Whether we believe in the concept or not, we all are endowed with the capability to empathize with another, to understand and relate, to reach a kind of common ground. We find ourselves at times waging an internal war between our self-interest and our realization that the well-being of our fellow humans is equally important because we depend on one another. Empathy can take us outside our skin and imagine what others feel and think. And it is not the case that self-interest is somehow “bad” and empathy is therefore “good”, but that both emotions have a role to play in our shared reality. Taking the time and energy to understand one another seems to me to be a key element in the survival of our species. Empathy provides us the tools to stand together as one.
whoisfenton 