Judy, Am I such a turd in your view that you are going to shun me when I ask for a reasonable amount of output from you for my input?
Are you thinking the list below has an agenda to shame you or attempt to smack you with some other negativity? The reason I'm pushing this issue is NOT that the below is all the important, and NOT that you owe me or anyone any answers to anything, but for you to ignore this request on my part seems to point to other issues that you're not bothering to let me know about. You, of course, know that you're not answering me, and you, of course, have a reason for it; what's so hard about saying that you just don't care to interact with me about it? Or, is one post out of your 50 too expensive? Just to put my cards on the table face up: I think you chickened out of a challenge, and you chose to ignore me despite the fact that you have this intense need to correct every person here on the least nuances of semantics etc. Yet, I ask for a definitive meeting of the minds about a single word, and all we get is nothing from you. Does ya think no one notices how you can't even stand one burner being on in the kitchen unless you're the one cooking? Edg --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Duveyoung <no_re...@...> wrote: > > Judy, > > I was seriously hoping you'd try your hand at responding to the below. I > thought it would give you a good shot at really showing the excellence of > your red pencil. > > What happened? > > Isn't the concept "empathy" a big enough concept to chew on? Seems to me > it's woven into all self-improvement scenarios. If one doesn't have a tight > definition for such an important concept, then one is less able to determine > if one is gaining more of or bettering this personality dynamic -- and, if > so, then, it might be an indicator of spiritual refinement/progress. > > Just to be open, I think that if anything my empathy for others has moved out > of the realm of having emotional processes to indicate the intensity of the > dynamic, and, nowadays, I'm defining empathy more and more as "awareness of > another's inner state" than as "feeling the same feelings or remembering > having had such feelings." To me, awareness is love/empathy, so the better I > can see inside another, the more I'm empathetic by definition, whereas, my > assumption that my emotions are-or-were-once the same as another maybe faulty. > > Edg > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Duveyoung <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > "authfriend" wrote: > > > Thanks, Raunch. You don't even have to *like* a person > > > to feel empathy for them. Goodness knows I've been tough > > > on Ruth in other respects. But this time, I got a sense > > > of almost desperation in her lament that I hadn't before. > > > > > > I hope I'm wrong. I hope she's not in as much pain as I > > > intuited. Although in a very different context, I've been > > > there, and I don't wish it on anybody. Same with Shemp, > > > whom I don't care for much either, a week or so ago. And > > > Kirk as well. Good for all three of them for being willing > > > to share their unhappiness. That's healthy; it's a sign > > > they're not going to let life get the better of them. > > > > Judy, > > > > Some of these questions "overlap" in that a complete and detailed answer to > > one of them might entail your answering some of the others, so go ahead and > > ignore a question if that's the case. > > > > 1. Isn't it more the case that almost everyone here has shared their > > emotional discomforts -- some more than others, yes -- but haven't almost > > all of us shown that we are emotionally invested in the issues of life and > > that sometimes these emotions spike to heights that can be called "pain" of > > some sort? And, hey just a damned second there, what am I -- chopped > > liver? -- that I'm not included in your listing? I demand to be put on > > your "willing to share their unhappiness" list!!!! > > > > 2. What are the conditions from which "empathy" will emerge within your > > mind? Er, is your empathy, in fact, conditional? Do you have more empathy > > for Ruth than for Barry? > > > > 3. When you experience empathy, what's that really mean? Is it mostly an > > emotion that's dancing in your attention, and can you label or name it? Or > > is it a "set" of concepts that are applied to the person with whom you're > > empathizing -- such as: > > > > a. "I am confident that I know her emotions and I have felt this way too, > > so I'm empathizing." > > > > b. "Her actions are what I feel I've done before, so I'm identifying with > > her situation enough to trigger my memories of my experiences when I've > > done those things, and that means some emotional material is > > remembered/uprising in me that I think are similar to her emotions." > > > > c. "I don't have the tee shirt, ain't done that, but just now I've "put > > myself in her place, with my imagination's powers' and I'm certain I've > > done this enough to generate some emotional dynamics within me such that I > > feel I've stepped into her shoes 'enough' to get what she's going through." > > > > d. My take is that she's so whacked that I pity her plight, and I call that > > empathy. > > > > 4. What are the major differences between "pity" and "apathy" to you? > > > > 5. Does a person have to be cognizant of their angst and know that they > > are up against a powerful dynamic that is difficult to quell for you to > > empathize, or can a person be, say, like Nab, who one might think is in a > > terrible psychological fix but is haughty and arrogant about their status > > and proud of it, and yet, still, you'll empathize? > > > > 6. When you do "like a person," is empathy easier to generate? > > > > 7. What is the meaning of this word "like?" Is that caveman talk? "You > > hairy dirty. Me hairy dirty. Ungaowa, me like you!" Is "liking" merely the > > recognition of similarities, resonances? Or is "liking" more akin to the > > concept of "love emanating 360 and bathing all with a glowing acceptance of > > exactly how any person presents?" A combo of both maybe? > > > > 8. Is the expression of one's unhappiness always healthy or is that > > conditional also? It's one thing for a child to weep openly about a > > scratched knee, but it is another for that child to be talking about the > > pain of that scratch a year later, right? How "fresh" does a person's > > angst have to be for your empathy to kick in? If they're just endlessly > > getting into the same binds, what does that do to your empathy? Are a > > sufferer's intelligence about and insight into their clockworks factors > > that determine if your empathy is triggered? > > > > 9. Why would expression of angst be healthy as or heathier than "holding > > it in?" > > > > Edg > > >
