tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40121173453770482332024-02-08T16:03:16.442+00:00the empathy methodUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012117345377048233.post-80934971321911572772008-11-20T00:03:00.001+00:002008-11-20T00:05:04.670+00:00This video I found on YouTube actually made sense on what empathy is. Check it out:<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8OgIctdtbn4&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8OgIctdtbn4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012117345377048233.post-79672108862732455882008-11-14T00:15:00.002+00:002008-11-14T00:20:03.398+00:00My colleague Claudia told me about a common saying in Brazil about the difference between empathy and sympathy. She told me that there was someone stuck in a hole, and you would get in the hole and suffer the same endeavor, that was sympathy. But, if you would throw a rope to them, staying up, not getting in the hole, that was empathy. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012117345377048233.post-25724085762441259762008-10-31T21:05:00.001+00:002008-10-31T22:03:22.078+00:00<p>Empathy. What does it mean? To put ourselves in the other person's shoes? How does this word represents itself in various contexts?<br /><br />The etymology of the word has various sources. In 1903, a translation of the german word <i>Einfühlung</i> (from <i>ein</i> "in" + <i>Fühlung</i> "feeling"); in 1858, German philosopher Rudolf Lotze derived it from the Greek <i>empatheia</i> "passion," from <i>en-</i> "in" + <i>pathos</i> "feeling". [1] <br /><br />In-feeling, and passionate. To have empathy for other(s) it's imperative to have a certain degree of feeling. It cannot be a completely rational endeavor. It could be so irrational that if you take a look for "empathy" in Wikipedia, you will immediately get this notice:<br /></p><blockquote><i>This article is about emotional capacity. For the </i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNOME"><i>GNOME</i></a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_messaging"><i>instant messaging</i></a><i> widgets, see </i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empathy_(software)"><i>Empathy (software)</i></a><i>.</i><i>Not to be confused with </i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pity"><i>Pity</i></a><i>, </i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympathy"><i>Sympathy</i></a><i>, or </i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compassion"><i>Compassion</i></a><i>. </i>[2]</blockquote>This is an rather interesting note. The second sentence is specially intriguing. It clearly states that empathy shouldn't be confused with either pity (surfacing as a condescendent trait), sympathy (subjective to the individual "connection" to the one he sympathises with) or compassion (with a more spiritual tone, having "mercy" for the other, but, of course, this "other" has to have a specific profile). I also propose that empathy shouldn't be confused with tolerance. This last "emotional quality" is the least empathic of all, but we'll cover that later on. <br /><br />The concept of empathy is in sync with something less condescendent than pity, more objective than sympathy and less judgemental than compassion. And certainly more fair than tolerance. <br /><br />What would this "something" consist of? Do you have any ideas? <p></p><div>Notes:</div><div>1. Reference; <a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=metaphoricity&searchmode=none">Online Etymology Dictionary</a>.</div><div>2. Reference; <a href="http://wikipedia.org/">Wikipedia.</a></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4012117345377048233.post-2531302373300983182008-10-31T20:58:00.000+00:002008-10-31T21:00:21.982+00:00in the beginning...This is a most special Halloween. It marks the launch of this project within a public audience. This is exciting!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0