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Why do some people have so little empathy for others?
day dreamer
Posts: 978 Forum Member
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http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2074593
This question is inspired by the story in the thread link above.
More and more I find myself at a loss for words when it comes to how little empathy some people have for others to the point where they are downright callous. There has always been arseholes and always will be but I am wondering if the increasing pressure to live an impossibly fast paced and impersonal life has something to do with it. I think a general lack of empathy on an every day basis (people are still good at rallying around when there's a national disaster like the Nepal quake) is on the rise. It saddens me but maybe it's inevitable.
Thoughts?
This question is inspired by the story in the thread link above.
More and more I find myself at a loss for words when it comes to how little empathy some people have for others to the point where they are downright callous. There has always been arseholes and always will be but I am wondering if the increasing pressure to live an impossibly fast paced and impersonal life has something to do with it. I think a general lack of empathy on an every day basis (people are still good at rallying around when there's a national disaster like the Nepal quake) is on the rise. It saddens me but maybe it's inevitable.
Thoughts?
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It can become hard to except and recognize when one day some one does show genuine empathy.
it seems in this, case, more like just a very ignorant statement made, perhaps in a moment of stress or foot in mouth
but yes, I can see your point
I mean, sometimes, there is real ignorance on the part of others, because, they are so caught in a mechanistic kind of consciousness
others, at times seems incredibly insensitive about everything
I find it sad empathy is conditional with you. You seem very self absorbed tbh
Yes well so what, I'm sick of giving emotionally and getting nothing back
That's not how it works.
If you don't have empathy at least own that, don't blame others.
Like i said if some one is unlucky enough to have had a lot of crap at them. That 'can' make a person lose empathy for others.
i.e no boundaries
OP, when did you become the moral arbiter of the "correct" kind of empathy to possess? Some people don't understand suicide, some even find it selfish. Get over yourself
My mother is a sociopath and she has no empathy. She's quite good at pretending though.
Yes, you can pretend. Ted Bundy famously volunteered at a suicide crisis center. The more high-functioning sociopaths are often very adept at mimicking emotional responses.
Functioning psychopaths are superb at imitating normal human emotions.
Their masks are almost perfect.
My ex boss was like that. It was hideous when her mask slipped. She did untold damage to so many.
I'd rather have empathy for others and be seen as a good person, than a hard hearted ball breaker.
Exactly.
She sounds like a really nasty bitch - it is a shame that Karma does not exist for people like her. >:(
Correct. People often confuse it with sympathy & compassion though. You don't need to be empathetic in order to be sympathetic & compassionate.
Also, being callous doesn't require a lack of empathy.
Aspergers, autism, really bring home what communication is about . If you get the privilege of talking to someone with such a condition, it's an education.
We have to hope it does.
We lack mirror neurons - and allocating CPU time to that is sometimes just too overwhelming.. hence overload, shutdown, meltdown.
And I've found that under stress, the social comms is the first thing to die.