I don't think we can ever have too much empathy The deeper you feel, the more you are moved to positive action And, it's how we define a moral life Without it we are destructive, directionless, and inhuman
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Replying to @cosimia_
Empathy is no virtue, usually. What we actually need more of is *compassion*. Anytime when the stakes are high: you want a surgeon not to feel your pain (empathy) but to treat you well (compassion). The reason we identify with 1 poverty stricken person but not millions is empathy
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Replying to @ToKTeacher @cosimia_
For more on this see, for example https://www.amazon.com/Against-Empathy-Case-Rational-Compassion/dp/0062339338 … by
@paulbloomatyale and various talks he's given (especially to@SamHarrisOrg who has likewise spoken and written about this crucial topic to get clear. :)1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes -
Replying to @ToKTeacher @cosimia_ and
(Far from moving people, too much empathy clouds judgement: it blinds people to actual solutions. Caught up in the emotion, they leave behind reason that can help those suffering. Hence *compassion*: a loving species of kindness that is at once detached and (so) moved to action).
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I get you, butttt I also feel like compassion wouldn't exist without empathy? When we feel others pain vicariously, we want to protect them for it just add we would ourselves. Anyway, I was considering them here as one and the same
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If you are using them that way: ok. What people typically mean is something like “I feel your pain”. It’s about feelings. Feelings are useful sometimes: but just as a *rough* guide because they’re hazardously misleading. Hence the need for *thoughtful* kindness (compassion). :)
2 replies 0 retweets 1 like
Agreed
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