I enjoyed viewing The Empathic Civilisation by Jeremy Rifkin. The science behind empathy (mirror neurons in all humans and many primates) fascinates me and was not something I thought about prior to viewing this video. I was not aware of how young children first come to develop empathy and found it interesting that it is through learning that life is fragile and vulnerable that we develop empathetic solidarity (not only with ourselves but with our fellow creatures on this planet). That we are soft-wired for companionship, empathy and the drive to belong is good news. Learning to tap into these drives so that they are collectively more powerful than secondary drives such as materialism, violence and greed, seems like it could be the key to bringing compassion, humanity and peace to our biosphere as a whole.
Stereotypes can certainly interfere with empathy. Making assumptions or generalizations based on a person’s image promotes the idea that we are separate or different, and therefore unable to relate - the opposite of empathy. Educating ourselves and breaking down these barriers is essential. I loved the part in the video that highlighted how technology is acting as an empathetic catalyst (only two hours after hurricane Haiti, tweets and videos went viral, and the whole world united and responded empathetically). I believe we need to tap into our digital resources with this intent (to ignite worldwide empathy and solidary) with much more force! Imagine the positive waves we could make.
Stereotypes can certainly interfere with empathy. Making assumptions or generalizations based on a person’s image promotes the idea that we are separate or different, and therefore unable to relate - the opposite of empathy. Educating ourselves and breaking down these barriers is essential. I loved the part in the video that highlighted how technology is acting as an empathetic catalyst (only two hours after hurricane Haiti, tweets and videos went viral, and the whole world united and responded empathetically). I believe we need to tap into our digital resources with this intent (to ignite worldwide empathy and solidary) with much more force! Imagine the positive waves we could make.