My son, Zack, sent me this e-mail in response to my query as to whether young people are really less empathetic than their predecessors: Without knowing the details of the study, it’s really hard to judge how accurate it is. If it’s empathy for the struggles of minorities, I think young people are much more […]
I read about a new study that claims that college kids are about 40% less empathetic than their counterparts 20 or 30 years ago. This was a large study analyzing data on 14,000 college students. The results were obtained by asking students pretty straight-forward questions like how much they agree with the statement, “I sometimes […]
Good news on the empathy front! New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow reports on the Gallup research organization’s findings that the percentage of Americans who feel that gay and lesbian relations are “morally acceptable” has passed the 50% mark. Further, the increase comes about because men have dramatically increased their acceptance of homosexuality in […]
Are we required to have empathy for those who are evil? I recently watched the movie Hotel Rwanda. This is, of course, a very disturbing movie about true evil that was committed on a massive scale, as well as being a hopeful movie about courage and respect for the humanity of others in the face […]
I was going to write about how the overwhelming response to the earthquake disaster in Haiti gives us clear evidence that empathy is alive and well in the human population. We see millions of people suffering enormous loss, and we must respond, millions of us in return. We are compelled to help people we don’t […]
I grew up with parents who were extremely empathetic– both toward others and toward us, my sisters, brother and me. The Christmas season reminds me of a wonderful example of that. As the oldest of the four kids, I was the first to learn the truth about Santa Claus. I felt very important and grown-up […]
How difficult is it to live with family members who are unable to feel empathy for you or each other? I’ve had a series of interesting e-mails from a woman who recently discovered the empathy symbol and the website. She tells of the daily anguish of living just such a life. She suggested that we […]
We all start life as sociopaths. Babies don’t much care that mommy is dead tired from getting up every two hours to feed them. Their cries say it all: “Feed me. Change me. Hold me. Meet my needs.” Fortunately, we are also hardwired from the beginning to be interested in other human beings, to gain […]
The Henry Louis Gates incident is a situation crying out for an empathetic response. You have to ask yourself, if you are not a person of color, how would it feel to be automatically regarded suspiciously by the police, even in your own home? How would it feel to know that you can be stopped […]
Wanted: Supreme Court Justice. Must be empathetic and understanding. President Obama is going to appoint a replacement for David Souter, and his number one criterion for a candidate is empathy! When have you ever heard that before? Obama says he’s looking for someone “who understands that justice isn’t about some abstract legal theory… It is […]