16 upvotes, 2 direct replies (showing 2)
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I think you’ve got the tail and the dog backwards. Empathy is something one learns. If their neurodivergence taxed the adults who raised them, they may not have gotten as clear and as differentiated lessons in empathizing as others. To say nothing of the quite horrifying trend in parenting I’ve seen for decades now, where “politeness” *the ritual* is taught - you grab a kid and tell them to say they’re sorry, rather than ask them to think about how *they* would feel if someone punched them, and when they say bad, you follow up with, so how do you think you punching them mad them feel? Bad. So do you want to be someone who makes other people feel bad? … M
Comment by Gastronomicus at 19/01/2025 at 16:33 UTC
19 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Empathy is something one learns
Empathy is an evolved response present in many animals. It can be cultivated as a learned behaviour, but it is by no means strictly learned.
Comment by Vermilion at 19/01/2025 at 18:09 UTC*
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I think you’ve got the tail and the dog backwards. Empathy is something one learns.
Not really. "Empathy" is a term scientist use in autism field all the time, and it is also used by scientists when studying animals.
Animals do not record language and develop rituals to the degree that human beings do, although we are still learning about chemical trails, geographic arrangements and gestures / verbal of animals.
The term used for learned concern for others is "compassion", it has a long-standing meaning. You go to a school to learn compassion, those schools are frequently Buddhist temples, Hindu temples, Christian church, etc. It is education based / experience based / ritual based teaching.
There are also methods used to remove compassion, unlearn it, and redirect it. Military "boot camp" throughout history and geography is also a useful study on this.