Empathy: Why it Matters, and How to Get it book notes

Bibliography

Krznaric, R. (2015) Empathy: Why it Matters, and How to Get it. United Kingdom: Rider & Co.

Citations, Quotes & Annotations

Krznaric, R. (2015) Empathy: Why it Matters, and How to Get it. United Kingdom: Rider & Co.

(Krznaric, 2015)

chapter : the radical power of empathy

sub title: The revolution of human relationships

Empathy is, in fact, an ideal that had the power both to transform our own lives and to.m bring about fundamental social change' 

'Empathy can create a revolution...something much more radical : a revolution of human relationships'

Page 1 

page : x radical power of empathy 

over past decade serge of empathic thinking and action around the globe driven by political activists  ‘empathy activism’ 

All these initiatives are part of an historic wave of empathy that is challenging our highly individualistic, self-obsessed cultures, in which most of us have become far too absorbed in our own lives to give much thought to anyone else.

First, let's gel the meaning clear: empathy is the art of stepping imaginatively into the shoes of another person, understanding their feelings and perspectives, and using that understanding to guide your actions.* So empathy is distinct from expressions of sympathy -such as pity or feeling sorry for somebody - as these do not involve trying to understand the other person's emotions or point of view Nor is empathy the same as the Golden Rule, 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’ this assumes your own interests coincide with theirs. 

page : xi The radical power of empathy 

a day in the life of idea… 

this woman physically altered her appearance and abilities so she could understand what it would be like to life someone else life. this is something i could urge in my work -'try putting yourself in there shoes for a day , - i could use comparisons i.e breathing into a bag with limited space, breathing with tape over your mouth. 

, we don't design for those people.' She was incensed. What he mean, 'those people? Riled by his response, she decided conduct what turned out to be one of the most radical empathy of the twentieth century. She would discover what it

•n/ she told me, 'I wanted a true immersion character, empathic character, where I could really walk in someone 's shoes.' So with the help of a professional make-up artist, transformed herself. She put layers of latex on her face so looked old and wrinkly, wore clouded glasses that blurred vision, plugged her ears so she couldn't hear well, clipped a brace and wrapped bandages around her torso so she was hunched over, taped splints to her arms and legs so she wasn’t able to bend her limbs, and finished off her disguise with n shoes so she was forced to hobble with a stick.

page: xii the radical power of empathy 

Moore has become famous for her ‘empathetic model’ which has enlightened a whole generation of designers wHo now recognise the importance of looking through the eyes of the people who will use the products they create, 'Universal design is driven by empathy' she explains, 'an understanding that one size doesn't fit all - and that's what my whole career has been about’

page: xiii the radical power of empathy 

Making the effort to look through other people's eyes can be personally challenging -  and sometime deeply exhilarating - but it also has extraordinary potential as a force for social change.

For the past three hundred years, influential thinkers from Thomas Hobbes to Sigmund Freud have been telling us that we are essentially self-interested, self-preserving creatures who pursue our own individualistic ends. Over time, this dark depiction of human beings has become the prevailing view in Western culture. In the last decade, however, it has been nudged firmly to one side by evidence that we are homo empathicus –wired for empathy

page: xiv the radical power of empathy 

Looking after number one¹ is becoming an outdated aspiration as we begin to realize that empathy is at the core of being human, we are in the midst of a great transition from the Cartesian age

of 'I think, therefore I am' to an empathic era of 'You are,

therefore I am'.⁴ /

speaking to people from every walk of life about their experiences of empathy, or its absence Whether they've been trauma nurses or investment bankers, police officers or professional working mothers, people living on the streets of inner-city London or wealthy Guatemalan plantation owners, almost everyone has a story to tell about stepping into the shoes of others,.

page: the radical power of empathy xv

THE SIX HABITS OF HIGHLY EMPATHIC PEOPLE

Habit 1: Switch on your empathic brain

Shifting our mental frameworks to recognise that empathy is at the core of human nature, and that it can be expanded throughout our lives.

Habit 2: Make the imaginative leap

Making a conscious effort to step into other people's shoes - including our 'enemies - to acknowledge their humanity, individuality and perspectives.

Habit 3: Seek experiential adventures

Exploring lives and cultures that contrast with our own through direct immersion, empathic journeying, and social cooperation.

Habit 4: Practise the craft of conversation

fostering curiosity about strangers and radical listening, and taking off our emotional mask 

habit 5: travel in your armchair

transporting ourselves into other peoples minds with the help of art, literature, film and online social networking. 

Habit 6: Inspire a revolution

Generating empathy on a mass scale to create social change, and extending our empathy skills to embrace the natural worfd.

only a tiny proportion of people display what the psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen calls "zero degrees of empathy'. Amongst them are psychopaths, who have a cognitive ability to enter your mind but make no emotional bond with you (think Hannibal lecter), and people with autism spectrum disorders such as Asperger syndrome together they account for no more than around 2 %of the general population. the 98 per cent of humanity is born to empathies and wired for Social connection,'

page : the radical power of empathy xvii

»,This heartless world of indifference is not the one we live in. open your eyes to it, and you will realise that empathy is all around us, it's the stuff we swim in. Yet if that is the case, what's the problem? Why should we care about cultivating the six habits of highly empathic people? Because this moment in history we are suffering from an acute 'empathy deficit', both as a society, and in our individual lives.

sub title: Tackling empathy deficit

in the lead up to the 2008 us presidential election, barrack Obama made empathy on of his major campaign themes: 

• We live in a culture that discourages empathy, a culture that too often tells us that our principal goal in life is to be rich, thin, young famous, safe and entertained.