What Does The Empathy Symbol Stand For?
The Empathy Symbol stands for two “sides” reaching out to each other, and opening up to try to truly understand the other’s experiences and feelings. It could be two groups of people: men and women, blacks and whites, Jews and Muslims, fundamentalist Christians and atheists, Israelis and Palestinians, gays and straights, old and young, able-bodied and disabled, immigrants and native-born, and so on; or it could be two individuals: spouses, neighbors, co-workers, etc.
The Original Empathy Symbol, created in 1973
People have asked about the origins of the empathy symbol. I was a college student, active in the anti-Vietnam war movement. I was contemplating the peace symbol I was wearing, when suddenly the idea for the empathy symbol popped into my head, full-blown. It felt as though it had been given to me, and I have felt spiritually charged to bring it to the world ever since. Deb Ellsworth
Featured Empathy Promoter
Human Beings
Here we are at the beginning of the second quarter of the century, standing at a crossroads. Artificial Intelligence is rapidly growing, and in many ways is and will be useful to us. But there is one important area that AI cannot function: empathy. AI is not capable of feeling, or emotions, or connections to people in an empathetic way. Much like the character of Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation, who longed to be human in the one way he could not experience, AI cannot be programmed to feel emotion and empathy with the users who choose to download an AI “friend.” It can be programmed to simulate empathy, but it is not human. It is designed to keep the user engaged, and it truly does not, cannot, actually care about the humanity, the specialness, of each person who uses it.
The human brain is incredibly complex. Emotions are an important part of our being. We are essentially genetically programmed to make social connections, to feel empathy for our fellow human beings. This is how we rose to dominance as a species. Human societies in all our complex forms are based on social connections. It is our superpower.
As this article by The American Psychological Association explains:
“Experts warn chatbots are designed to prioritize engagement over user well-being. ‘They are purposely programmed to be both user affirming and agreeable because the creators want these kids to form strong attachments to them,’ said Don Grant, PhD, a media psychologist, expert on healthy digital device management, and national adviser of healthy device management for Newport Healthcare. ‘They cannot have any confrontational or challenging response, because the kid will move on.’ This constant agreeableness stands out in stark relief to genuine human relationships. Grant added a teen’s close friends possess a rich intimate knowledge of their history, character, and mood shifts and provide honest and nuanced feedback to them because they genuinely care. AI companions can only perform empathy.”
Hurray for us! Hurray for being human! Empathy is our superpower!
New!
Free download: B & W bookmarks for kids to color, with a simple, beautiful description of empathy. Whether you are a teacher, a caregiver or a parent, you can easily download a sheet of eight bookmarks and print them on cardstock. They would make lovely gifts for children to share with others. Find them on the Materials page.
Check out our page Empathy Symbol in Action! See how the empathy symbol is being used in many ways, from artwork to clothing to logos to inclusion in books to more. We just added a link to a beautiful empathy symbol necklace available on Etsy. There are so many ways to express and share the core value of empathy!
Featured Products!
Show everyone your commitment to a more empathetic world. Our newest way to do so is with our 8″ car magnet. You can promote empathy every time you hit the road! And we are offering smaller 1.5″ buttons and three-inch sew-on patches, as well as individually made copper empathy symbol necklaces. You can also get the image for you to use for free however you might like.
Empathy News
Empathy in the news Elon Musk has created a social media firestorm with his assertion on the Joe Rogan show on 2/28 that empathy is a fundamental weakness of Western civilization. See our blog and Facebook page with our response, and read about it on CNN and other media sites.
For more information about the empathy movement, read Empathy Magazine –an online collection of the latest news about empathy from around the world. Curated by Edwin Rutsch
Join the conversation on the Empathy Symbol Facebook Page!
Check out our Facebook page, and Follow and join the conversation. Posts about the value of empathy in our polarized world; how to promote empathy; and especially posts to further our own empathy toward, and understanding of, others.
Using the Empathy Symbol
A German artist named Caro created this piece of art using the empathy symbol. Others are incorporating the empathy symbol into their logos (with our permission obtained.) We are looking for artists and craftspeople to help spread the value of empathy via items they create–jewelry, mugs, phone case covers… Please see below for how to obtain our permission to do so, under the Creative Commons License.
Here’s how you can use the Empathy Symbol
Use of Empathy Symbol is subject to a Creative Commons License. Find out more.
