This comment will probably seem tone-deaf at best and malicious at worst. I want to be clear that I am not saying people shouldn’t be empathetic. I’m not saying that empathy-based morality is a problem. I’m not saying being a bigot is okay. So what am I saying?
It’s just that yesterday I learned from the Healthy Minds program that empathy can sometimes be problematic, and that the solution is compassion.
The problem has to do with the fact that some service workers are immersed in workplaces filled with suffering. Think of nurses. Think of first-aid responders. These people constantly see human suffering. And if these service workers empathize with the suffering, they themselves can suffer immensely.
The solution, the Healthy Minds program claims, is to not be empathetic, but compassionate. The difference is that empathy, at its core, is about understanding and feeling what others are thinking and feeling. However, compassion is about understanding others enough to be able to understand their difficulties, and (crucially) wishing them well. Empathy over-identifies with suffering and compassion believes suffering is the current reality but improvements are possible.
If you are interested in reading about this, it’s ironic that the Wikipedia article is titled “Compassion fatigue”. I suppose that the Healthy Minds app uses different definitions than the Wikipedia article.
Anyway, I will do what the program suggests and wish you all the best!
This comment will probably seem tone-deaf at best and malicious at worst. I want to be clear that I am not saying people shouldn’t be empathetic. I’m not saying that empathy-based morality is a problem. I’m not saying being a bigot is okay. So what am I saying?
It’s just that yesterday I learned from the Healthy Minds program that empathy can sometimes be problematic, and that the solution is compassion.
The problem has to do with the fact that some service workers are immersed in workplaces filled with suffering. Think of nurses. Think of first-aid responders. These people constantly see human suffering. And if these service workers empathize with the suffering, they themselves can suffer immensely.
The solution, the Healthy Minds program claims, is to not be empathetic, but compassionate. The difference is that empathy, at its core, is about understanding and feeling what others are thinking and feeling. However, compassion is about understanding others enough to be able to understand their difficulties, and (crucially) wishing them well. Empathy over-identifies with suffering and compassion believes suffering is the current reality but improvements are possible.
If you are interested in reading about this, it’s ironic that the Wikipedia article is titled “Compassion fatigue”. I suppose that the Healthy Minds app uses different definitions than the Wikipedia article.
Anyway, I will do what the program suggests and wish you all the best!
You oversimplified. The problem is not empathy on it’s own, but that’s how you worded it. The problem is life is fucked up.
That sounds like an oversimplification.