Sunday, May 13, 2012

Interesting read for today


It is a bit long, and a bit dense, but I found it interesting.

One part I found very interesting was distinguishing between cognitive and emotional empathy.  The former is the ability to understand what other people feel, while the latter is the ability to actually experience / share it.

There is also a brief discussion WRT the theories of causation behind that, having to do with absent or limited connectivity between certain parts of the brain.  And a bit of nature / nurture / both, as to why.

Anyway, I just thought it was very interesting, and it actually gave me a bit more insight into some people I know / knew IRL.

***Updated***

I think I need to put a finer point on the part about empathy...

Cognitive empathy means you can intellectually understand when someone describes what they are feeling.

Emotional empathy means you can put yourself in their place.  Not from similar experiences, but as if you were them, and feeling what they feel.





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