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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 29, 2012 3:57 PM
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There are few things more offensive than patronizing empathy. Incapable of changing his economic tribe, Romney will need to make the best of his background. If Americans don't want a successful management consultant as president, he stands little chance. But a good case can be made for an economic manager after a period of disappointing economic performance and spectacular fiscal irresponsibility. In a stagnant economy, the promotion of economic growth and opportunity is not only a technocratic goal; it is a moral cause.
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 29, 2012 3:45 PM
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Learning Empathy Empathy is a key skill for innovators. Scientists need to empathize with their materials, and immerse themselves into the problems they seek to illuminate. Einstein visualized travelling astride a speeding light beam, and pondered what the world would look like if he traveled at the velocity of light. Nobel Laureate Barbara McClintock imagined being the genes of the corn plants she studied, even claiming to become their "friend". Dancers are masters of empathy. Ever since antiquity dancers have been great translators and purveyors of emotions and meaning. They inhabit music, characters, objects, and give life to them in front of our mesmerized eyes. We can learn from them. MacArthur Fellow John Cairns generated valuable insights about bacterial processes by dancing his experiments.
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 29, 2012 12:12 AM
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Tell us more about the crucial role of empathy, which I know is a great interest of yours. What should we all keep in mind about empathy? I think we’ve been too obsessed with self-interest over the last century, and that’s limited the way that we pursue the good life. I think that empathy – the ability to try to imagine yourself into someone else’s life, to look through their eyes – can expand our lives enormously. Of course, if you see somebody begging under a bridge you might feel sorry for them or toss them a coin, but that’s not empathy, it’s sympathy or pity. Empathy is when you have a conversation with them, try to understand how they feel about life, what it’s like sleeping outside on a cold winter’s night – try to make a real human connection and see their individuality.
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 28, 2012 8:24 PM
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Interview is with Maia Szalavitz
Author: Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential and Endangered How can we build a culture of empathy?
· Start with children – they learn by being treated with empathy
· Wiring of stress systems. Being with others who are caring and nurturing
· Empathy is fundamental for health. Empathy is not a luxury Two kinds of empathy:
· Cognitive empathy – can be used positively for connecting or negatively such as for manipulation. Perspective taking.
· Emotional empathy – sharing another’s feelings, generally, is always positive Maia shares personal stories with addiction and what caused it.
· A high level of self-hatred and over-sensitivity. Opiates gave me artificially what I could not get naturally. In recovery, learned how to get it naturally.
· Un-empathic recovery methods don’t make sense because lack of empathy is often what started the addiction in the first place.
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 27, 2012 2:37 PM
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A study in the journal Biological Psychiatry shows that mind-reading can be improved with a dose of oxytocin—a brain chemical often called the 'love hormone' because of its role in trust, friendship and bonding. Your ability to read emotional cues in someone's eyes boosts along with your oxytocin levels. This may offer insight into Autism Spectrum Disorders, characterized by both deficits in empathy and lower levels of oxytocin. Researchers at Rostock University, led by Gregor Domes, tested 30 males' mind-reading ability—how well they could infer the mental state of another person—after either a dose of oxytocin or a placebo. By Joshua Gowin.
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 27, 2012 12:03 PM
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Why do we cry? Empathy has been cited as a major reason. Without empathy people simply would not have evolved. It is our ability to care for others that created our skills to form tribes, build villages and hunt for game for the group. Some experts feel that crying evolved along with our sense of empathy so that we could begin to feel for one another when we sensed vulnerability. Along these lines, it is thought that crying can show someone how vulnerable you are, so that in a way it is a smoke signal, literally, a “cry for help.”
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 26, 2012 3:57 PM
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Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. These three-day breaks are a unique opportunity for teachers to explore the role of empathy and mindfulness in enhancing personal well-being, relationships with students and colleagues, and day-to-day motivation and efficacy. Scientific evidence demonstrates that by training in mindfulness and empathy we can considerably reduce levels of stress. Above all, these practices help us restore a sense of humanity, and connection with ourselves and with others. The training will allow like-minded educators to explore:
- The relationship between mindfulness, empathy and well-being
- The implications for education professionals
- The tools to cultivate these skills and to learn how to apply them to resolve difficult situations The breaks will take place during the holidays at inspiring London venues:
11-13 February 2012 at the Jamyang Centre, Kennington / Elephant & Castle
2-4 April 2012 at Lauderdale House, Highgate / Archway
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 26, 2012 2:30 PM
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I've thought a lot about the power of empathy. In my work, it's the current that connects me and my actual pulse to a fictional character in a made up story, it allows me to feel, pretend feelings and sorrows and imagined pain. And my nervous system is sympathetically-wired, and it conducts that current to you, sitting in a movie theatre. And to the woman sitting next to you, and to her friend, so that we all feel that it's happening to us at the same time. It's a very mysterious and valuable resource of the human species... I thought "what possible value, function could it serve in the Darwinian scheme of, you know, survival of the fittest and the strongest and the most heavily armed?" No, seriously, I thought, "Why? and how did we evolve with this weak, and useless passion in tact within the deep heart's core?" And the answer as I've formulated it to myself is that empathy is the engine that powers all the best in us.
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 25, 2012 12:27 PM
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Recognizing that "Knowledge of the factors influencing attitudes toward animals has implications for prevention and intervention in cases of cruelty," researchers from Hofstra University and New York University examined how empathy and personality traits of 241 undergraduate students aged 18-46 affected their attitudes toward animals.. . The present study offers further evidence that empathy is a critical variable in both the understanding and treatment of animal abuse. Previous studies have shown high empathy among animal activists and low empathy in individuals who abuse animals. Here, using a general population (non-clinical and non-advocate) sample, the authors find that empathy (as distinguished from four other major personality variables) correlates with positive attitudes toward animals. by Ken Shapiro and Jill Howard Church
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 25, 2012 1:42 AM
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Newswise — One year ago, a landmark study led by Mohammadreza Hojat, Ph.D., research professor, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Thomas Jefferson University, quantified a relationship between physicians’ empathy and their patients’ positive clinical outcomes, suggesting that a physician’s empathy is an important factor associated with clinical competence. The study was published in the journal Academic Medicine (March 2011 issue, http://journals.lww.com/academicmedicine ). Dr. Hojat’s team found that empathy can indeed be improved. In an article called, “Impact of a Workshop about Aging on the Empathy Scores of Pharmacy and Medical Students,” which was published in the current issue of the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 24, 2012 3:45 PM
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Here's an interview I did with Lorraine, she has a lot of hands on experience with empathy and conflict resolution. She's also a wonderful storyteller. Lorraine Segal & Edwin Rutsch: Dialogs on How to Build a Culture of Empathy
Sonoma State University - Assistant Professor. Teaches conflict resolution classes through extended education. A conflict coach, trainer, and mediator specializing in transforming communication and conflict for parents, teens, and others.
http://cultureofempathy.com
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 24, 2012 10:50 AM
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One year ago, a landmark study led by Mohammadreza Hojat, Ph.D., research professor, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Thomas Jefferson University, quantified a relationship between physicians' empathy and their patients' positive clinical outcomes, suggesting that a physician's empathy is an important factor associated with clinical competence. The study was published in the journal Academic Medicine . As a follow-up to that landmark study, Dr. Hojat asked if it were possible to improve or even maintain physicians' empathy as a way to further enhance patient care. Dr. Hojat's team found that empathy can indeed be improved.
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 23, 2012 4:54 PM
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Day 1 Session 2on Wisdom 2.0 on Livestream -
Talk and Interview: "Mindfulness and the Brain"
by Daniel Siegel, Mindsight Institute. Talk then interview by Michelle Gale Interview: "Wisdom, Games, and Mindfulness,"
with Jane McGonigal, Social Chocolate, and Kelly McGonigal, Stanford Talk: "Zynga Meets Zen: Exploring Attention, Technology, and True Connectivity"
with Eric Schiermeyer, Zynga, and Joan Halifax, Upaya Zen Center
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 29, 2012 3:50 PM
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A panel packed with liberal pundits on Tuesday's NBC Today concluded that Mitt Romney "cannot relate to average people" because he is "just an awkward human being" and "robot" who is "not likable" due to his wealth "mixed with arrogance without empathy" that gives him "the image of a robber baron.
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 29, 2012 3:43 PM
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"This is so unfair to the men who are being required to do this," she states. "They are following orders and should not be ridiculed themselves for having to wear that getup and look the way they are. It really makes no sense -- it is demeaning to the men, and I don't think it says anything good about the culture of the Army right now." The CMR president questions why the Army has placed such a high priority on training for pregnant women. "We have a draw-down going on right now. We need good men and women in our military. But why are they putting all this extra effort having to do with pregnancy?" she wonders. "Every minute spent on that kind of training detracts from the kind of tough training that our personnel in the Army need."
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 29, 2012 12:02 AM
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“When players compete against each other in a game, they try to make a mental model of the other person’s intentions, what they’re going to do and how they’re going to play, so they can play strategically against them,” explains one of the study’s authors Kyle Mathewson, who worked alongside lead author Lusha Zhu This “mental model” of other people’s thoughts and feelings, also known as theory of mind, is crucial for the development of empathy, perspective-taking, and social reciprocity—all the skills that allow us to get along productively with others.
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 28, 2012 11:51 AM
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Despite a recent study by Stanford University, which suggests that social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace are no replacement for real human interaction, a new World Vision 30 Hour Famine study has found that these sites aid teens with developing empathetic skills. As part of the World Vision 30 Hour Famine study, in which 200,000 teens are set to give up food to fight against global hunger, young people across the country were polled online by Harris Interactive about their social media activity.
Surfing as a Metaphor of Empathy
When asked to define empathy, Dr Marshall Rosenberg compared it to surfing... When you ride the wave, the thrill is so exhilarating that you forget everything else. You live in the moment when nothing else matters, so intent on riding the wave perfectly that you and the wave become one. Pain and worry disappear, replaced by euphoria, akin to flow. Similarly, when giving empathy, you want to strive for this kind of total presence for the person you are listening to. Read more Marshall wisdom here http://www.noogenesis.com/nvc/surf_nvc.html
Photo credit to Louie Baur
Via Sophia Tara
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 27, 2012 12:18 PM
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Confessions of a movie crier By Paul J. Zak... So, why do we cry at movies? Cognitively, we know that the story we are watching is (usually) fictional and the actors are paid to play on our emotions. But still we can't help it. I can understand crying when you see your child or spouse get a painful medical procedure, or even when you watch an injured person on the TV news, but at a movie? In previous posts, I introduced the neuropeptide oxytocin as modulating empathy. Oxytocin engages brain circuits that make us care about others, even complete strangers. Perhaps surprisingly, oxytocin engages at the smallest suggestion that someone wants to connect to us. I've showed, for example, that a person's brain releases oxytocin when he or she is entrusted with money by a stranger. Could oxytocin make us cry in movies?
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 27, 2012 3:35 PM
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A conference for professionals in education, health and social care
London, 23-24 November
Preceded by a Youth Conference, 22 November 2012... The Conference will address three topics: Compassion and empathy: scientific definitions, misunderstandings and function What are the scientific definitions of empathy and compassion? Compassion, the benefits at the personal level What are the scientific findings on well-being and its relationship to empathy and compassion? Compassion in action and social cohesion What potential do these these skills have to transform our communication, efficacy and relationships?
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 25, 2012 12:56 PM
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Machiavellianism is a term used to describe a person's tendency to deceive and manipulate other people for their personal gain. The MACH-IV test is a twenty-statement personality survey that is n... As I was contemplating writing this, I came across a story from Psychology Today, that was fascinating in its discussion of empathy as it relates to the Dark Triad, personality traits of narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy, grouped together for their overlapping, negative characteristics. The common thread running through all three traits is low agreeableness and low empathy. by solodialogue
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 25, 2012 12:25 PM
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The majority of research investigating beliefs toward nonhuman animals has focused on vivisection or utilized populations with clear views on animal issues (e.g., animal rights activists). Minimal research has been conducted on what personality factors influence a nonclinical or nonadjudicated population's beliefs about the treatment of animals. The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of empathy and personality traits in attitudes about the treatment of animals in 241 undergraduate students. Results indicated that those with high levels of empathy held more positive attitudes toward animals and more negative beliefs about animal cruelty than those with low levels of empathy. Some differences in participants' specific attitudes toward animals were found. Limitations and implications for future research are reviewed. Authors: Eckardt Erlanger, Ann C.; Tsytsarev, Sergei V.
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 24, 2012 8:03 PM
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..The anecdotal evidence linking intelligence and empathy for animals is certainly intriguing. Albert Einstein, whose diet was primarily plant-based, said, “Besides agreeing with the aims of vegetarianism for aesthetic and moral reasons, it is my view that a vegetarian manner of living by its purely physical effect on the human temperament would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind.” Another study showed that vegans and vegetarians have more empathy – for both animals and people – than meat-eaters do. Researchers in Europe recruited vegan, vegetarian and meat-eating volunteers and placed them into an MRI machine while showing them a series of random pictures. The MRI scans revealed that when observing animal or human suffering, the “empathy-related” areas of the brain are more active among vegetarians and vegans... by Paula Moore
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 24, 2012 3:38 PM
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Industrial Design content and community site - articles, discussions, interviews and resources. This is the second post in a 6-part series from Ziba's Industrial Design Director, Paul Backett, on rethinking design education. Read the Introduction to the series, Teach Less, Integrate More here. Great designers are great empathizers. It's what separates a design that has soul from one that's simply well-realized. In my experience as a design director and as a teacher, it's become painfully clear that the ability to connect with users is something design students must learn, as crucially as they need sketching and CAD.... The real world, though, is full of unfamiliar design targets, and schools have a responsibility to teach the difficult skill of taking on their perspectives. What students need to learn is not just empathy, but extreme empathy—the flexibility to inhabit the mind of someone dramatically unlike themselves.
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Scooped by
Edwin Rutsch
February 24, 2012 12:59 AM
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Jannet Ann Leggett
Founder: Charter for Compassion Canada
Canadians for Compassion The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves... It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain.
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