The word ''empathy'' is becoming my worst word
auntblabby
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I feel that while I have no empathy I have more compassion than the average person.
May I recommend the book "Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion" by Paul Bloom. It not only makes this distinction but argues that empathy is one of the worst paths to compassion that there is.
in a nutshell, will you please tell me why empathy is one of the worst paths to compassion?
I have both empathy and compassion, and the decades have enhanced my capacity to feel for others in every way.
The endless posts that seek to educate us here (about what we already now) concerning binary differences in empathy have become so frequent and repetitive that they sound like a meme. Rarely does anyone look deeper into the origins of that binary construct and consider it from a wider or deeper perspective. I look forward to that day...
The good doc who diagnosed me gave me a book about aspergers. That book makes it pretty simple.
Empathy and sympathy are two different things.
Empathy is putting yourself in anothers shoes. Theory of mind, or what is sometimes called "cognative empathy".
Sympathy is something else. The book said aspies have tons of sympathy but lack empathy.
So, I, the reader extended that notion to conclude that: autistics have sympathy , but not empathy (are concerned for others but don't know how others tick), while sociopaths have empathy but no sympathy (know how others tick but use to exploit it to their own ends without mercy for others).
auntblabby
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if you instinctively hurt/cry when you see others in pain [even some infants cry when they see others crying], what is that called?
Sounds like what you describe here as sympathy.
There are two kinds of empathy I heard of alot when it comes to autism. They‘re called affective empathy and cognitive empathy. Affective empathy seems to be a synonyme for what you here call sympathy.
_________________
PDD-NOS (2013)
AQ: 32
Aspiequiz: 140/82
RAADS-R: 134
if you instinctively hurt/cry when you see others in pain [even some infants cry when they see others crying], what is that called?
That would be empathy combined with sympathy.
auntblabby
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Sounds like what you describe here as sympathy.
There are two kinds of empathy I heard of alot when it comes to autism. They‘re called affective empathy and cognitive empathy. Affective empathy seems to be a synonyme for what you here call sympathy.
sounds hard-wired to me, and if people utterly lack that, could they then be seen as pathologically antisocial/sociopathic?
Sounds like what you describe here as sympathy.
There are two kinds of empathy I heard of alot when it comes to autism. They‘re called affective empathy and cognitive empathy. Affective empathy seems to be a synonyme for what you here call sympathy.
sounds hard-wired to me, and if people utterly lack that, could they then be seen as pathologically antisocial/sociopathic?
Yes indeed. They lack affective empathy. It‘s a core part to be diagnosed as aspd. Other criterias would be: lak of remorse, need for stimulation, bad impulse control, high self esteem and shallow emotions. Pretty much the opposite of asd imo.
_________________
PDD-NOS (2013)
AQ: 32
Aspiequiz: 140/82
RAADS-R: 134
I feel that while I have no empathy I have more compassion than the average person.
May I recommend the book "Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion" by Paul Bloom. It not only makes this distinction but argues that empathy is one of the worst paths to compassion that there is.
in a nutshell, will you please tell me why empathy is one of the worst paths to compassion?
The author, a psychology professor, offers many different reasons and examples. One is that empathy for one person frequently causes people to favor that one person at the expense of many others. His analogy of empathy is that of a spotlight in a dark room: it illuminates only a small portion of the room very brightly. But rational compassion will illuminate the entire room. Want more than that then read the book.
can you kneel now? there is empathy of the heart, and empathy of the head. I have it of the heart more than of the head, IOW when I see somebody hurting I instinctively hurt also, I can't turn it off. as I get older it gets stronger. I wonder how much Stendahl's Syndrome plays into this phenomenon?
Yes, I can kneel now, carefully, and it doesn't hurt.
_________________
The river is the melody
And sky is the refrain - Gordon Lightfoot
The endless posts that seek to educate us here (about what we already now) concerning binary differences in empathy have become so frequent and repetitive that they sound like a meme. Rarely does anyone look deeper into the origins of that binary construct and consider it from a wider or deeper perspective. I look forward to that day...
OK, so I don't know what you mean by looking deeper into the origins of the binary construct. I haven't been in the forum all that long. If you can explain further???
_________________
The river is the melody
And sky is the refrain - Gordon Lightfoot
auntblabby
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Joined: 12 Feb 2010
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auntblabby
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Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 113,740
Location: the island of defective toy santas
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