Empathy? Empathy? Who the f*ck is Empathy? Heh.

[Soph0571]

Two things have got my attention in the last 24 hours that really make me despair for a progressive future, one across the pond and one from here in Brit land. Neither of these things is shocking or breaking news, rather they reinforce the shit place we find ourselves in, and I don’t know about you, but I want my country back from these right wing nasty bastards that have hi-jacked it.

Firstly, why the fuck is it that white middle class privileged wankers think they have the right to tell the rest of us what we should find offensive? This is about the Megxit coverage but it is wider than that. It is up to any community who is being discriminated against to define what it is that is offensive, not a bunch of out of touch racist wankers who would not recognise exclusion if it jumped up and bit them on their white pasty arse. They have a complete and utter lack of empathy, you see.

Secondly, I was reading the comment section in the guardian last night on an opinion pieces about BLOTUS. Now, some of these may have been Bots, but there were a significant number of comments excusing the madness of the behaviour of this administration, cause ‘it is all about the economy, stupid’. They are willing to ignore sexual assault, mass murder, concentration camps on the border, roll back of gay rights, complete and utter war on female agency, nazi torches burning, etc et al, because their interest rate may be a wee bit lower. They have a complete and utter lack of empathy, you see.

Two sides of the same really nasty, white is right, we have ours so we do not give a shit about yours, we are right, you are wrong, we are white, we are better, we are loaded, we will lecture and heckle you if you stand against us, we do not have to consider your point of view, our voice counts more than yours complete and utter bollocks.

Lack of empathy, a clear, distinct and fucking unpleasant right wing trait across our lands. They have lost their empathy, if they ever had any, and you can’t teach that... yikes 😱

[PandoraAwakened]

1. Indeed, you cannot teach empathy

Empathy stems from an area of the brain called the "anterior insular cortex." Deficits in this part of the brain are definitively linked to lack of empathy. So, you're right, empathy is not something that can be taught. Also, it is not something that you can have on one day and then mysteriously lose on another. You either have a healthy anterior insular cortex (therefore, capable of empathy) or you have a deficient and/or diseased anterior insular cortex (thus, incapable of empathy).

Wouldn't it be interesting if we could do MRIs on control groups of right-wingers? I, for one, am willing to hypothesize that regarding their anterior insular cortexes, we would find these people are indeed "brain dead." Would make for an interesting study...

Thanks for venting!

[abqtommy]

2. I disagree. I learned to be empathetic at my mothers knee. Quite a woman, me Mum...

[llmart]

3. +1

I agree with you. Empathy, exhibited by the people closest to you when you are growing up and reinforced by those people, can be taught though probably not as easily once you become an adult.

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Ditto. Teaching Tolerance by SPLC.

[PandoraAwakened]

5. Yes, employment of & outward display of empathy is learned, but...

one has to first have the physiological capacity for empathy in order for those lessons to take hold. So good that you have been doubly blessed with both the brain capacity for empathy and a mother wise enough to cultivate that capacity.

[abqtommy]

10. I was thinking about this empathy business as I went about my business today. Even a

person who isn't inclined to be empathetic/ethical can BEHAVE that way to present a good
appearance/optic to obtain votes to stay in power. Example: It wouldn't have cost tRUMP anything to fully support Puerto Rico. But no, tRUMP has to shoot from the lip. The present-day reTHUGS have abandoned even the pretense of acting as if they cared, being emboldened to present their corruption for all to see. I think this is going to backfire on them big-time. As a valid empathist/ethicist I know that words are one thing and behavior is another.

I don't understand why people would take a stance that is supported by a minority of the voters and
population of the U.S. and anticipate that a fair and secure election will keep them in power. The
corruption runs deep and we all have to do our part to make sure it's defeated, whether we understand them or not. It's easy to see the harm/evil that's being done even if we don't use fancy medical
testing.

note: I see I posted this in the wrong order. I meant for it to go under the original op...

[CaptYossarian]

6. The reason why I try to insult Trump and the other reich-wingers so much is

to show them what it's like to be bullied. They're all bullies themselves--and totally narcissistic.

I feel that if their feelings are as hurt as ours are, they might understand why we have empathy for others. The only time any of them showed hurt feelings was when our asshat first whore (lower case out of disrespect) had her thong in a bunch over references to Barron.

I don't know if my incessant insults are working, but it's fun just trying.

[lunasun]

7. They are in denial and most never leave the bubble of reinforcement for lack empathy

“Have you asked any black brits? “ Uh huh oh what but i already know how they feel
“ whole lot of colored people” “she is a sensitive girl”
Now why would she abandon us here , we most sincerely do not know ...maybe they do not and maybe they can not see that her husband has had his own issues with the tabloids and perhaps it’s not all the black lady wanting him to leave

Link to tweet

?s=21

Someone posted somewhere maybe not here a story about a soldier who said he learned empathy while in the military . For me, it seemed so odd that an adult would have to learn that, but I already know that there is a whole set of people walking around who appear to have very little or no empathy for others .
Also for me, this character trait of lacking empathy almost seems like a defect, it is so hard to imagine a person existing without it like that .

The good thing to know from the soldier story was that people claim they can change .

[Firestorm49]

8. Empathy and transparency share the same grave.

[saidsimplesimon]

9. A quote from "the white pasty arse"

we Americans pay to mumble in public and spend taxpayer dollars on "kidney surgery". "I don't care do you?".

The family has a trip planned to Davos, Switzerland on our dime next week. I'm sure trump will want his sycophants to exonerate him of all charges before then.

You nailed it, "lack of empathy".

[ancianita]

11. It's hard. But I'm not sure it's winning.

I’ve been reading Mark Fisher’s K-PUNK, a collection of his blogs since his death.

I’ve learned that a lot of how I saw Brits changed, and not because he’s the last word; because he gets at important root causes of everyone’s Seeming apathy, depression and withdrawal from people, which is what media and current neoliberals owners want.

I’d only recommend it as another perspective which you might find helpful. He was a young, new voice.

Hang tough. The future is not as fixed as many think.

[bluescribbler]

12. You can teach empathy.

But you have to start really young. Toddlers are not too young to begin to learn empathy. I know it can be done, because my parents did it, with me and my siblings. It is possible, but only if the parents, educators, and other adults' in the child's life care enough.

[dominic savio]

13. empathy and kindness

radical concepts indeed.
both can be taught (brain topography not withstanding) by example and discussion. twenty some years ago, sharing breakfast with my three year old son, we traded thoughts about that day's "ethical dilemma".
Today he is a twenty three with a heart filled with kindness, love and empathy...makes a dad proud...

[Karadeniz]

14. Teaching empathy should be a criterion for teaching Christianity. Teaching biographical details

About Jesus's life and times is way down the priority list to be Christian.