Is it possible to empathise too much?

Question

Discuss

Answer 1

It depends on what your ultimate purpose is. If you happen to want to bomb shedloads of people, then too much empathy might well be a bit of a pain in the neck. Face to face with Hitler, to see the small, unsure, spiteful little weed who only wanted to make things of beauty, paintings that spoke to the world of some vision, who wanted love and flowers, would be problematic...the focus on any individual human life can be enough to blot out consequences for what the world has done to that life. All the millions of corpses piled on Hitler's soul, all the consequences, blotted out in one terrifying bright moment of empathy with the scarred human being.

Answer 2

Have you ever had a problem? And you went to talk to a friend about this problem? And you started opening up and sharing what was bothering you? And all of a sudden this empathetic friend........who is very earnest and wants to help......interrupts saying, "Ohhh I so know what you mean! Once this same thing happened to me......I was with some people and....."

And at that point......your empathetic friend continues with a long long tale that centered totally on ......them. You sit there listening closely. Knowing that at some point you will see the connection and will understand why your friend has chosen to share such a tale. But as the length of this story continues......you realize that your friend has forgotten your issue and now the conversation has moved to you helping your friend iron out the problem that you just spent 15 minutes listening to. But you don't mind....because you are a friend.....and because....well......you empathize with them.

Yes....sometimes it is possible to empathize too much.

Answer 3

Yes it's possible. The last question I answered left my head empty but I don't wanna be gamey. A few sentances should help. It's possible to over empathise.

Answer 4

Yes, it is quite possible. You see we find people in various ways. Sometimes people are deep into the vortex of strange or poignant situations. When in distress or agony people might not realise themselves but they do create strong emotional vibes. These vibes can be stronger beyond anything in a normal life experience. They can be so strong that they stay emotionally visible for a long time even after their source is not there anymore. The energy patterns caused by such vibes or situations tend to live in your mind until something stronger replaces them - something much stronger like sequences of prayer or attention of someone you love.

The situations that we find fellow human in can be startling to the best, or they can be absorbing to the worst. We need to have a strong purpose for getting close to people who we feel need our attention, company or comfort. These purposes can come in form of a full personal responsibility, deep and genuine concerns and commitment, or special training as part of a job or a professional duty.

Normally we cannot stand, and should not stand, each and everything they comes our way. Often upon hearing a noise we run up to see what has happened. This is a natural response and it is in place for the purpose of preservation of human kind. But we have elaborate rituals when someone dies, that are there to create a clear subconscious distinction between normal life, and something that has happened but is not life like.

We need to take life objectively. We cannot choose to be overwhelmingly empathetic to whomever we like. We can choose and decide. We can prepare ourselves in order to widen our reach. We all want to do good things in the world but can we afford to do al the good that is their good? Do we have an option? We can only be good according to our capacity. The capacity can be increased but with a purpose and commitment. We want to treat all humans equally but our equal might not be equally good for everyone including ourselves.

Answer 5

Absolutely....if you wind up putting others feelings before your own to the point of being harmful to yourself. There should be a nice balance, where you feel for the person without taking away your own true feelings.

Answer 6

I was thinking empathy is the backbone of morality, but then compassion reared its head and grace flew out of the window.

Answer 7

You can empathize to the point where you become too immersed in other people and lose your own sense of being.

Answer 8

Yes, because you reach that point, and if you continue, it seems to dilute your point.

Answer 9

Think Nikki from BB, and you have your answer!

Answer 10

i think so yep