Yale psychologist Paul Bloom’s latest book is called Against Empathy,
which doesn’t leave you guessing where he stands. Bloom argues that
empathy is doing us damage – there is a place for it, but not so high up
on society’s pedestal. Empathy can cloud our decision-making, and bring
us too close to problems that require action rather than
commiserations. Realizing that begs the question: in a world with less
empathy, how do we connect and help our fellow humans?
Bloom is banking
on compassion, and makes a distinction between the two that transcends
semantics: empathy is feeling what other people feel, imagining their
predicament, echoing their emotional state. Compassion is more rational:
you hear the other person’s predicament but you don’t feel their
emotion – this frees you up to understand it, and to make headway on a
solution. Bloom likens it to seeing a doctor or a therapist. Do you want
them to feel and echo your pain or anxiety, or would prefer that they
do something about it? If empathy is as overrated as Bloom suggests,
then compassion may be the better way to show you care. Paul Bloom is
the author of Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion.
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