Your thoughts on the idea of Empathy

[{CLR} Naillik]

What do you think of it? Think it's real? Think it's lies? Post you thoughts about empathy.
For those of you that don't know, empathy is feeling anothers emotions automatically.

[baconoclock]

Real. I empathize quite often. For instance a coworker got pulled over yesterday going into work. I expressed my empathy at it because i have had multiple sppeeding tickets (damn lead foot).

I think the phraise 'i know how you feel' would fit nicely with empathy.

[drunken_chef]

first, i have to ask, are we doing your homework?

how about this, i think ,most people that say they feel sympathy are actually feeling empathy.

[thedeadlyassassin]

I feel it all all the time.


It's real

[Storm_Shadow]

I don't think it means feeling others' emotions "automatically." If it were, I would say that it was pure hogwash.

However, defined, it means:
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: em?pa?thy
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -thies
1 : the imaginative projection of a subjective state into an object so that the object appears to be infused with it
2 : the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner; also : the capacity for empathy
In other words, it's the act of being able to relate to someone else's situation without that situation being fully explained. We can do this by drawing from emotions and thoughts from our own experiences, and projecting them into that person. Walking in their shoes, so to speak.

In this way, I would say that empathy is very real! In fact, it is one of those vital things that give our lives meaning. Who wants to go through life thinking that no one ever understood where they were coming from or what they meant? You hear me, dawg? :wink: .... word! :twisted:

[L_Mo]

Bah storm shadow beat me to it... I usually check before I click 'submit' in case I took too longer responding. I will add that the level of an empathetic reaction probably depends on the bond with the person and the strength of the emotion. For example, you might actually feel happy if your friend gets into college, a new job, or a raise.. etc. However, you probably wouldn't physically cry if a friend lost a relative, even though you could probably understand their feelings.

One other thing to add (only because I think it's interesting): Empathy is actually one of the last things to develop in children. It can take as long as grade school for children to even realize that other people have their own independent emotions. A common example is when a kid gets upset because their parent is very tired and doesn't want to play. The child is actually incapable of understanding his/her parent's lack of desire to play.

If you're looking for a good debate, you could question altruism.

[Premonition]

not to be confused with sympathy.

[{CLR} Naillik]

first, i have to ask, are we doing your homework?

No. My teachers aren't imaginative enough for anything more than the "Writing process" :|

[Minerva]

http://al.turtlecounseling.com/blog/_archives/2007/2/24/2762574.html

[mapes]

I don't feel like it :D

[TheSilentAssassin]

Ehh...No, especially not in gaming

http://www.vop.co.kr/news/upload_200703/66995-30004.jpg
NO PRSIONERS!
NO MERCY!