't understand you, because your position makes no sense to me.
So to get around that I have to accept that you understand differently than me and yet it still can make sense to you, if it doesn't make sense to me.
As a general principle it amounts to for empathy and understanding that you matter as a human qua a belief in that humans matter as such, even how you do it, don't matter to me personally.
Don't over-do it.
The surprising downsides of empathy
There’s a dark side to feeling the emotions of other people. In some cases, it can even lead to cruelty, aggression, and distress.
defeating reason & judgement.
So don't risk your starship & all the lives
aboard in a desperate act to save 1 person.
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Need?
Quite enough for what, exactly?
There are some thoughts missing there. What are we supposed to be filling them in with? Rather than assume, I'm asking.
Quite enough for what, exactly?
There are some thoughts missing there. What are we supposed to be filling them in with? Rather than assume, I'm asking.
One example from my professional life:
Road crash fatalities are decreasing in most categories, but are rising alarmingly for pedestrians.
The biggest contributing factor seems to be an increasing consumer preference for SUVs and pickup trucks, as well as car manufacturers increasing the nose heights of these vehicles year-over-year.
Nobody making the decisions contributing to these fatalities is intending to kill people, but that is the result of all these decisions on a large scale, because they're all made without due consideration for the people getting hurt and killed.
Everything you need is in the post. The construction isn't that difficult.
"It sometimes seems to me that we really don't need to be malicious, hateful or deliberately unkind to hurt others. Pretty often, just a lack of empathy or understanding is quite enough."
In order to hurt others, it is not always necessary to be malicious, hateful or deliberately unkind. You can often be hurtful just through not being understanding or empathetic.
No need to overdo anything. I said "often," not always. You won't ruin the whole Senior Prom by letting the one gay guy bring his boyfriend.Don't over-do it.
....& lead to bad decisions due to emotionThe surprising downsides of empathy
There’s a dark side to feeling the emotions of other people. In some cases, it can even lead to cruelty, aggression, and distress.www.bbc.com
defeating reason & judgement.
So don't risk your starship & all the lives
aboard in a desperate act to save 1 person.
Never been to a prom.
That was for the ones who socialized.
So empathy for would be more like sympathy with? Added to compassion is the desire to bring change.