I have empathy to the point of being pathtic --empathetic, but the key is that not everything hurts me like it does others, but other things hurt far worse - RAPatton

edythe: I think I'm all out. I suspect I burned out my empathy gland while doing tech support. :) - ha3rvey, not a sweetheart

The problem with being too empathetic is you forget to mind your own feelings or simply confuse them with someone elses. But, I'd rather feel too much in confusion than nothing at all. - Michael W. May from twhirl

From the article: "At least my lack of empathy was not unusual. Having practiced as a psychotherapist for 35 years, LaBier believes that what he calls empathy deficit disorder (EDD) is rampant among Americans. LaBier says we unlearn whatever empathy skills we've picked up while coming of age in a culture that focuses on acquisition and status more than cooperation and values "moving on" over thoughtful reflection. LaBier is convinced that EDD is at the heart of modernity's most common problems, macro (war) and micro (divorce). - Ginger Makela Riker

I was helping my wife's cousin with a novel and the plot I gave her to rework her manuscript with was a group trying to change the human race into empaths so that problems such as war, divorce etc would be reduced. Of course, there would be issues with that. It could be crippling in many ways, and the biologically depressed would be shunned as would the sick etc. - RAPatton

I feel nothing for this article. Oh wait, that's sympathy. I have no idea how this article feels. There we go. - Phil G

Empathy is something I've worked hard on for the past few years -- still room for improvement however. - Shey, Jamaican of FF

I'll admit that I had too much empathy growing up, ended up in a severe depression in college. Better now though.. Also, extremely good article, I hope to write so clearly and emotively one day. - Phil G

Empathy? I try to get over it... watch Dr. House *gg* - Dieter Schwarz

On the contrary, Dr. House is freakishly empathetic, in that he knows exactly what the people he interacts with are feeling. However, he chooses not to care. - Phil G

empathy maybe word in the dictionary , but certainly is not a value of the generic human species !! "The problem with this universe is that nobody helps anyone" -Anakin Skywalke r:)- - Peter Dawson

@J.Phil: You are absolutely right! I´m just working on the "not care" part ;) - Dieter Schwarz

Dieter - I don't know if the character of Dr. House is really someone you want to model yourself after! LOL. However, after re-reading the chronicles of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle recently, the parallels between him and House are striking. It's obvious in retrospect that is who the writers have based the House character off of. And Wilson, of course, is the trusty Dr. Watson.. wait a second... House - Holmes, Wilson - Watson.. hmm. - Phil G

I always thought the genius of Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" was not predicting a world of flying cars or artificial animals, but rather his prediction of a world where people have so many bioengineered and artificial parts that the only way you can distinguish between human beings and androids is via an empathy test. That *empathy* is what keeps us from being soulless robots. - Karim

Karim - Indeed, that's it exactly. If you watch the anime movie and series, 'Ghost in the Shell' this is a recurring theme, as well. - Phil G

Yes, I'm a big fan of "Ghost in the Shell," partly because they have these transhumanist philosophical debates. (And then they get out HUGE guns and blow the crap out of things.) EDIT: In GITS, sometimes it's the robots (Tachikomas) that share feelings and express affection, while the humans who have their "minds hacked" turn into murderous, soulless puppets. - Karim

@J.Phil: well - i would love to care less - it´s less stressful - in fact someone did a psy test with me some weeks ago: i´m a "not-practicing-empath" i was told *lol* very empathetic but don´t care ;) now i could be happy *gg* btw. House also lives in 221b and there are lot´s of other similarities to my childhood hero holmes :) - Dieter Schwarz

Dieter - I admire the characters Holmes and House quite a bit, but they are deeply flawed.. of course, that makes them interesting to the rest of us. Ah well, I don't want to drift off-topic too much but I wish you the best in finding a balance in your own life! - Phil G

KArim, Ok I have not seen Ghost in a shell, but this convo reminds me of "I robot" and Asimov.. when together - AI Bots and their positron's brains will, after a duration of time,form similar patterns within their systems. This initiates similar motives across all AI entities. Having said that, what happens if these motives within hybrids are "empathic" by nature ? Will this make the Robot a soul full robot ? :)- - Peter Dawson

I have about 3 extra empathy genes. If anyone is missing theirs, please report to the front page of FriendFeed and I will return it to you. - Cyndy

@J.Phil: offtopic?? balance?? who cares?? *lol* ;) - Dieter Schwarz

while at it, I thought I'll share this link on the empathy gene - the canadian version :)- .. does the US have such a video ?? :)- http://www.youtube.com/watch... - Peter Dawson

Dieter - you're right! Darn empathy. Peter - I don't think in the US it is really that celebrated to tell people you are unusually empathetic. - Phil G

Peter, interesting question. :-) Most of us are delighted when software seems to "read our minds," or to know what we want before we've asked for it. Once you can put conversational language and empathy into a machine, people will probably treat it *as if* it had a soul. "Well, he acts like he has genuine emotions. Um…of course he’s programmed that way…to make it easier for us to talk to him. But as to whether or not he has real feelings is something I don’t think anyone can truthfully answer." - 2001 - Karim

J. Phil, interesting you suggest that Holmes and House suffer from a surfeit of empathy, and they both take opiates, which causes them not only to feel less of their own pain, but less of other people's pain as well -- opiates are notoriously "selfish" drugs. - Karim

@Karim, I think the higher order question would then be 'what is a soul ?" - and you may find this statement intriguing too - "If you reincarnate quickly enough, though, we can catch you the second time around, no?" .. so if the bot does not behave the way we want it ..EPROM the bugger and start over once again quickly ..kinda theory ? - Peter Dawson

According to a wikipedia article on Dr. House, apparently the connection (along with the drugs and music talent) were deliberate during the planning stages of the show. But it is correct that Holmes took opium to recede into his own head for a period, he says as much several times in different novels and short stories. - Phil G

Peter, not sure I can define "soul" in a FF thread :-) but empathy seems to be part of having one... empathy is what "soul brother" means to me: someone who is not biologically your brother, but who knows your joys and sufferings as intimately as his own. - Karim

What surprised me was my therapist's response to these tirades. She never said, "Leave that rotten bastard." Or "Your roommate is a big baby." Instead she said, "Gosh, that sounds really hard." And, "That must have felt terrible." And, "How did you feel after that happened?" My reaction to those spectacularly bland comments was even more astonishing. I loved them. - Russellreno

re last comment - The correct thing to do, so hard to do it consistently. - Russellreno

Friendfeed is my Opium!! :-)) - Dieter Schwarz

I'm surprised that the story didn't mention the science behind "mirror neurons" which seem to be where empathy comes from. This article ran in the NYT a couple of years ago. pretty fascinating stuff... http://www.nytimes.com/2006...? - Robert Seidman

To those who think they are too empathic. My understanding is that sympathizers absorb pain, while those who empathize leave the pain with the other person. Hence, empathy good, sympathy bad. - Russellreno

@Russellreno , how are differentiating "condescending" vs "Empathy" ? - Peter Dawson

Peter - No. As a manager I learned to listen to employees, but not take on their pain. (I thought you asked " are you". Maybe I don't get your question. Condescending is "Get over it". - Russellreno

every now and then it might be nice to suffer from it. i'm sure i am not the only one who feels that way. - edythe

harvey: no! don't give up! :) - edythe