Just read the study from 2009: Aspies have TOO MUCH Empathy

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Straight from good old Wikipedia:

Sympathy = you've been there
Empathy = you feel like you've been there, even though you haven't

I used to be quite sensitive and empathetic, but, over the years, I've become somewhat desensitized to the suffering of others.

Nowhere in that description from wikipedia does it define sympathy or empathy as you have.

Recognition of a person's emotions does not mean that you've experienced that emotion or circumstance. All that description is saying is that you see someone experiencing an emotion, and you recognize what that emotion is.

AKA sympathy=recognition and understanding of another's emotions or circumstances.

The article describes empathy as an emotion that is congruent to another person's emotion.

AKA empathy=experiencing the same emotion as another person.

I'm still not sure where you are getting your definitions. That wikipedia article comes nowhere close to defining sympathy as 'having been there' and empathy as 'feeling like you've been there.'

I still don't see how that's experiencing someone else's emotions.

Technically, you're still just having your own emotional experience, it's just being triggered by seeing someone else in pain. In the case of the horror movie, the actor may not even be really feeling the emotions he's portraying, he's just making it look like he is; it's why it's called "acting."

Experiments with monkeys that are known to have no "theory of mind" have demonstrated that the animals react negatively to seeing other monkeys in distress. It's doubtful there's any higher-level cognitive process involved, it's just an adaptation that evolved in social animals to make it easier to cooperate and live in groups. And I don't see how it's a "gifted trait" if a bunch of monkeys can do it.

That's me. But not days. 34 years and counting. At the age of 9 discovered that people are suffering, and animals are suffering, and there is so much pain right now. I spent the rest of my life trying to fix it. Wrecked my life. Even "little" things overwhelm me. Like last night, a program on the radio about hedgehogs being killed. And a few days earlier, a podcast saying that grey squirrels "need" to be killed.

I cannot bear the idea of suffering, and especially the smug majority who spend their lives supporting the system that causes it.

TecnoDog: Who is abusing whom in the article?

I'd agree that that isn't an example of experiencing someone else's emotions. That's reacting to other people having emotions.

I'm trying to figure out how to explain feeling others emotions, and nothing is managing to get the little details right while discussing emotions. To turn to an easier to understand metaphor.

It's like most people watch someone eating a slice of watermelon and can imagine the flavor of watermelon. Some do so automatically, because they like watermelon or because they react strongly to that sort of situation. In this metaphorical situation, when someone like me watches someone eat a watermelon, even though we don't have watermelon in our mouths, we taste watermelon in our mouths, instead of imagining the taste of watermelon.

The fact that in that situation the taste receptors aren't triggering, doesn't mean the mind can tell the difference between the taste of watermelon when watching someone else eat it, and when that body is the one eating watermelon.

I understand what you're saying, and of course, I understand that the actors are not feeling the emotion they are portraying...but the character is meant to, and if a film is well made, the audience should have aligned themselves with the character.

You should check out the post I made on the other thread related to empathy that's floating around. I understand that, technically, any emotion you feel belongs to you, because you are the one feeling it. However, there are times when I feel a certain way, with no discernable cause, and only later will I discover that the person I was with was feeling that emotion, even though they weren't outwardly expressing it, and that some event earlier in the day triggered that emotion in them. So, in this situation, I can't claim ownership of what I was feeling, because it was actually the other person's emotion that I was picking up on, without realizing it.

It's kind of similar to another trait of mine, in which someone will say something to me, and moments later, I'll say the same thing, as if it was my own unique idea. The person with me will look at me like I'm crazy, and explain that they had just said the exact same thing. What's happening, of course, is that my mind is processing the information, but I'm not aware of it. In this case, would you say the thought was mine? No, it was the other person's thought, I just didn't realize it at the time. It's like inception! Anyway, I think you could apply that same concept to the feeling of someone else's emotion. Yes, you are feeling the emotion, but you don't really have 'ownership' of it.

I'm still back on the difference between sympathy and empathy. I think the word sympathy is often used when someone lost someone they loved. In that case, if you say you have sympathy, you mean you understand they are sad and they have your support to be that way.

With empathy, though, I think it usually is used to mean if someone feels something that can be fixed or improved. So, you wouldn't laugh at someone who is hungry, you would share your lunch if you had some. Still lines are fuzzy.

From the Internet somewhere:

Sympathy and empathy are separate terms with some very important distinctions. Sympathy and empathy are both acts of feeling, but with sympathy you feel for the person; you’re sorry for them or pity them, but you don’t specifically understand what they’re feeling. Sometimes we’re left with little choice but to feel sympathetic because we really can’t understand the plight or predicament of someone else. It takes imagination, work, or possibly a similar experience to get to empathy.

Empathy can best be described as feeling with the person. Notice the distinction between for and with. To an extent you are placing yourself in that person’s place, have a good sense of what they feel, and understand their feelings to a degree. It may be impossible to be fully empathetic because each individual's reactions, thoughts and feelings to tragedy are going to be unique. Yet the idea of empathy implies a much more active process. Instead of feeling sorry for, you’re sorry with and have clothed yourself in the mantle of someone else’s emotional reactions.

Hmm, I see this in regards to me (diagnosis pending, though I suspect my family knew I was autistic as far back as 1964) in to ways. Yes, emotions are very overloading. I fact, they make my sensory issues take a back seat, when they are strong. Also, I have trouble seperating & recognizing the EXACT one if the other person is emoting strongly. I tend to try & step back from this.
I also have trouble expressing my own emotions. Either I do not do it in time, or I go overboard & over-react.
btw, I really understand empathy in the old sense, which is actually a form of ESP where you can sense another's emotions from afar. An experience I have actually had. ONCE. And I do not EVER want it again. Very painful, it involved a death in my girlfriend's family while I was away at college some distance away.

Sincerely,
Matthew

Well on this Big 5 personality test

Empathy:- Tendencies to be especially sensitive to feelings, both ones' & those of others, & in self-improvement.

Sympathy:- Tendencies to be especially sensitive to the misfortune of others & to take an interest in helping them.

Really they is 9 category’s under Agreeableness Traits.

Understanding ( Respect & sympathize with other persons' feelings, interests & viewpoints, helpful.)
Warmth ( Make people feel welcome )
Morality ( Respect for others, modestry, loyalty. )
Pleasantness ( kind, trusting, socially pleasant. )
Empathy
Cooperation ( This one has the avoids making fun of others. )
Sympathy
Tenderness ( Shows feelings, cries in empathy, etc )
Nurturance ( Go out of ones way to help & please others, putting them before self. )

Not stuck all the box info down.

I find I cannot watch movies or read fiction books if they trigger sad emotions. I know they are not real but I cannot help it. I feel there is enough sadness in the world dealing with real-life situations involving family, friends and even world/local news. I don't understand how people can subject themselves to watching sad movies or reading books. Why do people want to be sad? I tend to avoid most movies or fiction books. I don't like surprises when there is twists in story-lines that trigger sad emotions.

i don't know if i have empathy with other people so much as sympathy as others have said. I believe that if I have actually shared similar experiences then, yes I can empathize. I am usually filled with profound sadness when listening to people tell me they've gone through similar experiences to me. I have always noticed that when reading fiction I pick up and take on the emotions of the characters in the book very well. it's funny how it colors my thoughts for the duration of reading the book. I felt such an affinity with the characters of "The Sun also Rises", that I seriously wondered if i had lived during that time in a past life!! Silly, I know. But I think it would have been great to be a socialite in 1920's Paris....Ok, drifting off topic....

I'm completely confused when it comes to the whole empathy thing. Some people use the word synonymously to sympathy. In such case, I have empathy. I am more detached than others though, which ironically causes some friends to come to me for advise since they know they'll get an honest opinion, even though I care. If, however, empathy means the ability to "mind read", I'm in almost complete lack of empathy, but still have sympathy.

The annoying thing with this inconsistent use of the word "empathy", is the existence of psychopaths. Most people associate lack of empathy with psychopathy. But a psychopath doesn't lack empathy in the "mind reading" sense - on the contrary, he (or she) has an abundance of it. He knows exactly what to do to make others miserable. To know that, he has to know how to produce the opposite result too, but chooses to make people miserable. Except the people he allies himself with, who tend to love him because he's charming, fun and makes them feel happy. So that's an overabundance of empathy - most people have no idea how to manipulate other people's feelings that efficiently. Everyone does it to some extent, but the psychopath is the master of it, while an autistic person very often is in the opposite end of the "spectrum".

So with this definition, the psychopath will have empathy but not sympathy, while the average autistic person would have sympathy, but not empathy. If they mean the same thing, which it does in common speech, distinguishing the two is made difficult. I really hate that, when media can report one day that "serial killer such and such is thought to have antisocial personality disorder, popularly known as psychopathy, which is characterized by a complete lack of empathy", and then the next day there's an article about autism, saying "one of the core symptoms of autism/asperger's is lack of empathy". Most people would then think autism is something similar to psychopathy. And in reality, they are pretty much complete opposites.

I am confused about what empathy is as well. I feel like I am VERY VERY empathic of characters in TV shows or movies, yet not at all in real life. I always thought something was wrong with me because of this. If one of my friends is crying in front of me I just want to run away, yet I feel great and deep emotions that more or less overcome me when watching films. Movies and TV have helped me understand people. I don't know why this doesn't translate to reality.