a few musings

a couple of my thoughts for the day…

in response to a classmates remarks concerning education of empathy, and how many successful individuals are not empathetic…

This makes me ask, “What is success?” Society can have some pretty
screwed up ideas about who is successful. I think that a person can be
very successful by society’s standards, but be superficial and hollow,
and not have learned anything of value other than how to manipulate
society for their benefit. This is similar to the student who learns how
to get As, but does not actually learn anything in his classes because
he is so focused on the grade rather than his education. He does not
absorb anything from his classes. Is he successful? By society’s
standards, yes, because he has a stellar grade point average, but I do
not believe he is successful. Therefore, it is very possible that there
are individuals in our society who are “successful” and not epathetic,
but they have learned nothing of value, and have not been enriched by
what education offers them.

in response to a classmate who believes that empathy is not an important quality to have, and who states that “If we spend all our time trying to figure out how others feel, we inevidably [sic] forget how we feel.” …

I believe that part of understanding how we feel comes from
understanding how others feel. There are so many texts that tackle this,
but here’s one I was able to find readily:

“Your soul is so close to mine
I know what you dream.
Friends scan each other’s depths;
Would I be a Friend, if I didn’t?
A Friend is a mirror of clear water;
I see my gains in you, and my losses.”

from “Your Soul Is So Close to Mine” by Jalal-ud-Din Rumi

Rumi notes that two people who are close to one another have a
connection in which one can see himself in the other, and vice versa.
Empathy works like this. Through understanding what others think and
feel, you can understand yourself. Maybe this does not work for you, and
I’m spouting off for no reason, but this is the way I understand my world.

just some things to think about…

~ by claire karoly on 29 June 2006.