Introduction to Empathy

This post has general views from science to academics that explain empathy and fit within traditional religious concepts and definitions of empathy and compassion.

Definition of Empathy from Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

Definition of EMPATHY
1
: the imaginative projection of a subjective state into an object so that the object appears to be infused with it
2
: the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner; also : the capacity for this

Examples of EMPATHY

1. He felt great empathy with the poor.
2. His months spent researching prison life gave him greater empathy towards convicts.
3. Poetic empathy understandably seeks a strategy of identification with victims … —Helen Vendler, New Republic, 5 May 2003



The Neuro-Science of Empathy with Some Historical Perspectives



Bestselling author, political adviser and social and ethical prophet Jeremy Rifkin investigates the evolution of empathy and the profound ways that it has shaped our development and our society.

Note: His use of the word "fiction" is to describe an idea that extends the mental conception of family. A traditional compassionate/empathic view is often is of all of humanity as part of a 'family' with disagreements. For example, global charity organizations or Mother Teresa. [ Every religion has scripture related to this, see TheCharterForCompassion.org ].

Sam Richards - A Radical Experiment in Empathy



The above video can help break the "Us vs. Them" mental dynamic

Above: Sam Richards is a sociologist and award-winning teacher who has been inspiring undergraduate students at Penn State since 1990. Every semester, 725 students register for his Race and Ethnic Relations course, one of the most popular classes at Penn State and the largest of its kind in the country. Through his natural ability of seeing a subject from many angles, Richards encourages students to engage more fully with the world and to think for themselves — something he did not do until his third year in college. Because of his passion for challenging students to open their minds, an interviewer recently referred to him as "an alarm clock for eighteen-year-olds."


Experience or lack of experience is a big factor in empathy.

Notice, as explained in the last post, that luxury can skew decision making:

"Luxury-primed individuals tend to make decisions that are self-interested and arguably unethical."


Many of the modern billionaires, especially the ones with the most power and influence come from 'old money'. i.e. they have always been rich. These people don't resemble the self-made men that America so admires but people who have had little or no need to struggle. Have never been hungry unless they wanted to, have never worried about being able to buy food or services of any kind (as long as their plane hasn't crashed on a desert island). If you get everything you want (well, mostly) and don't understand the meaning of hard work or struggle to make ends meet, how can you empathize with people who do have to do this? In other words, some of these rich people with economic and political power resemble the people who were in charge in British Colonial days. In other words, people without much empathy. [Note: Keep in mind that this will not apply to everyone with money or even everyone you think is rich given your economic situation - This is just a basic understanding of how empathy works]

There is actually a study on this effect of, what I like to call, 'experience linking to empathy' - i.e. those without experience lack ability to step into another's shoes and so lack the mental ability to feel what another person might feel in their experience until they actually have, at least some, experience of what another person has gone through. Here is the study...

In the first experiment, participants were asked to look at pictures of faces and indicate which emotions were being expressed. The more upper class the judges, the less able they were to accurately identify emotions in others.

In another experiment, upper-class participants had a harder time reading the emotions of strangers during simulated job interviews.

In the third one — an interesting twist of an experiment — people of greater socioeconomic status were asked to compare themselves to the wealthiest, most powerful Americans, thus diminishing their own relative stature. When asked to identify emotions by looking at 36 sets of emoting eyes, they did markedly better than their upper-class peers.

Here’s why: Earlier studies have suggested that those in the lower classes, unable to simply hire others, rely more on neighbors or relatives for things like a ride to work or child care. As a result, the authors propose, they have to develop more effective social skills — ones that will engender good will.

“Upper-class people, in spite of all their advantages, suffer empathy deficits,” Dr. Keltner said. “And there are enormous consequences.” In other words, a high-powered lawyer or chief executive, ill equipped to pick up on more-subtle emotions, doesn’t make for a sympathetic boss.

A talk show discusses the above study...

Just another empathy test

The Emotional Nature Of Decision Making

The myth that 'Man is a rational animal' is so old that people often believe it without question.

A modern philosopher, Bertrand Russell, has made this comment on the belief of our rationality, "It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this." Of course, this was a long time ago and was a comment based on personal observation.

Nowadays, we need studies (which is a good thing if insight into human nature can be proven for consensus), so...

Study: Emotion rules the brain's decisions

The evidence has been piling up throughout history, and now neuroscientists have proved it's true: The brain's wiring emphatically relies on emotion over intellect in decision-making.

A brain-imaging study reported in the current Science examines "framing," a hot topic among psychologists, economists and political hucksters.

Framing studies have shown that how a question is posed — think negative ads, for instance — skews decision-making. But no one showed exactly how this effect worked in the human brain until the brain-imaging study led by Benedetto De Martino of University College London.

The brain images revealed the amygdala, a neural region that processes strong negative emotions such as fear, fired up vigorously in response to each two-second (on average) gambling decision. Where people resisted the framing effect, a brain region connected to positive emotions such as empathy, and another that activates whenever people face choices, lit up as well, seeming to duke it out over the decision.

"We found everyone showed emotional biases, more or less; no one was totally free of them," De Martino says. Even among the four participants who were aware they were inconsistent in decision-making, "they said, 'I know, I just couldn't help myself,' " he says.

Research into organizational decision making has shown a similar result...

Toxic Decision Processes: A Study of Emotion and Organizational Decision Making

Organizational research has increasingly recognized the emotional nature of organizations and organizational life. We now widely accept organizations as "emotional arenas" and acknowledge the emotionally saturated nature of people’s work experience. Even decision-making research, one of the most cognitively oriented domains of organizational behavior, shows a growing concern for the role of emotion. The emotionality of organizational decision processes can be very subtle, as in many highly routinized decisions, while other issues provoke intensely emotional decision processes. Potential mergers, acquisitions, and downsizing, for instance, can have dramatic effects on how employees feel about themselves and their organizations; knowing this can have significant impact on the way these decisions are made.

Given how emotions affect our decision making its obvious that the more balanced our emotions are the better our decision making skills will be. This approach is addressed in the concept of Emotional Intelligence in basic psychology. The following gives an outline of this approach...

Emotional Intelligence:

Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions. Some researchers suggest that emotional intelligence can be learned and strengthened, while others claim it is an inborn characteristic.

1. Perceiving Emotions: The first step in understanding emotions is to accurately perceive them. In many cases, this might involve understanding nonverbal signals such as body language and facial expressions.

2. Reasoning With Emotions: The next step involves using emotions to promote thinking and cognitive activity. Emotions help prioritize what we pay attention and react to; we respond emotionally to things that garner our attention.

3. Understanding Emotions: The emotions that we perceive can carry a wide variety of meanings. If someone is expressing angry emotions, the observer must interpret the cause of their anger and what it might mean. For example, if your boss is acting angry, it might mean that he is dissatisfied with your work; or it could be because he got a speeding ticket on his way to work that morning or that he's been fighting with his wife.

4. Managing Emotions: The ability to manage emotions effectively is a key part of emotional intelligence. Regulating emotions, responding appropriately and responding to the emotions of others are all important aspect of emotional management.

Note: The idea that emotional intelligence could be only inborn and not have anything to do with life experiences seems to contradict the idea that environment has any effect on behaviour. However, rather than arguing that point in this general article, I thought I would just point out that even simple changes in environment can change our emotional outlook and therefore our decision making.

For example: The following study looks at how a little emotional indulgence in luxury can skew decision making...

"Luxury-primed individuals tend to make decisions that are self-interested and arguably unethical."

A second, word-association experiment suggested that luxury does not necessarily induce "nasty" behavior toward others, but more indifference toward them.

The findings are sure to touch a nerve in an era of mega-sized corporate bonuses and the parallel currency of limousines, private jets and other pricey perks.

After all, it was John Thain's lavish $1.2 million office renovation, including an infamous $35,000 antique commode, that is remembered more than his salary in the final days of the brokerage firm Merrill Lynch.

The researchers said that, in practical terms, the same business meeting could reach different decisions when held at a fancy resort as opposed to in a modest conference room.

"Working in a business setting surrounded by money and luxuries might well have an effect on cognition and decision making," said Chua and Zou.

"Perhaps limiting corporate excesses and luxuries might indeed be a step toward getting executives to behave more responsibly."

Video - The Emotional Brain: An Introduction To Affective Neuroscience




[Edit - Following videos added September 18 2001]

1. Interview: A discussion of rational vs. emotional decision making

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

2. Interview: A look at how an emotion such as love can cloud your decision making skills (and a model made by a dating site based on some neuroscience to try and match people together)...

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Basics of Body Language and Lie Detection

One thing that is common in all people all across the world is body language. Yes, there are a few cultural differences (the most interesting one being the culture that nods for "no"), however, most cultures and societies use body language so similar (or identical) that simple cartoon images can be understood by almost everyone on the planet with any basic observational skills towards other people.

(Above image from here)

Over the decades the research in body language has gone from the naive to the highly sophisticated... to a point where a proper investigator in body language uses a variety of tools in lie detection as any one piece of evidence could be wrong (for various reasons). [ Learn more about body language basics from Psychology Today]

The following is an introduction to the science of lie detection...

(Note: Keep in mind that experts can also train people to minimize the possibility of lie detection by coaching them on how to hold their bodies and what kind of language to use. It is possible to trip these people by throwing in a question they are not prepared for watching for the signs of a lie. However, this can only be done by experts, whether professional or not)


Extract 1: 

Signs of Deception: 

• Physical expression will be limited and stiff, with few arm and hand movements. Hand, arm and leg movement are toward their own body the liar takes up less space.

• A person who is lying to you will avoid making eye contact.

• Hands touching their face, throat & mouth. Touching or scratching the nose or behind their ear. Not likely to touch his chest/heart with an open hand.

Emotional Gestures & Contradiction: how to see a fake smile 

• Timing and duration of emotional gestures and emotions are off a normal pace. The display of emotion is delayed, stays longer it would naturally, then stops suddenly.

• Timing is off between emotions gestures/expressions and words. Example: Someone says "I love it!" when receiving a gift, and then smile after making that statement, rather then at the same time the statement is made.

• Gestures/expressions don’t match the verbal statement, such as frowning when saying “I love you.”

• Expressions are limited to mouth movements when someone is faking emotions (like happy, surprised, sad, awe, )instead of the whole face. For example; when someone smiles naturally their whole face is involved: jaw/cheek movement, eyes and forehead push down, etc.


Extract 2:


Micro expressions: 

A micro expression is a momentary involuntary facial expression -- that people unconsciously display when they are hiding an emotion. They are quick & intense expressions of concealed emotion.

The main points to remember are that micro expressions are:

Brief - Micro-expressions can appear then disappear off the face in a fraction of a second. In other words micro-expressions occur so quickly, that most people don't even notice them.



Extract 3: 

Statement analysis 

Statement Analysis is the process of analyzing a person’s words to determine if the subject is being truthful or deceptive. The reason these techniques work is because people’s words will betray them.

There are usually several ways you can phrase a statement. People will always word their statement based on all their knowledge. Therefore, their statement may include information they did not intend to share.

It is nearly impossible to give a lengthy deceptive statement without revealing it is a lie.



Extract 4: 

Eye movements: 
 
Can the direction a person's eyes reveal whether or not they are making a truthful statement? Short answer: sort of. But, it isn't as simple as some recent television shows or movies make it seem.

Above image represents all the directions your eyes move when processing information.

(Both of the above images are from here.)


To detect a lie, on a right handed person, you look for the person looking 'up and to the right' in response to a question about the past event under scrutiny. This means he is imagining or constructing an image, i.e. it is a lie. This direction is the opposite for a left-handed person, i.e. for a left handed looking up and to the left is a lie in response to a question about a past event. [Note: because of the intricacies of eye movements it is important to catch the person on several questions to confirm accuracy, especially as a beginner in this science.]

In the video below an expert on body language provides some tips on detecting lies through a method discovered by the founders of NLP called, "Eye Accessing Cues".



{Above video from an Oklahoma city channel }

Introduction to Buddhism as a philosophy - Using “Buddhism Without Beliefs” by Stephen Batchelor

[Edit - Monday 2 Jan '12 - Note: This is an extract from this ebook.]

Synopsis: Stephen Batchelor defines “Awakening” as awareness of yourself and your surroundings that expands over time with disciplined practice. He rewrites the Buddhist creed of "Life IS Suffering" and the "Cause of suffering IS craving" to "Anguish is to be understood, its origins to be let go of, its cessation to be realized, and the path to be cultivated."

In doing this he changes the perspective of Buddhism from believing that life itself is only about suffering to the idea that it is your mind and its incessant desires are the reason for this suffering. This effectively changes the emphasis from something beyond your control to something within your control. That is the difference between Buddhism as a philosophy and Buddhism as a religion.

One of his students asked Buddha, "Are you the messiah?"
"No", answered Buddha.
"Then are you a healer?"
"No", Buddha replied.
"Then are you a teacher?" the student persisted.
"No, I am not a teacher."
"Then what are you?" asked the student, exasperated.
"I am awake", Buddha replied.

The first written records of Siddhartha (Later called the Buddha) come from Siri Lanka (an island off the coast of South India), several hundred miles from where he taught. Like many other figures of mythology, his teachings were first written down well after his death, about 300 years later, so the reality of his teachings were already well mixed with local religious ideas and mythology.



I like this book because the author separates the meditational philosophy of balance/awakening from the religious beliefs.

This makes the practice of awareness/awakening something that a person of any religious persuasion can learn and apply.

For example, Siddhartha basically taught that,

"Anguish is to be understood, its origins to be let go of, its cessation to be realized, and the path to be cultivated."

Or in other words, the root of anguish is desiring life to something other than it is. Accepting life as it is helps release anguish.

When this becomes, "Life IS Suffering" and the "Cause of suffering IS craving" then the philosophy of cultivating awareness becomes a belief system to be followed. This is where Buddhism becomes a religion.

During Siddhartha's lifetime many people were able to attain awareness and "awakening" but after his death it became something to be strived for and rarely, if ever, achieved. Why has it become so hard to attain awakening? Because turning

Buddhism into a religion made it's tenants "Holy", something well above ordinary reality. So following the teachings as a practice of expanding awareness switched to one of devotion.

The Buddhists explain this lack of "enlightenment" in modern religious Buddhism as an example of the degradation of humanity over time. That is the common excuse for any religious person to explain why the tenets of their religion are NOT followed in society AND can never be followed until 'the end days'. This effectively removes moral responsibility for their actions as a society, as it is not the practitioners fault but life itself that makes enlightenment/awakening/peace impossible.

"An unawakened existence, in which we drift unaware on a surge of habitual impulses, is both ignoble and undignified. Instead of a natural and non-coercive authority, we impose our will on others either through manipulation and intimidation or by appealing to the opinions of those more powerful than ourselves. Authority becomes a question of force rather than integrity."

Living for momentary pleasures makes a person jump from one thing to another rarely finding complete satisfaction in one thing - always looking for the next ‘high’. This high can be social company, excessive exercise, drinking, drugs (both illegal and legal ones) etc. Letting go of craving can free us, even if it is only momentarily. That is why the path must be cultivated.

Experiment

Sit comfortable and consciously relax all the muscles in your body. Begin from your scalp and work your way down to your toes. Now become aware of your breath and as you maintain the focus on your breathing ALSO become aware of the surface you are sitting on, the cloths on your body, your surroundings and even the dome of the sky stretching off to the horizon. Be aware of your breathing and all of the above simultaneously.

If you can do the above only for a few seconds that is fine. You just have experienced 'expanded awareness'. Many people who try this will recognize the awareness they are experiencing from a previous experience. Yes, humans are 'mystical' creatures. Awakening, no matter how much it is avoided, is intrinsically a part of everyone AND is something that ANYONE can learn.

As a global culture we fix ourselves in 'palaces' of what is familiar and secure. We sense there is more to life than trying to gratify our desires and defend ourselves from fear. Yet we don’t know how to get their and this leads to even more activities of distraction.

For Example; We all know that the only certainty in life is death. If we keep the inevitability of death on our minds many things we worry about will no longer matter. Instead we try to avoid that thought at all costs to the point where when we encounter death we are shocked and terrified and say, 'his/her time came early'. There is no such thing. Without the perspective of our death how can we possibly make short or long term decisions that aren’t influenced by drowning ourselves in momentary pleasures?

"Since no one knows the future,
who can tell him what is to come?

No man has power over his spirit to retain it,
so no one has power over the day of his death."

Ecclesiastes 8:7-8:8

Death is always there waiting for you, every day of your life. It is sad, depressing, part of the sorrow of life, but it is not 'early'.

What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset. - Blackfoot

Since death is certain, avoiding it makes you avoid life itself.

Think about it. How do you know that someone is alive? By the simple fact that he/she is not dead. In other words, death defines life. Without death we would not know what life is. So by avoiding the acceptance of death we become escapists of life itself. Chasing momentary pleasures to cloud our awareness and our fears.

If you are constantly making life to be some perfect image to be attained at some point in the future, you will ALWAYS be chasing that image. If you cannot be content now you will never be content as there will always be something else you 'need' before you can be happy. A bigger car, a bigger house, a plane? This will give a rush of excitement followed by boredom with your new toy and craving for the next one.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy expensive things just that you should be happy first or nothing you get will ever satisfy you. (“Be bountiful and multiply”)

If you jump from one emotion to another, blindly avoiding pain and seeking pleasure with no awareness or separation from your emotions THEN your emotions will control you. You will be a slave to your desire. Anyone who knows your desires can control you.

"All man's efforts are for his mouth,
yet his appetite is never satisfied."

Ecclesiastes 6:7

According to this book, the first step out: Become aware of every emotion you have as you experience it. Don't try to stop the emotion but learn to distance yourself from it, pain, sorrow or joy. Keep a part of yourself that is always observing yourself and your emotions.

By these definitions awakening is a process of building and maintaining the discipline of awareness.

Laziness brings on deep sleep,
And the shiftless man goes hungry.

Proverbs 19:15

"The wise man has eyes in his head,
while the fool walks in the darkness."

Ecclesiastes 6:7