So much for empathy.

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If people's empathy is so great and they think about other people's feeling's so much why do they seem to be filled with glee when something horrible happens to someone?.
There was a car crash outside a while ago and nearly everyone was out in the street,they looked like they where all really enjoying it.
There where police and ambulance there,it looked like some people could be dead from the state of the car.
I see people look really happy when someone is getting gossiped about and once i saw a man that looked like a tramp that had died and there where teenagers laughing about trying to give him the kiss of life.
Now when i see people happy it makes me think of what horrible things could be happening or who is getting picked on.

I think most people are capable of empathy, but when they are in groups, they are easily affected by others and may display a lack of empathy. For example in the car crash scene, woman A might feel very bad about the car crash, then woman B came along and started talking to woman A about it, the conversation soon led to something other than the car crash and they forgot about the accident. And in the case of the teenagers it's even easier to explain, 2 words, peer pressure.
I'm pretty sure that when people are happy, the majority of them don't have their happiness based on other people's pain.

Empathy is something NTs claim they have and we haven`t.Well in 42 years and several different countries and continents I have not seen much evidence of it.Its a bit like the Loch Ness monster or the Yeti I reckon...

Agree with the above sentiment. I think what most NT's have is an ability to fake concern better then we do and mouth greeting card sentiments. I have seen more compassion for others on this web-site then in the NT's in my daily life.

People do heavily influence one another. .

I think another thing to consider is that a lot of nervous reactions can look a lot like happiness; for example, in the famous Stanley Milgram Obedience experiments. .
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... ex=1&hl=en

Here's a more recent variation for those who require more explanation--not sure if it includes the laughing thing. . .

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... ex=0&hl=en

I have heard of laughing being a release of tension response,so that is possible. I think because many NT's like to talk to each other, they do like being a part of something that they can then tell their friends..."I was there when..." considering how much time people spend on their cell phones, they must eventually run out of comments on American Idol and how close they came to getting laid last night and how their boss is a jerk because..."


I do think that an aspie veiwing the same incident is more likely to act to try and "fix" the problem,call 911 or pull someone from a car. maybe out of "empathy" but also out of a "this is wrong and makes me uncomfortable and so I am going to try and make it right..."