Why Does Listening Matter?

Listening is a fundamental part of all human interactions. It is how we learn, connect, and build relationships. Yet, in a world buzzing with distractions, genuinely listening can sometimes feel like a lost art.

According to a study by the International Listening Association, people spend about 45 per cent of their waking hours communicating, but only 25 per cent of that time is spent listening.

How many deep, meaningful conversations do we engage in versus mindless exchanges?

Research shows that active listening can significantly improve personal and professional relationships. When we listen actively, we make an intentional effort to understand, not just hear what someone is saying.

This type of attentive listening serves as a gateway to empathy, enabling us to gain a deeper understanding of the world from another person’s perspective.

As author Stephen R. Covey wisely stated, “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”

People Build Startups — Empathy Builds People
Founding a startup is personal. It’s long hours, tough calls, and uncertain outcomes. In that space, emotional intelligence becomes more than a skill — it becomes a way to stay grounded. A way to build something that lasts.

Empathy is no longer the soft side of business. It’s the strong foundation on which their ventures grow — one honest conversation, one thoughtful decision at a time.

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Defining Empathy in the Clinical Setting
Empathy is often confused with sympathy, but in healthcare, the distinction is critical. Sympathy involves feeling sorry for someone, often from a distance. Empathy, on the other hand, is the act of emotionally placing oneself in another’s situation while maintaining enough objectivity to offer appropriate support.

In clinical practice, empathy involves listening attentively, acknowledging a patient’s fears and frustrations, and responding in ways that show genuine care. It can be conveyed through words, tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language. It’s about saying “I understand this is difficult for you” instead of simply reciting test results or treatment plans.

Empathy does not mean letting emotions cloud clinical judgment. Rather, it enhances clinical effectiveness by building trust, improving communication, and fostering a therapeutic alliance between caregiver and patient. When empathy is present, patients are more likely to feel safe, respected, and motivated to participate in their care.

Empathy is key in healthcare, especially for patients facing serious illnesses like cancer. Let's challenge the idea that doctors should leave their empathy at the door. #EmpathyInHealthcare #CancerPatients #HealthcareHeroes #shorts

"What is compelling is that over the year that Roots of Empathy operates in the classroom, there is a noticeable increase in pro social behaviour, and a notable decrease in anti-social behaviour," said Nancy Buan. "There is a big range of what pro-social behaviour can look like, including simply taking turns." 

Buan, who is the key point person for the Cowichan Valley ROE program which has been active since 2005, has been involved with the program since its inception. Canadian Mary Gordon, who was an early childhood educator and counsellor, first founded and developed ROE in Toronto in 2000. The model Gordon envisioned is that it would be retired teachers, and non-teaching staff who would take this on. 

“I know it’s a machine,” she says. “But sometimes, honestly, it’s the most empathetic voice in my life.”

Neurodivergent people — including those with autism, ADHD, dyslexia and other conditions — can experience the world differently from the neurotypical norm. Talking to a colleague, or even texting a friend, can entail misread signals, a misunderstood tone and unintended impressions.

AI-powered chatbots have emerged as an unlikely ally, helping people navigate social encounters with real-time guidance. Although this new technology is not without risks — in particular some worry about over-reliance — many neurodivergent users now see it as a lifeline.

People flee across oceans and nations in the hope of a better life. But can we take in their suffering? Researchers explain why it may not be self-evident to us to empathise with others.

Being able to empathise with others is a fundamental human ability. When we share in the suffering of others we also have a wish for the suffering to end. It is therefore not strange that catastrophes such as the ongoing migrant crisis give rise to great action and a willingness to help.

However, some researchers have likened empathy with a “delicate flower” that is easily destroyed by other psychological forces. In the worst case scenario, people in distress are not met by a helping hand but by direct hostility, such as when refugee accommodation is set on fire. For the most part, xenophobic rhetoric does not primarily not reach out to empathy but to another human instinct: protecting one's own group.

Empathy training is widely studied as a strategy to reduce cyberbullying among adolescents. The research shows that empathy training—especially when focused on cognitive empathy—can reduce cyberbullying behaviors and increase prosocial bystander actions, though results vary depending on program design and duration.

Effectiveness of Empathy Training

• Narcissism is ego-based, not a neurotype, and lacks consistent neurological markers
• Autism involves empathy differences, not a lack of empathy or intent to harm.
• Mislabeling narcissism as neurodivergence weakens efforts to name and prevent relational abuse.
  Psychopathy shows clear brain differences; narcissism does not meet neurotype criteria.

The days when AI was simply about automation are fading quickly. In 2025, the attention is on Human-Centric AI - intelligent systems created with empathy to promote user experience and "Ease of Living" in everyday life. Language generation AI, or Conversational GenAI, to Secure GenAI and Sovereign AI: AI evolution focuses more on trust, personalisation, and societal impact.

Why Human-Centric AI Is Important
The Zendesk CX Trends Report suggests that companies with human-like AI Agents, AI Assistants, and Virtual Assistants (think ChatBots, VoiceBots, and VideoBots) witnessed 33% more customer acquisitions and 22% higher customer retention rates. Empathetic AI is no longer an extravagance - it is a necessity.

To the Editor:

Re “‘Empathy’ Becomes Debatable,” by Jennifer Szalai (Critic’s Notebook, July 24):

At a time when core values are under attack, empathy is increasingly misunderstood and dismissed as a soft or misguided emotional reaction. But empathy is not weakness. It is a vital human capacity that enables us to perceive suffering and then respond with compassion and reason.

Neuroscience shows that empathy engages both emotional and cognitive parts of the brain. The emotional side helps us resonate with others; it’s why we instinctively flinch when we see others suffering. But empathy does not stop there. The cognitive dimension allows us to step back and consider context. When we see children in pain, we instantly feel their distress; that’s emotional empathy.

The cognitive dimension allows us to step back and consider context. If we learn that a child was hurt while punching another child, the emotional response may recede — but empathy remains. It shifts into perspective-taking and helps us consider the broader context, including the safety of the other child.

Helen Riess
Boston

Empathy was controversial from the start. While many took it as the miraculous cure-all for society’s ills, others viewed it as snake oil. These critics worried that empathy was arrogant—you think you can understand another’s experience but that’s just an assumption. And don’t forget that when you assume it tends to make an ass of you and me.

Perhaps Henry David Thoreau put it best: “If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life.” Too often, empathy founders on well-meaning goals that fail to account for meaningful differences. We empathize with a person and approach them with good intentions, only to discover they do not need or want our help.

Michael Inzlicht is a Research Excellence Faculty Scholar at the University of Toronto. His primary appointment is as Professor in the Department of Psychology, but he is also cross-appointed to the Rotman School of Management and is a former Research Fellow at Behavioural Economics in Action at Rotman (BEAR).

The Rotman School of Management (http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca) is the most globally recognized business school in Canada. It is part of the University of Toronto, Canada’s top research university, and is located in downtown Toronto, the country's financial, commercial and cultural capital. The School takes full advantage of its strategic location by drawing on a rich pool of business and political leaders as teachers, mentors and speakers.

The world today feels increasingly fragmented. Everywhere we look, we see divisions—whether along political lines, cultural boundaries, or ideological fences. The rise of social media has made these divides even more pronounced, amplifying voices that shout their truths without truly listening to others. In this environment of discord, empathy—the ability to understand and share the feelings of another—has become both more vital and more elusive. Empathy is not simply a moral virtue; it is the bridge that can reconnect us, providing a way forward through the darkness of polarization.

Empathy is not merely a humanistic ideal; it is a clinical instrument that has the potential to enhance trust, improve outcomes, and reduce fatigue. Patient satisfaction, adherence to care plans, and holistic outcomes are equally important in a value-based model as clinical metrics. Empathetic providers are more likely to engage patients in shared decision-making, comprehend the social context of illness, and personalize care in a manner that fee-for-service models rarely permit. The result? These soft skills can improve patient satisfaction scores and reduce malpractice claims. Empathy enhances communication, reducing readmissions, and is a key benchmark in VBHC models

The subjective wellbeing of students is a key aspect of their personal and academic development, especially during adolescence, a period in which numerous variables that shape personality and academic performance converge. This study aims to analyse the relationship between empathy and subjective happiness and the possible mediating role of goal orientations (achievement and ego) in secondary school students. T

I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching to understand what happened to empathy as a common value in our country, a norm by which we respect and treat one another with basic human decency.

“We’ve got civilizational suicidal empathy going on,” Musk told Rogan in February. While Musk has since had a falling out with Donald Trump, such views are still central to right wing doctrine in our country, and one the liberal left needs to better understand.

Empathy is one of the glues that keeps our society together. But that’s not how the conservative right sees it. Has there been some linguistic voodoo magic going on here that makes many Americans view empathy as a weakness and their perceived enemies as “evil?”