Ummm... empathy, love and compassion are three different concepts. Empathy is the least spiritual of the three. For you hindu wannabes, Krishna warns in the Gita not to *feel* too badly for those he condems and that is what empathy is, *feeling* another's loss, not simply being aware of or doing something about it. Empathy is not productive, in fact may be more counter productive, getting lost in negative emmotion. Compassion and love are much more spiritual and helpful to everyone.
________________________________ From: do.rflex <do.rf...@yahoo.com> To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sun, May 30, 2010 8:07:51 AM Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Study: Today's students have less empathy --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Mike Dixon <mdixon.6...@...> wrote: > > Good for them!!!!!!!!!! Nothing like being saddled with other people's debts > and being their *slaves* to make you worry about your own future. It's about > time a new generation return to living according to *natural law* > i.e. evolution,  survival of the fittest, allowing the cream to rise to > the top, freedom! Of course this leads to so much prosperity that once again, > the next generation will have too much free time and again begin to ponder if > they can organize life better than nature. > Yes, yes! Let's live like animals! I'll get mine and fuck everybody else! There is no morality but selfishness! Greed and selfishness is good! Caring for others is for suckers and losers! Compassion is evil! "The only virtue is selfishness." ~~ Ayn Rand > Kudos to the*me generation*, God bless you! But wait! ... Did use the word "God" Mr Dixon? --Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. ...If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. 1 John 4:7-8, 20-21 > > > ________________________________ > From: do.rflex <do.rf...@...> > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Sat, May 29, 2010 9:22:36 AM > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Study: Today's students have less empathy > >  > > > Today's College Students Lack Empathy > By Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Managing Editor > posted: 28 May 2010 08:05 am ET >        Live Science - College students today are less likely to > "get" the emotions of others than their counterparts 20 and 30 years ago, a > new review study suggests. > Specifically, today's students scored 40 percent lower on a measure of > empathy than their elders did. The findings are based on a review of 72 > studies of 14,000 American college students overall conducted between 1979 > and 2009. > > "We found the biggest drop in empathy after the year 2000," said Sara > Konrath, a researcher at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social > Research. > The study was presented this week at the annual meeting of the Association > for Psychological Science in Boston. > Is "generation me" all about me? > Compared with college students of the late 1970s, current students are less > likely to agree with statements such as "I sometimes try to understand my > friends better by imagining how things look from their perspective, " and "I > often have tender, concerned feelings for people less fortunate than me." > "Many people see the current group of college students â€" sometimes called > 'Generation Me' â€" as one of the most self-centered, narcissistic, > competitive, confident and individualistic in recent history," said Konrath, > who is also affiliated with the University of Rochester Department of > Psychiatry. > Konrath's colleague graduate student Edward O'Brien added, "It's not > surprising that this growing emphasis on the self is accompanied by a > corresponding devaluation of others." > Other recent studies have shown mixed results on the character of today's > youth. For instance, one study of more than 450,000 high-school seniors born > at different time periods showed today's youth are no more self-centered than > their parents were at their age. > The role of media > Even so, Konrath and O'Brien suggest several reasons for the lower empathy > they found, including the ever-increasing exposure to media in the current > generation. > "Compared to 30 years ago, the average American now is exposed to three times > as much nonwork-related information, " Konrath said. "In terms of media > content, this generation of college students grew up with video games, and a > growing body of research, including work done by my colleagues at Michigan, > is establishing that exposure to violent media numbs people to the pain of > others." > The rise in social media could also play a role. > "The ease of having 'friends' online might make people more likely to just > tune out when they don't feel like responding to others' problems, a behavior > that could carry over offline," O'Brien said. > In fact, past research has suggested college students are addicted to social > media. > Other possible causes include a society today that's hypercompetitive and > focused on success, as well as the fast-paced nature of today, in which > people are less likely than in time periods past to slow down to really > listen to others, O'Brien added. > "College students today may be so busy worrying about themselves and their > own issues that they don't have time to spend empathizing with others, or at > least perceive such time to be limited," O'Brien said. > You can find out your empathy score and how it compares with today's college > students by taking the empathy quiz. > > http://www.livescie nce.com/culture/ empathy-college- students- generation- > me-100528. html >
