‘The Empathic Civilization’: The Young Pioneers Of The Empathic Generation

From the Huffington Post. Jeffrey Jensen Arnett  is a Research Professor in the Department of Psychology at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. For my niece Robin, who graduated from Vanderbilt University in May, an important part of her college experience was the volunteer work she did working with Sudanese refugees. Every week she spent hours helping [...]

When Empathy Doesn’t Work

From ”Gem of the Week” by LaShelle Chardé Have you ever offered empathy to someone and received one of these responses? “You make such a big deal of everything. I was just joking.” “You’re being oversensitive.” “I was just saying that. I didn’t mean anything by it.” “You try to make everything deep.” “Lighten up, it’s not a big deal.” “No, I don’t [...]

Selected Quotes on Listening

Effective listeners remember that “words have no meaning – people have meaning.”  The assignment of meaning to a term is an internal process; meaning comes from inside us. And although our experiences, knowledge and attitudes differ, we often misinterpret each other’s messages while under the illusion that a common understanding has been achieved. — Larry Barker Listening [...]

The dark side of empathy, with Frans de Waal

In my experience, empathy has a neutral quality to it.  Neutral, in that I am temporarily setting aside my own perspective to understand the perspective of another.  As Frans de Waal points out in this video clip, though neutral by nature, empathy can be used in self-serving and even destructive  ways.  Watch this short clip from a [...]