I think it's easier to have sympathy for someone who has had bad experiences than it is to have empathy and actually share the person's feelings.
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I think it's easier to have sympathy for someone who has had bad experiences than it is to have empathy and actually share the person's feelings.
Are you born with it? I think yes.
My wife is an empath which is great for those around her needing support and understanding. Her immediate family were not. Its bad for her as the door to her inner self is wide open, in fact there is no door, its just a bloody big hole in her that lets everything in, good and bad.
Me, I'm at the other end of the spectrum. I can empathise with people but generally only if they are deserving (or maybe blameless). Maybe I'm some sort of low level sociopath. My mother is worse than me and I suspect others down the lineage are the same.
But....you are not one thing or another, you're a mix of good and bad, practical and not, traits. The trick is to know your strengths and weaknesses. My remoteness is tempered by her empathy.
Our own bias impacts on all aspects of our lives. A new 'tosser of the week' in CA is not showing empathy to a judge who showed a lot of empathy for a unknown criminal pest.
Must admit I have a lack of empathy at times [bighmmm] In some instances Legally forced ignorance is a mitigating circumstance for a lack of empathy?
Don't be sorry. Love the way your thinking
More than a few would happily volunteer to end that threat with a terminal outcome if it was legal. Its not legal thus my tosser of the week directed to a Judge who allowed the person out of jail to continue to be 'a significant' threat to children.
I have a relative who is a magistrate. He tries to find ways to encourage people to make better decisions and change their lives. Some respond well, while others make promises, but break them. He has gaoled some.
Judges can't predict the future. Prison rarely reforms people, but may reinforce their negative side. It's just human nature.