Author: econnelly3 (Page 4 of 5)
For this interview, I am going to talk to my friend Grace who is a great listener. She is a sophomore pre-OT major. In some parts of the interview, I think it would be effective to ask her how she thinks intellectual humility and listening will help her demonstrate empathy and compassion in not only her daily life but her professional career.
We will discuss my definition of empathy and whether or not she agrees with this or has something else to add. I will tell her that I believe more so in being compassionate not just empathetic. It does not matter where the compassionate act came from but rather that it happened. We will talk about Baldwin’s quote talking about how love breaks barriers.
Is there a time when she felt like she struggled to remain open-minded and listen to someone else? After listening to this person was she able to understand their complexities more?
How does love/compassion tie into intellectual humility? Are you able to be more loving and compassionate if you can demonstrate intellectual humility?
Is it important that people practice intellectual humility?
I think that being able to recognize your weaknesses and where there might be room for improvement in yourself is such an important skill to practice as a human being. The world is always changing and we should always be changing with it. There should be no shame in changing an opinion or value you once had. If we are able to set aside our own thought to connect with someone I think we would have a greater chance of creating stronger relationships. There is a connection between intellectual humility, tolerance, and bridging a gap between differences. I think that this is the biggest takeaway from the article. The world needs more tolerance and compassion. If people were more willing to express empathy toward other groups of people and often act with compassion the world could be a better place. Not everyone is going to value the same things you do, but we all have experiences that have shaped who are whether they are good or bad. It is important to not brush this under the rug. There is something we can learn from those who are not like us. And even if we do not align with them or agree with them it does not mean they are less valuable than anyone else.
I think that I am able to connect well with sources and have a good understanding of how to be an engaged reader. I can see connections among different sources and can articulate those thoughts and ideas well. In a broad sense, I think I am confident in my writing. I am more of a good thinker and can develop ideas, but when it comes down to the smaller aspects I sometimes overlook them. Transitioning from one thought to another and making my writing flow is not always the easiest for my brain. Over time I hope to improve my ability to do this and think it will be possible with more practice.
Jamison tries to connect her own lived experiences to those she is listening to. She fears that she too could have this disease after she hears their stories, but she knows she is just grasping for a deeper understanding of these people. She often can only offer a kind nod, because she truly has no idea what this pain feels like. To her, it is less that she can feel empathetic and more that she is able to show compassion to them. She doesn’t believe the same “delusion” that they do, but she does believe that they feel this pain. There are no worms living under their skin, but they are lonely and isolated because of this pain. I don’t know if I would say her empathy is radical. She treats these people in a humane and kind way. Everyone deserves this and everyone has the ability to treat others like this. She tries to set aside her own preconceived notions about their illness and see beyond the scars and sores, but she still sees their symptoms as delusions. At the end of the day, she is the one left feeling guilty, wondering if their source of suffering is real. Anyone can recognize that someone is in pain but can they truly be empathetic if they don’t believe in where this pain is coming from? She tries to equate life and the fact that we are all chasing something and sometimes that something keeps moving so far away. But I think it is unfair to relate metaphorical life experiences to the pain these people are experiencing.
“But compassion isn’t the same thing as belief” (182). To me, empathy is not the same thing as compassion. I think she has a great amount of compassion for these people and she tries to be empathetic but nothing about this seems radical, more so just human.
At first, I was pro-empathy and thought that empathy could change the world. It wasn’t until I read the other two articles that I realized empathy does not mean action. Compassion leads to action and to change and it really shouldn’t matter what led you to make a positive difference as long as you did it. Price in particular wrote about their experiences and how autism has affected their perception of empathy; to me, this was more convincing and I was able to connect more with what he was saying. Just because someone doesn’t experience empathy in a typical way does not mean they are not compassionate and caring individuals who want to make a change. Personal experiences that can reach a variety of people will strengthen writing. Backing these experiences up with facts and logic will help some people be convinced, as well. Connecting with your audience emotionally and logically will make the writing more persuasive or understandable.
Devon Price, a social psychologist with autism, reflects on what empathy means to him. “Empathy is overrated” is his conclusion. I didn’t think I would necessarily agree with this article at first glance, but the more I read the more I connected with what he was saying. There are two kinds of empathy, emotional and cognitive, but most people use and identify empathy as an emotional response. This is not as meaningful as the cognitive aspect of empathy. Reflecting on someone and their experience and trying to understand what they are going through can be a meaningful thing. However, some people are just too caught up in the emotional response they are having to make this genuine connection. Perspective taking is another practice both articles discussed. It is different from putting yourself in someone’s shoes, it is more of trying to understand the perspective of the person in the situation not you in the same situation. I think this can be a good tool to use and practice in decision-making. My biggest takeaway was that compassion is more valuable than empathy, and the world needs more of that. I at times have a hard time feeling what another person is feeling, but can evaluate the situation and act compasionatly. I would say that I am a compassionate person and I am not necessarily an empath, yet I still have a strong tie to human rights activism and changing the lives of people who need it. I guess I didn’t see a difference in compassion and empathy until I read this article, but I strongly agree. I think empathy is a sticky subject, Sarah Konrath dives into the eight different uses of empathy and that everyone views empathy differently. Empathy doesn’t lead to logical and fair decisions at times and empathy doesn’t always mean morally right.
Empathy allows us to not share an experience with someone but recognize how the experience would affect someone. It is interesting that empathy does not require an emotional response and that it can be used as a “weapon” of some sort.
I think that if we are able to recognize that we will never know how an experience affected a person, and that experience has shaped who they are and that they have emotions around it whether good or bad. It allows us to connect with someone and understand them a bit more. I will never know what it is like to break my arm, but I can imagine it hurts and feel bad for someone who has. The idea that you do not need an emotional response to have empathy is a little confusing for me. If you do not feel sorry for someone who has broken their arm but can recognize that it must have hurt how are you able to connect with them? But we can all practice empthy and develop it as a skill rather than something we are just born with. If we work harder at it we are better at connecting and feeling empathy for other people. I think that this is something that everyone should be taught. Empathy can positively affect the world and people.
I think the biggest category that society has created is the “Us” and “Them groups. You either are or you aren’t—there’s no in-between. You are either white or you aren’t. You are either a feminist or you aren’t. This has created a lack of space for people to be individuals. Nguyen hates the category she is placed in solely based on her name and culture. Gay hates that she cannot fit perfectly into a category. You cannot negotiate the category people have put you in. The box is tight and unfair. Nguyen wants to escape and does. Gay feels like it is better to accept it yet allow herself to just herself even if that does not mean she fits the perfect mold. Just because we have these categories as a society doesn’t mean everyone will fit into them perfectly or that even though it may seem that they belong there, it may not be true.
Going off Nikki Giovanni, “race” was not even in the English language until 1508, it is a modern construct. If we had no label or category for people, we were all just people, then there would be no stereotypes. It is one thing to notice somebody is different and another to determine who they are by that difference. There are so many issues in this world that you would think it would make us more unified. We are all on a floating rock that is dying as we speak due to climate change and we will all be affected regardless of who we are, what we look like, and what we call ourselves. It would make sense that this of all things would make us come together, forget our differences, and try and stop these horrific things from happening. However, our county is rooted in systemic racism and sexism which seems to be a cycle that just won’t break. It would be a dream if race could become as fluid as gender seems to be evolving. Giovani also points out that some kids do not allow labels to change what they do and how they perceive themselves.
I think that it is nobody else’s business what someone thinks of you. Most of the time it is just a reflection of themselves rather than who you are. Gender and race do not determine whether you are a good person, smart, funny, etc. Nguyen cares what people think, and she hates herself for that. It would be hard for me to say that categories have no power if you do not believe in them, if you do not believe that you are stuck in this one box. I wish this could be the truth, but these categories affect greater issues ad can be oppressive to groups of people. 1 in 4 Muslim women are assaulted. This is a crazy and disturbing number. Not only do these individuals commit these acts but it seems consistent that bystanders allow this behavior to continue with no punishment. There has been an uptick in Islamophobia since 9/11 and an even bigger one since the 2016 election. Roxanne Mun says, “when people commit these kinds of individual hate violence it’s a reflection of the broader behavior that’s been enshrined in policies by law enforcement agencies”. These categories and stereotypes are throughout our government and the very way we live.
