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Empathy Experts:
Video and Links:
Jamil Zaki
2011-12-02
A Conversation with Jamil Zaki About Empathy and Writing
I had the opportunity to discuss with him Truman Capote, Sufjan Stevens,
brains, and things that I barely understand.
James Scott: So one of the things we talk about a lot is empathy and how
it relates to the arts. You believe it’s a necessary component, and a
critical building block, in becoming an artist in the first place,
right?
Jamil Zaki: Human beings are not the world champions of many things.
We’re not big, strong, fast, or sharp (at least tooth-wise). But we are
the world champions of understanding each other. In a way, art—and
especially narrative art—is the greatest expression of that ability.
Narrative is a way to embody lives and worlds we have yet to experience,
and in almost all cases will never experience. In a way, it’s a type of
empathy boot camp: living as many lives as possible without having to
leave a single room.
2009-05-07 -
Empathy Fatigue and What the Press Can Do About It
An inborn tendency to share the feelings of others -- to feel joy at
their joy, match suffering to their suffering (first labeled "Empathy"
by psychologist and art theorist Theodor Lipps) -- probably forms the
basis of our aversion to distress, and our willingness to help others.
Empathy and altruism are evolutionarily old, as even non-human apes
share emotions and respond to each others' distress: chimpanzees will
forgo a chance to push a button and receive food if pressing that button
also results in another chimpanzee being shocked. Apes in the wild are
similarly prosocial, and will console the loser of a fight by putting
their arm around his or her shoulders like friends buying each other a
beer after a bad breakup.
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