DOJ Quietly Deletes Study After Charlie Kirk's Death That Says Right-Wing Extremists Engage in 'Far More' Political Violence
- By probinson
- American Politics
- 173 Replies
How close does the experience have to be to say that you empathise with someone?
Pretty close.
Many people have had loved ones unexpectedly die on them,
Yes, but many people have not watched their loved ones KILLED in front of them.
if it has to be exactly the same no one can ever empathise with anyone.
That's pretty close to what I believe.
I'll give you an example. I recently had to put my dog down. I had that dog for 14-1/2 years and he was a part of our family. Making the decision to put him down due to his old age and declining health was one of the hardest things I've ever done. It hurt me greatly.
Around the same time, the bass player on our worship team lost his dog. He had his dog for about 10 years, and putting his dog down was quite sudden. I can tell you that it hit him much harder than it did me. He was a mess for weeks.
Can I "empathize" with him? Maybe a little. But I still personally wouldn't choose that word. I don't know how he feels, and he doesn't know how I feel. We both lost a dog, but how it impacted us was different because we're all individuals. That's why I rarely, if ever, tell people I can "empathize" with them. We can "sympathize" with each other. We can have "compassion" towards each other. But neither of us knows how the other feels even though we experienced the same loss.
But I don't think that is how most people and psychologists understand the term.
But words have meaning,. When you say you can "empathize" with someone, you're saying you know how they feel.
To me it is actively putting yourself in the others shoes, and feeling it as you percieve they are feeling it.
But what good comesfrom that? Why is it important for me to say I can understand how you feel? Why is it not sufficient to just come alongside someone and support and grieve with them?
Of course there are no guarantees, the person might have a completely different emotional toolbox than oneself. Disclaimer, I'm no psychologist so I might completely off-base with my take.
I don't think you're completely off-base. I think that when most people use the word "empathize", they mean it sincerely as you've described here. But for me personally, I have a hard time telling someone I can understand how they are feeling, and that's what I'm saying to them when I say I can empathize with them.
Upvote
0