WEBVTT 00:00:13.760 --> 00:00:16.780 Welcome back, everybody. This is Food for Thought 00:00:16.780 --> 00:00:19.199 Thoughts. If it were you, I'm your host, Neogentrics, 00:00:19.239 --> 00:00:22.160 and this is Season 2. It's been a while. I'm 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:24.579 sorry that I haven't been back like I promised 00:00:24.579 --> 00:00:28.100 I would. But, like I mentioned before, it is... 00:00:28.379 --> 00:00:30.839 February, and it is Black History Month. Now, 00:00:30.899 --> 00:00:33.780 there's only about nine days left in the month, 00:00:33.820 --> 00:00:36.840 including today, making it about ten, but it 00:00:36.840 --> 00:00:40.039 depends on how you look at it. Valentine's Day 00:00:40.039 --> 00:00:41.780 wasn't as great as everyone would have hoped 00:00:41.780 --> 00:00:44.200 it to be, and, you know, with that, a lot of 00:00:44.200 --> 00:00:48.060 stuff happened to and from, to and fro, you know. 00:00:48.299 --> 00:00:51.079 And as of recently, last time I heard, San Antonio 00:00:51.079 --> 00:00:54.920 was in fact confirmed to have some cases of the 00:00:54.920 --> 00:00:58.240 coronavirus. Now, This isn't as important as 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:00.079 what I was going to cover today, but I figured 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:03.140 I'd go ahead and bring it up. Now, with that 00:01:03.140 --> 00:01:06.799 being said, it is Black History Month, and I 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:08.659 do plan to cover some black facts this month 00:01:08.659 --> 00:01:11.480 before I, you know, finish out the month. And, 00:01:11.480 --> 00:01:14.480 you know, like I promised, cover the other topics 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:19.120 that I have. But something that I wanted to go 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:20.879 ahead and cover, because I wanted to make sure 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:25.319 that other people understood it, is what is empathy? 00:01:26.409 --> 00:01:30.829 What is sympathy? And, you know, how they differ. 00:01:33.170 --> 00:01:35.650 Typically, we don't really consider these two 00:01:35.650 --> 00:01:38.349 things to be separate. A lot of people consider 00:01:38.349 --> 00:01:41.150 them to be the same thing or be related to each 00:01:41.150 --> 00:01:44.609 other in some way or form. And they're not wrong. 00:01:46.129 --> 00:01:50.829 In a way, they are related. Now, I'm going to 00:01:50.829 --> 00:01:52.989 take a short break here. We're going to come 00:01:52.989 --> 00:01:55.530 back. I'm going to talk real quick. briefly about 00:01:55.530 --> 00:01:59.010 empathy, and then we'll come back after that 00:01:59.010 --> 00:02:01.049 and talk about sympathy and then how they're 00:02:01.049 --> 00:02:34.980 different. So, let's get started, shall we? So, 00:02:34.980 --> 00:02:39.479 we're back. Let's go ahead and discuss empathy, 00:02:39.800 --> 00:02:43.719 shall we? First things first. The dictionary 00:02:43.719 --> 00:02:46.560 definition, right? It's the ability to understand 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:50.560 and share the feelings of others or another person 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:54.639 in general. Now, I can't say I understand how 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:59.060 this feels, or, you know, the general emotion 00:02:59.060 --> 00:03:03.360 of it, because medically I'm inept, so I've been 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:05.960 tested for it, but apparently I am incapable 00:03:05.960 --> 00:03:10.120 of feeling empathy. But, for those who know what 00:03:10.120 --> 00:03:12.900 it is, I can give a brief overview of what it 00:03:12.900 --> 00:03:15.419 is, and, you know, you can come to your own conclusion. 00:03:17.259 --> 00:03:20.810 Now... Empathy, essentially, is the capacity 00:03:20.810 --> 00:03:23.569 to understand or, you know, feel what other people 00:03:23.569 --> 00:03:25.509 is experiencing from, you know, within their 00:03:25.509 --> 00:03:27.669 frame of reference or their understanding in 00:03:27.669 --> 00:03:30.210 some regard. You know, it's the capacity to place 00:03:30.210 --> 00:03:32.349 oneself in another person's position, essentially. 00:03:32.550 --> 00:03:36.789 You know, it basically encompasses a broad range 00:03:36.789 --> 00:03:40.050 of emotional states all at once, okay? Well, 00:03:40.250 --> 00:03:42.870 first off, why is this even important? Well, 00:03:43.050 --> 00:03:46.129 while empathy may... fail you know sometimes 00:03:46.129 --> 00:03:48.210 most people are able to empathize with others 00:03:48.210 --> 00:03:50.729 in various situations and you know they have 00:03:50.729 --> 00:03:53.110 the ability to see things the other person's 00:03:53.110 --> 00:03:57.689 perspective or viewpoint and then you know in 00:03:57.689 --> 00:04:01.250 a way sympathize with another's emotions which 00:04:01.250 --> 00:04:05.090 plays an important role in our social lives in 00:04:05.090 --> 00:04:07.469 other words the contribution of empathy to judgment 00:04:07.469 --> 00:04:12.349 and you know moral judgment is of that standard 00:04:12.349 --> 00:04:15.680 now With that being said, here's the theory behind 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:19.240 it, okay? These are just brief conclusions over 00:04:19.240 --> 00:04:20.779 it. I mean, if y 'all want me to go more in -depth 00:04:20.779 --> 00:04:26.399 on what empathy is, I can. But, um, the simulation 00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:31.040 theory of empathy is essentially that it's a 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:33.819 theory that holds that humans can anticipate 00:04:33.819 --> 00:04:37.019 and make sense of the behavior of others by activating 00:04:37.019 --> 00:04:42.750 mental processes that, in a way, um... carried 00:04:42.750 --> 00:04:45.629 into action, you know, would produce similar 00:04:45.629 --> 00:04:47.689 behaviors. This includes intentional behavior 00:04:47.689 --> 00:04:49.990 as well as an expression of certain emotions. 00:04:50.470 --> 00:04:52.250 With that, there are certain characteristics. 00:04:53.730 --> 00:04:57.850 The top 10 traits of empathy that exist, well, 00:04:57.970 --> 00:05:01.269 you know what? I won't go into that because if 00:05:01.269 --> 00:05:03.509 I do, then this whole episode will be on empathy. 00:05:04.350 --> 00:05:07.990 But, you know, the trademark of an empath is 00:05:07.990 --> 00:05:11.579 that they feel They absorb the other person's 00:05:11.579 --> 00:05:14.180 emotions or physical symptoms because of their 00:05:14.180 --> 00:05:16.279 high sensitivity. Some people are really sensitive 00:05:16.279 --> 00:05:18.779 to this. And they filter the world through the 00:05:18.779 --> 00:05:23.360 intuition that they have gained from that. But 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:26.199 then they often have a difficult time intellectualizing 00:05:26.199 --> 00:05:29.160 how they actually feel. The last half is the 00:05:29.160 --> 00:05:32.879 expression. Like, in every intimate relationship, 00:05:33.180 --> 00:05:36.540 empathy is a key in relationship success. Showing 00:05:36.540 --> 00:05:40.699 your significant other. you have with you that 00:05:40.699 --> 00:05:42.959 you have the ability to understand how they feel 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:45.939 and experience whether or not you know it what 00:05:45.939 --> 00:05:48.680 it means to be hurt in pain longing frustration 00:05:48.680 --> 00:05:52.639 you know and make them feel hurt that's the greatest 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:55.019 gift you can give someone at least that's what 00:05:55.019 --> 00:06:00.480 i've been told so with that being said we'll 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:04.240 take a short break here and i'm gonna cover sympathy 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:30.100 next Now, this segment is going to be fairly 00:06:30.100 --> 00:06:34.500 short for the simple fact that, you know, like 00:06:34.500 --> 00:06:37.339 I mentioned before, sympathy is a relation off 00:06:37.339 --> 00:06:42.399 of empathy. Now, I can go on a tangent here and 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:46.560 cover what sympathy is, you know, in greater 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:50.939 detail. And, you know, it would be its own episode 00:06:50.939 --> 00:06:54.100 on its own. But for the sake of this discussion. 00:06:55.819 --> 00:06:59.819 Let's just look at sympathy on its own a little 00:06:59.819 --> 00:07:04.060 bit, and then I'll go into, in another episode, 00:07:04.100 --> 00:07:07.959 what the main drawback from these two things 00:07:07.959 --> 00:07:13.519 is. Now, sympathy, by definition, means the feelings 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:16.379 of pity, sorrow for someone else's misfortune, 00:07:16.439 --> 00:07:21.139 or an understanding between people or some type 00:07:21.139 --> 00:07:25.250 of common feeling. With that being said, sympathy 00:07:25.250 --> 00:07:27.689 is typically the perception, understanding, or 00:07:27.689 --> 00:07:30.550 reaction to the distress or need of another life 00:07:30.550 --> 00:07:34.370 form, typically animal or human. And this sympathetic 00:07:34.370 --> 00:07:37.949 concern is driven by a switch in viewpoint from 00:07:37.949 --> 00:07:40.670 a person's perspective to the perspective of 00:07:40.670 --> 00:07:42.850 another person, individual, or group member. 00:07:43.389 --> 00:07:46.269 And this stems from a lot of things, from biblical 00:07:46.269 --> 00:07:51.509 things to basic everyday life. And while sympathy 00:07:51.509 --> 00:07:53.870 doesn't have any major level meanings or anything 00:07:53.870 --> 00:07:58.149 of that nature, a lot of people don't seem to 00:07:58.149 --> 00:08:01.709 understand the difference between the two. So, 00:08:01.790 --> 00:08:06.509 with that being said, I'm going to end this segment 00:08:06.509 --> 00:08:10.009 fairly early, and then we're going to go ahead 00:08:10.009 --> 00:08:14.290 and talk about how these two are completely different. 00:08:30.149 --> 00:08:35.210 So, picking up where I left off. So, if empathizing 00:08:35.210 --> 00:08:37.509 is the ability to understand and sympathizing 00:08:37.509 --> 00:08:41.769 is the ability to feel, then how would you describe 00:08:41.769 --> 00:08:44.710 them completely different? So, first off, how 00:08:44.710 --> 00:08:48.309 are empathy and sympathy the same? Well, in terms 00:08:48.309 --> 00:08:51.970 of sympathy and empathy, they're often confused 00:08:51.970 --> 00:08:54.009 and with good reason. I mean, both of the words 00:08:54.009 --> 00:08:57.759 deal with relationship. a person has to the feeling 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:02.220 and experiences of another person, so that makes 00:09:02.220 --> 00:09:04.460 them the same. So then, let's explore the main 00:09:04.460 --> 00:09:06.299 differences between these terms and how they're 00:09:06.299 --> 00:09:09.840 commonly used. Sympathy and empathy have roots 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:13.679 in the Greek term pathos, meaning suffering and 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:18.259 feeling. So, like I mentioned before, what is 00:09:18.259 --> 00:09:21.639 sympathy? Sympathy is the older of the two terms. 00:09:21.700 --> 00:09:26.080 It entered English in the mid -1500s, I do believe, 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:30.220 with a very broad meaning of agreement or harmony 00:09:30.220 --> 00:09:34.220 and qualities between things or people. Since 00:09:34.220 --> 00:09:36.980 then, the term has come to be used in more specific 00:09:36.980 --> 00:09:40.559 ways. Nowadays, sympathy is largely used to convey 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:44.779 commiseration, pity, a feeling of sorrow for 00:09:44.779 --> 00:09:47.500 someone else who... experienced misfortune or 00:09:47.500 --> 00:09:49.659 someone died. I mean, you feel bad for them, 00:09:49.720 --> 00:09:52.259 but you don't know what it is like to be in their 00:09:52.259 --> 00:09:56.460 shoes. So, I mean, that's essentially sympathy. 00:09:58.600 --> 00:10:04.080 I mean, consider the following. Say, how do I 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:07.580 put this? Pity may represent a little more than 00:10:07.580 --> 00:10:10.600 the interpersonal concern, which prompts the 00:10:10.600 --> 00:10:13.179 mailing of a check, but true sympathy is the 00:10:13.179 --> 00:10:15.480 personal concern which demands the giving of 00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:19.659 one's soul. Quote is from Martin Luther King 00:10:19.659 --> 00:10:24.580 Jr. This is essentially sympathy. Well, if that's 00:10:24.580 --> 00:10:36.429 sympathy, what is empathy? No, obsolete meaning 00:10:36.429 --> 00:10:40.809 from the field of psychology. Psychologists began 00:10:40.809 --> 00:10:43.169 using empathy as a translation for the German 00:10:43.169 --> 00:10:50.029 term Einfühling. Well, however that's pronounced. 00:10:50.370 --> 00:10:52.909 Anyway, the concept that a person could project 00:10:52.909 --> 00:10:56.090 their own feelings onto a viewed target or objective. 00:10:57.590 --> 00:11:00.429 Unlike sympathy, empathy has come to be used 00:11:00.429 --> 00:11:04.169 in a broader way than when it was first introduced. 00:11:04.269 --> 00:11:08.029 The term is now mostly often used to refer to 00:11:08.029 --> 00:11:10.450 the capacity or ability to imagine oneself in 00:11:10.450 --> 00:11:13.110 the situation of another, experiencing the emotions, 00:11:13.309 --> 00:11:18.009 ideas, opinions of that person. As you get older, 00:11:18.129 --> 00:11:20.509 you have more respect and empathy for your parents. 00:11:21.110 --> 00:11:23.350 Now I have a great relationship with both of 00:11:23.350 --> 00:11:25.580 them. Now, that's a quote from Hugh Jackman, 00:11:25.720 --> 00:11:29.139 but it gives a pretty good idea. But essentially, 00:11:29.340 --> 00:11:31.399 to sum up everything that I've covered so far, 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:34.139 the main difference between the most commonly 00:11:34.139 --> 00:11:40.759 used meanings of these two terms is this. Sympathy 00:11:40.759 --> 00:11:44.759 is feeling compassion, sorrow, or pity for the 00:11:44.759 --> 00:11:47.019 hardships that another person encounters, whereas 00:11:47.019 --> 00:11:49.940 empathy is putting yourself in the shoes of another, 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:54.350 which is why actors often talk about it. So keep 00:11:54.350 --> 00:11:57.490 this in mind. Now while this wasn't a typical 00:11:57.490 --> 00:12:01.309 podcast like the ones that I usually do, I just 00:12:01.309 --> 00:12:02.669 wanted to go ahead and get this out of the way. 00:12:03.230 --> 00:12:05.389 Now there is some other topics I'd love to cover, 00:12:05.490 --> 00:12:07.629 and I'm going to get to those as soon as I can. 00:12:08.409 --> 00:12:10.429 But with this out of the way, I can now focus 00:12:10.429 --> 00:12:14.009 on those topics, and if the request comes in, 00:12:14.070 --> 00:12:16.970 I'll do an episode that mainly focuses on just 00:12:16.970 --> 00:12:23.139 sympathy as a whole. It's been fun, guys. Thanks 00:12:23.139 --> 00:12:25.860 for listening. Until next time, this is your 00:12:25.860 --> 00:12:26.860 host, Neogentrix.