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AS Quotient Empathy

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Do you empathise "too much"?
Yes 31%  31%  [ 11 ]
No 69%  69%  [ 25 ]
Total votes : 36

Narrator
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16 Sep 2014, 5:10 am

I can't answer yes or no to the OPQ, "Do I empathize too much?" It depend on if I open myself up to it. When I do, it can be overwhelming and even embarrassing, and sometimes inappropriate. Some people seem to be able to control the "flow" of empathy, and thus their emotional reaction/response. Other people's joy, success, hurt, defeat, happiness, laughter, tears, distress all produce a deeply visceral effect in me, if I'm open to it.


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olympiadis
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16 Sep 2014, 10:26 am

GeekChic wrote:
Quote:
There have been a great many times when I have felt things ( better described as states than emotions ) from plants more so than the majority of people that have been around me.
I was naturally drawn to plants as a child and have always been a gardener since I was around 7 years old I think.


Woah, Olympiadis!
I cannot believe it, I have NEVER met another person besides my self who empathized with plants! I love plants, to me they have personalities and I cannot stand it when I see a really neglected one or a discarded one. I often bring them home and rehabilitate them. I have lots of plants, and a garden too, plus flower beds. I feel guilty if I don't get out and collect seeds, or if I don't re-plant cuttings that were necessary to make.

Do you also have feelings about or interactions with inanimate objects?



Yes, sometimes, though I don't think I"m feeling emotions from an object, just something special like an intelligence, or a fairly unique way the object interacts with its environment.
It's especially noticeable when I'm near a large mass of metal. It may be some sense of electronic charge or magnetism. It's pretty common in nature for other animals to intuitively sense magnetic fields, even the Earth's.

When I'm waiting in an office and I see plants that need water, or need to be exposed to more light, then I just take care of it. It's not an issue of if someone is watching me or not, so I know that I really care about them as living beings.



JuliaBoon
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17 Sep 2014, 9:11 pm

Narrator wrote:
I can't answer yes or no to the OPQ, "Do I empathize too much?" It depend on if I open myself up to it. When I do, it can be overwhelming and even embarrassing, and sometimes inappropriate. Some people seem to be able to control the "flow" of empathy, and thus their emotional reaction/response. Other people's joy, success, hurt, defeat, happiness, laughter, tears, distress all produce a deeply visceral effect in me, if I'm open to it.


I think Narrator has finally hit the nail on the head. The "flow of empathy" is put very nicely. This can be true.
Still, does yes or no on the test increases my AQ score?


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lostonearth35
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27 Jul 2015, 8:30 pm

I have not only imagined being someone else, I have occasionally wished I could be someone else, even if only for a while. Usually these wishes would come on strong when I was being taken for surgery on my ears, and I wished I could be in someone else's body so I wouldn't have to endure the pain, discomfort, and humiliation. Back then the one person I wanted to be was my mom. She was healthy, happy and attractive and still is. Although she's always had a problem with allergies and asthma, and she can't draw cartoons.

Too bad it's impossible - to put your mind and personality, or "soul", into someone or something else so you don't have to suffer certain things like surgery or illness or medicinal side effects. Of course, if your body died you'd never get to be back in it again.