Why empathy is important to human life
5 March, 2015 – Under the term “happy coincidence,’ you might find this example of serendipity. As I was writing my five things that give an advantage to someone who learns to think, I placed in the #4 position that “thinking short circuits the amygdala.” In the fifth position, I wrote “thinking can lead to empathy.”
I had a little extra time to think about it, so naturally I thought of Johnny and wrote underneath the list “No. 5 IS ALIVE!” “Who’s Johnny,” she said and smiled in her special way. “Johnny,” she said, “You know I love you.” I hadn’t connected the statement with the list beyond the superficial grounding in current statement number four where “Short Circuit” is prominent.
As class went on, I realized what I had actually done. Empathy is the way that we know we are alive. Because we are able to think about what it would be like to be in someone else’s shoes and to take account of how we would feel if we had to go through what they were going through, we are alive. Empathy and the resulting compassion is what gives people their humanity.
Being able to recognize when someone is hurting, even if they are trying to hide it, is an essential quality for any person who wishes to cultivate him or herself for the greater good. Empathy is what makes human life so remarkable, and we can choose to use it to comfort people who need help and celebrate with those who are happy.
I had a little extra time to think about it, so naturally I thought of Johnny and wrote underneath the list “No. 5 IS ALIVE!” “Who’s Johnny,” she said and smiled in her special way. “Johnny,” she said, “You know I love you.” I hadn’t connected the statement with the list beyond the superficial grounding in current statement number four where “Short Circuit” is prominent.
As class went on, I realized what I had actually done. Empathy is the way that we know we are alive. Because we are able to think about what it would be like to be in someone else’s shoes and to take account of how we would feel if we had to go through what they were going through, we are alive. Empathy and the resulting compassion is what gives people their humanity.
Being able to recognize when someone is hurting, even if they are trying to hide it, is an essential quality for any person who wishes to cultivate him or herself for the greater good. Empathy is what makes human life so remarkable, and we can choose to use it to comfort people who need help and celebrate with those who are happy.