A few days ago, I noticed an interesting Times article: “Double standards of the smug liberal left“. Its intriguing title about arrogance (ie, smug) and hypocrisy (ie, double standards) made me wonder the following: What is the relationship – if any – between arrogance, empathy and hypocrisy? It took me several attempts coming up with a diagram explaining its connection.
A recent NPR article (“Does empathy have a Dark Side?“) was helpful in preparing my diagram.
The ultimate connection between arrogance, empathy and hypocrisy is the Dark Side (my blogs) of empathy.
NPR: “Empathy might be a little bit more selfish than many people assume. The empathizer feels less alone, they share experiences, they learn something. So we should ask for whom is [empathy] good? It’s actually the empathizer in most cases.”
My diagram above has become an updated version of an earlier diagram in my 18 July 2016 blog: Empathy vs Altruism Narcissism and Sympathy.
I just realized that the left column also describes the belief system Politics including its Great Divides (my blogs). Even my concept of Love-Knowledge-Power (my blogs) fits in the above diagram when you add a triangle with its bottom (ie, Knowledge & Power) covering the left column, and its peak (ie, Love) covering the right side of my diagram.
NPR: “The term [LO: empathy] only emerged in 1909, when it was translated from a German conception of “feeling yourself into a work of art,” he says. In the past 40 years, it has risen to prominence as evolutionary biologists started to explore its role in shaping the human brain. Since then, it’s become a core psychological concept, and part of what biologists think makes us distinctly human.”
“Empathy is a riddle,” Fritz Breithaupt says. “While it can enrich our lives, Breithaupt says our ability to identify with others’ feelings can also fuel polarization, spark violence and motivate dysfunctional behavior in relationships, like helicopter parenting” (NPR).
Empathy (2012) by Alanis Morissette
artist, lyrics, video, Wiki-1, Wiki-2
Thank you for seeing me
I feel so less lonely
Thank you for getting me
I’m healed by your empathy
Oh this intimacy
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless stated otherwise
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