"Empathy means both
understanding others on their own
terms and bringing them within the orbit of one's own
experience." - Jacob A. Belzen
"We will never be able to inhabit the
conscious state of
another person. Our subjectivity
is an inviolable, unenterable state. On the
other hand, there's much in the new
neurology to suggest that empathetic links have also been
evolutionarily selected for. The brain
has these amazing curcuits, mirror neuron circuits, which are actively firing
and activating motor and visual circuits simply as simulations of
other people's activities. That
suggests the brain itself is manufacturing empathy circuits that allow us to
participate in rich and complicated ways in the sensibilities, actions and
motivations of other people." -
Richard Powers
"Empathy is central to our humanity. Rather than
elevating empathy, public dialogue has marginalized it, giving way to
authoritative and sober pronouncements that we can't help everyone. No doubt,
closing the empathy gap is a difficult task.
We must
balance the forces of emotion and
rationality.
In order
to do that, we have to know a lot about
how both operate. Thanks to progress in psychology, behavioral economics, and
neuroscience, we now have much of that knowledge. Together with empathy, our
system of rational and
logical thought can now extend our moral concern to
people further from our private lives, but equally deserving." - JD Trout
"The love of
life that Edwin Wilson has named biophilia, and
our natural empathy toward other human beings, is
ultimately irrepressible because we are life and
life is us." -
Charles
Eisenstein
Finding our place in the human
social network and tracing our
connections to others who
experience
joy and
suffering due to our personal activities
constitutes real personal moral progress as we can then modify our personal
activities to increase the joy and
reduce the suffering distributed to
others.
Empathy honors a moral sense to advance
moral principle. Empathy responds
to the effects of violated moral
principle. Empathy is alert to the humiliation and indignity of being
treated differently for reasons that are morally
irrelevant.
"Indignity is hard to avoid when our whole economy
revolves around the creation and fulfillment of phony needs. It is an indignity
to make anything less than an art out of your
work." - Charles
Eisenstein
Every fully functioning human, has to
some degree, empathy.
Children normally begin to display the
fundamental behaviors of empathy by having an emotional response that corresponds with
another persons emotional state of mind -
comforting others or showing concern for others as early as 24 months of age.
Children between the ages of seven and 12 are naturally inclined to feel empathy for others in pain.
The basic capacity to recognize emotions
is innate and subconsciously
achieved in most cases by most people unless empathy is
consciously or
subconsciously tamped
down.
People typically exhibit an increased empathetic sense after
experiencing traumatic
life events. Anyone who has recently been
divorced, experienced the
death of someone close,
experienced the miracle of birth, been
in a life-altering accident or witnessed
a horrific act of
violence is going to have an increased sense of empathy.
In modern Western
social cultures, such as the
American
social cultures, empathy has
to be continuously tamped down in the interests of class stratification and the
needs of the industrialized compartmentalized "developed"
social culture
police state to re-enforce the social
envelopes that contain and support the divisions of labor.
The
police state scoffs at human empathy as it
finds empathy not at all conducive to the facilitation of
social control.
The conscious mind must be conditioned by
the industrialized compartmentalized "developed"
social culture of the
police state to
believe that individual
suffering can not be alleviated and
there are always those that deserve
to suffer. They may be the Japanese at Hiroshima,
the Germans at Dresden, the insurgent
Salvadoran, the Taliban, al-queda, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Shite Iraqi
footsoldiers of Muqtada al-Sadr, the Afghan
poppy farmer, the Peruvian coca grower, the Northern California grower of
Cannabis indica or the even more despised illegal drug user.
At the same
time the subconscious mind must
become enured into rejecting empathetic emotional responses which are now felt only
as a slight uneasiness when walking by the homeless beggars instead of the
sharp pain of a commonly felt empathetic sorrow at another human beings obvious
misfortune.
Once it has become acceptable to demonize people then the
homeless, the mentaly ill and the disenfranchised
in the midst of the social
culture can be safely ignored without apparent and obvious
conscious effort. (Some individuals
must use legal antidepressants; some are
required to use nueroleptics; some just
become righteous by vilifying those that bemoan the
spititual
corruption.)
It is not only acceptable but
expected that
Americans as individuals ignore the
plight of those less fortunate.
American aristocracy is dependent on the
upper middle classes - investment bankers, lawyers, credit swap facilitators,
politicians, derivatives brokers,
executives, insurance issuers, etcetera - to retain and maintain their
elevated economic positions.
The vaster lower and middle class are fed an endlessly stream of
glimpses of the life styles of those upper middle classes which suggest
elevated income levels are easily attainable even though the
truth is that one must to able to
compartmentalize
reality and be willing to sell one's
soul to the
syndicate of the soulless.
This class envy works to smother empathy. To
attain an elevated position one must not concern oneself with an other's
troubles.
For any group to live in extravagance the division of labor of
the social culture must be
such that a large percentage of the lowest paid workers
creation of
value through his or her production is
siphoned off by the purchaser of
the workers services.
Disparity of
wealth creates envy among the disenfranchised of the
social culture which can only
be tamped down by police state means.
For police state means to be
acceptable to the population at large it is required that
most of the enfranchised agree to the severity of
the degree of force allowed to be used to create compliance.
It is
always in the best interests of those
on the top of the social pyramid
to reduce any feelings of empathy the upper middle classes may feel for the
downtrodden disenfranchised lower classes at the base of the
social pyramid. (The movie
Apocalypto does this both literally and figuratively.)
Demands of industrialized compartmentalized "developed"
social culture of the
police state creates the need for the adoption of a guilt
free attitude toward known wrongs
committed by the social
culture overall.
Those wrongs may come in the form of smart
weapons, waterboards, extra-legal executions; they may come in the form of
baby formula,
peanut butter or bitter flavored water;
they may come in the form of running shoes, a child's toys or other deceptively
advertised consumer products like chemically
modified tobacco (nicotine delivery systems) or they may come in the form
of incarceration of unrepresented juveniles
by judges for personal profit.
The industrialized
compartmentalized "developed"
social culture
police state scoffs at human empathy as it
finds empathy not conducive to social control.
Individuals that tamp down their empathy become
spiritually corrupt
as they must cut off access to subconscious
intuition in order to dampen their
empathetic responses.
Spiritually corrupt
humans scoff at
human empathy for
living things.
Empathy for
living things is not a weakness.
Empathy
for living
things is a biological imperative
- we are dependent upon
life to live ourselves.
All spiritually
uncorrupt humans
feel
sorrow in the end of a
life, human
or animal.
Gardeners even
feel
sorrow in the end of perennial
plant life.
Humans have cared for each other,
animals and plants for
time immemorial.
"In the
Gospel of Thomas Jesus says: "lf
you bring forth what is within
you, what you have will save you. If
you do not have that within
you, what you do not have within you will
kill you."
The
Gospel of Truth teaches to stretch
out your hands to those who are sick and to
awaken those who are
asleep.
God's Will is that all
human
beings come to
compassion.
I take
gnostic statements
emotionally; it's an
image of the
truth, illumination and
divine presence to be found
in every human
being. It teaches that within every
human life is a bit of the
divine source, and
everything comes from that
source. All life is to be respected as coming from
God." - Elaine Pagels
"Humanity is given
dominion over animals, and has the right to use animals for legitimate needs.
Animal flesh can be consumed for food; animal skins can be used for clothing;
the Torah itself must be written on parchment, that is, animal hides. However,
we are permitted to use animals in this way only when there is a genuine,
legitimate need, and we must do so in the manner that causes the animal the
least suffering. Hunting for sport is strictly prohibited, and hunting and
trapping for legitimate needs is permissible only when it is done in the least
painful way possible." - Mechon Mamre
The Earth is undergoing the sixth
big extinction in
Earth's
history,
- this one caused by
humans.
In a
detailed series of
population surveys that combed virtually
every square yard of England, Scotland and
Wales over 40 years, more than 20,000 volunteers counted each
bird,
butterfly and native
plant they could find.
They reported in
March, 2004 issue of Science that
populations of bird and
butterflies were in sharp
decline of
54% to 71 %, with some species gone altogether. Two surveys of
1,254 native plant
species showed a decrease of about 28%
over the same period.
Hundreds of the
Earth's animal species are in imminent of
extinction, primarily in tropical
mountains and
islands in
developing nations. While more than
10% of the Earth's landmass is afforded
some environmental
protection, efforts are not being focused in places that have the greatest
concentration of imperiled species.
Scientists concluded in their
multi-year study that urgent action is
necessary to prevent hundreds of unique complex species from going
extinct.
The
multi-year study found that at least 300
species of
animals exist in unprotected areas as well as 237
and 267
vulnerable
species. A
species is
defined by the World Conservation
Union as having a 50% probability of
extinction
within 10 years.
"This
is the tip of the iceberg," said
Ana Rodrigues, a research
fellow at the Center for Applied
Biodiversity Science at the Washington-based Conservation International. "There
is a window of opportunity
here. Many species across the face of
Earth are hanging on to little bits of
habitat."
Ana Rodrigues identified sites in the Andes, in Sierra Madre
mountains in southern Mexico, on
islands in Southeast Asia, on Madagascar and in southern
India as areas of high biodiversity
and low protection. These regions are well known to international conservation
organizations for their
importance.
Humanity, especially Americans, must
redevelop their senses of empathy if we hope to arrest the destruction of the
earth - our home.
The mortality of all living things rests in human
hands.
"Mortality is a fact of
life that is hard to bear.
Human
beings are the only
animals who have
to live with the
knowledge that they will die one
day,
and they have always found this
vision of
extinction difficult to contemplate.
Most of us manage to find some
solace in the happiness and
affection that is also part of the
human
experience.
Some
people simply bury their heads in
the sand and refuse to think about the
sorrow of
reality, but this is an unwise course,
because, if we are entirely unprepared,
the tragedies of
life can be devastating.
From the very
earliest times,
men and
women devised
religions to help them
cultivate
a
sense that
our existence has some ultimate meaning and
value.
Sometimes the myths and
practices of faith seem like some
incredible fantasy.
People then turn to
other methods of
transcending the
sufferings
and frustrations of daily
life: to art, music, sex,
drugs, sports or
philosophy.
We are
beings who fall very easily into
despair, and
we have to work very hard to
create within
ourselves a conviction that
life is good,
even though all around us
we see
pain,
cruelty, sickness and
injustice." - Karen
Armstrong
Redemption from
spiritual corruption
comes simply by respecting each and every
individual
life.
Redemption from
spiritual corruption
comes from following God's Natural Laws.
Let
us
pray
mankind will
awaken in the
hope that
Rachel Carson's
vision of a lifeless future never comes to
pass.
empaths
"Everyone is born an empath. We all have the
physical equipment necessary to pick up on what other people are feeling. But,
for most of us, this ability will slowly fade away from lack of use." - Elise
Lebeau
"At about age fifteen human beings are meant to
develop empathetic, holistic, transpersonal modes of cognition, abilities that
violate the dogma of the discrete
and separate self.
Primitive societies acknowledged these abilities
and fostered their development, providing both models and methods for
transcendence of the limited,
rational, ego self of the pre-teen.
This was the point of many
coming-of-age ceremonies, in which the teenager's
ego boundaries were temporarily
shattered through such means as psychotropic plants, deprivation of food,
water, or sleep, isolation from the tribe, pain, or other intense ritual
experiences.
Returning to the
tribe afterward, the young man or woman (no longer a child), would have
a profoundly different conception
of self. Not by accident,
many of these
ceremonies incorporate ritual reenactments of the birth process." - Charles
Eisenstein
An empath has an acute or highly
developed sense of empathy and is able to sense the
emotions of others. Empaths are able to
project their own emotions - wittingly
and unwittingly - affecting the emotions
of those around them. For this reason many empaths in
American
social culture are
locked up in mental institutions under
heavy sedation.
In the past empaths were given frontal lobotomies to
control them.
(As in the movie
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest )
Today empaths are given
neuroleptics -
a chemically created frontal
lobotomy.
Empaths are to a
social culture in general as
they tend to point out the
hypocrisy of those in control of a
social culture and are
specifically to the
state as they are unwilling to accept
the crimes of the state as "business
as usual."
Empaths have the ability to read and understand other
peoples emotions - to be "in-tune with"or
resonate with others.
An empaths ability may occur either by
voluntarily (conscious) or
involuntarily (subconscious)
means.
Empaths pick up on other peoples
emotional state of mind,
naturally, unlike psychotherapists.
Most
empaths have simply accepted that they were emotionallly sensitive to
others.
Empaths sense emotions
that run deeper than those portrayed on the surface.
People are commonly
conditioned to hide authentic emotional
expression in complex industrialized
social cultures based on a division
of labor that includes multiple daily contacts with strangers.
Empaths
have an ability to see the emotions
behind that mask.
Empaths have difficulty in that most individuals want
hidden emotions to remain
hidden.
Unfortunately for the empath
subconscious hidden
emotions are clearly revealed. The empath
must be extremely careful to not reveal his or her
emotional
knowledge as people become very upset
when their subconscious hidden
emotions are so clearly read. Statements
made by the empath may unwittingly reveal the empaths extent of
knowledge of those hidden
emotions which typically causes
consternation in the individual who has worked so hard to hide those
emotions.
Empathy is not bound by
time or space.
An empath can feel sorrow for
past and distant victims of
suffering, for the end of
animal and plant life on the other side of
earth as entire ecosystems are destroyed
and for the needless destruction of any and all types of
life for unnecessary short term material
gains.
Empaths have a deep sense of
understanding of the
emotional state and
thought processes that
accompany
different human actions having
searched deep within their own
souls for comparative situations.
Successful practitioners of
the daily application of
empathetic response
become compassionate,
considerate, and understanding of others.
There are varying levels of empathic strength in which
are related to an individual's self-awareness,
understanding of the powers and
drawbacks of being empathetic, and/or the acceptance or non-acceptance of the
expression of empathetic concerns by associated individuals, including
family and peers.
Those who are
empathic grew up with empathic tendencies. Perhaps they were told they overly
sensitive.
Most empaths are taught to work hard to suppress their
empathetic connection. Many empaths
build a wall around their psyches -
a fortress to strengthen and harden their hearts. Unfortunately once an empath
builds a perimeter wall or a
fortress they tend to lose the ability to read and understand others as they
have now relegated their empathetic talents to their
subconscious - subjugating it to
their compartmentalized
intellect.
Empaths are often poets, writers, singers, and artists with
a high degree of creativity and
imagination.
Empaths are
known for multiple
talents as their interests are varied,
broad and continually evolving.
Empaths are curious beings, interested
in human nature - anthropology,
religion,
civilizations (existing and
deceased), psyche,
philosophy,
sociology, art, history, economics, literature, music,
nature and
reality.
As an empaths interests
are broad they typically hold a broad-minded perspective
unlike those that
have compartmentalized their
psyches.
Empaths are passionate towards
nature, respect of its bountiful
beauty, holding
nature in
awe.
Empaths are continually drawn to
nature for
revivification. Within
nature empaths recapture the
naturally balanced pace of life unlike the hectic
lives they are forced to live in an industrialized "developed"
compartmentalized
materialistic social culture.
The time to get away from the social culture and
commune with
nature is
essential to the empath.
Animals are often dear to the
heart of empaths as they reflect the
natural beauty
of life.
Empaths are highly
expressive in all areas of emotional
connection, and talk openly, and, at
times, cause consternation in the listener in respect to their
emotionally charged reflections.
(A good time for "intervention" with
neuroleptics!) This
sometimes leads to empaths being seen as reclusive and apparently unresponsive
to a neighbor's unperceived needs - needs unperceived by distance through lack
of personal contact.
"Empaths have a tendency to openly feel what is
outside of them more so than what is inside of them. This can cause empaths to
ignore their own needs. In general an empath is non-violent, non-aggressive and
leans more towards being the peacemaker. Any area filled with disharmony
creates an uncomfortable feeling in an empath.
If they find themselves
in the middle of a confrontation, they will endeavor to settle the situation as
quickly as possible, if not avoid it all together. If any harsh
words are expressed in defending themselves,
they will likely resent their lack of self-control, and have a preference to
peacefully resolve the problem.
Empaths are sensitive to
television, videos,
movies, and
news broadcasts.
Violence or emotionally charged dramas depicting
shocking scenes of physical or emotional
pain inflicted on adults, children or animals
can bring an empath easily to tears. At times, an empath may feel physically
ill or be unable to choke back the tears. (Another good time
for "intervention" with neuroleptics!) Some
empaths will struggle to comprehend any such cruelty, and will have grave
difficulty in expressing themselves in the face of another's
ignorance, closed-mindedness and
obvious lack of compassion.
They simply cannot justify the lack of concern for the
suffering they feel and see.
All
types of people and animals are attracted to
the warmth and genuine compassion of
empaths. Regardless of whether others are aware of an individuals empathic
capabilities, people are drawn to them as a metal object is to a magnet!
Empaths are like beacons of light!
(The closed-minded work hard to snuff out that beacon of
light!
Neuroleptics for
sale!)
Even complete strangers find it easy to talk to empaths
about the most personal things, and before they know it, they have poured out
their hearts and souls without intending to do so
consciously. It is as though on a
subconscious level that person knows
instinctively that empaths
would listen with compassionate
understanding." - Christel Broederlow
People who
exhibit natural empathy are often targets for
con-men!
Con-men will try to con-vince empaths that they have
magical
talents,
psychic abilities or paranormal
powers.
Empathy is a naturally occurring
ability that can be honed or trained to achieve varying degrees of intensity or
accuracy but empaths do not have any magical
talents,
psychic abilities or paranormal
powers. Anyone who says otherwise is a con-man!
signs that you are an empath Do you feel overwhelmed in public but can not determine the
reason?
An empath who hasn't yet learned how to block other
people's emotions out can become overwhelmed in the bustle of public places.
Many empaths prefer to keep their own company living the life of a hermit as
dealing with emotional expressions of unhappiness can be a harrowing
experience.
Do you experience other people's physical
ailments?
Do you feel overwhelmed when watching
something horrible on television?
Viewing the
news,
violent imagery or
depressing
advertisements designed to
induce sympathy and open
wallets, can debilitate an empath for hours. While most people get upset an
empath will often feel like their hearts have been lanced
- a feeling of guilt and
moral empathy not easily assuaged.
Do you ALWAYS know what someone really means?
Can you always tell what someone meant to say to
you even if they used improper words or
terms? An empath can detect lying and will
know the intent of the lie - to spare feelings, to
deceive, out of
malice, etcetera. An empath will
know if you mean them well or not
– no exceptions. This is more than good
intuition, this is
true knowledge.
Do you feel compelled to care for anyone who
suffers, no matter who they are and what
they've done to you?
A true empath cannot walk past someone
suffering and not feel an
emotional need to stop and help that
person. A true empath feels compelled to go to anyone they who
suffers, be it angst or something
physical. A true empath's compassion will
usually be accepted on the spot by suffering people and
animals no matter how they would normally react
to strangers. They know, instinctively, that their
suffering is shared.
Do people open up to you – even if you don't want them
to?
The ill, the suffering,
the weak are all drawn to the compassion an
empath emits. And empaths emit it whether they want to or not. Empaths with
the most profound sensitivity sometimes break down
inside having no other way of keeping other's emotions at bay. (Time for
antidepressants or
neuroleptics.) These are
empaths who are unaware of their curse!
"Many people reading the signs
that you are an empath will likely think themselves empathic. I cannot stress
the following enough – there is nothing fun about being an empath. It's
often a very draining and miserable existence in which you feel like you have
to be entirely alone in order to survive. It is not glamorous, it is not
exciting, it is painful more often than not." - Isabella Snow
a basic categorization of empaths by Elise Lebeau:
*
Non-Empaths have completely shut down their empathetic skills and use other
cues to get emotional information (such as verbal and non-verbal indicators).
Over time, they completely loose their empathetic abilities.
* Impaired
Empaths might have some basic filters but can easily get overwhelmed,
especially in a crowded venue or during emotional turmoil. They tend to
experience emotional distress (i.e. feeling the weight of the world) and
physical symptoms (i.e. exhaustion, headaches, depression)
* Functional
Empaths are able to control the flow of information so that it does not create
emotional distress or uncomfortable physical symptoms.
* Trained
Empaths are able to interpret complex emotional information accurately and use
it for specific purposes (such as an aid in healing work).
as defined by Herbert Spencer in 1851 (sympathy =
empathy in 1851)
The way to a
solution of this difficulty has been opened by Adam Smith in his Theory of Moral
Sentiments. The ability to derive pleasure from seeing pleasure,
involves the liability to derive pain from seeing pain: the
sympathy by which either of
these results is effected, simply having for its function to reproduce observed
emotions, irrespective of their kind. Sympathy prevents its possessor from inflicting
pain, that he may avoid pain himself, and which tempts him to give happiness
that he may have happiness reflected back upon him. It is the aim of that
work to show that the proper
regulation of our conduct to one another, is secured by means of a faculty
whose function it is to excite in each being the emotions displayed by
surrounding ones - a faculty which awakens a like state of sentiment, or, as he
terms it, "a fellow feeling with the passions of others" - the faculty, in
short, which we commonly call sympathy. As illustrations of the
mode in which this agent acts, Adam Smith
quotes cases like these:
"Persons of delicate fibres, and
weak constitution of body, complain that in looking on the sores and ulcers
which are exposed by beggars in the streets, they are apt to feel an itching or
uneasy sensation in the corresponding part of their own bodies."
- Adam Smith, Theory of
Moral Sentiments
"Men of most robust make observe, that in
looking upon sore eyes they often feel a very sensible soreness in their own."
- Adam Smith, Theory of
Moral Sentiments
"Our joy for the deliverance of those heroes
of tragedy or romance who interest us, is as sincere as our grief for their
distress, and our fellow-feeling for their misery, is not more real than that
for their happiness." - Adam
Smith, Theory of Moral Sentiments
"We blush for the
impudence and rudeness of another, though he himself appears to have no sense
of the impropriety of his behaviour."-
Adam Smith, Theory of Moral
Sentiments
To these facts cited by
Adam Smith, may be added many others of
like import; such as that people - women especially - start or shriek on seeing
an accident occur to others; that unpractised assistants at surgical operations
often faint; that out of the soldiers drawn up to witness a flogging, usually
several drop down in the ranks; that a boy has been known to die on witnessing
an execution. We have all experienced the uncomfortable feeling of shame
produced in us by the blunders and confusion of a nervous speaker; and most
likely every one has some time or other been put into a horrible tremor on
seeing another at the edge of a precipice. The converse action of the faculty
is equally observable. Thus, we find ourselves unable to avoid joining in the
merriment of our friends, whilst unaware of its cause; and children, much to
their annoyance, are often forced to laugh in the midst of their tears, by
witnessing the laughter of those around them. These and many like evidences
prove that, as Burke says, "sympathy must be considered as a
sort of substitution by which we are put into the place of another man, and
affected in many respects as he is affected."
In tracing our benevolent actions to
the influence of such a faculty - in concluding that we are led to relieve the
miseries of others from a desire to rid ourselves of the pain given by the
sight of misery, and to make others happy, because we participate in their
happiness,
Adam Smith puts forth what seems to be a
quite satisfactory theory. But he has
overlooked one of its most important applications. Not recognising any such
impulse as that which urges men to maintain their claims, he did not see that
their respect for the claims of others, may be explained in the same way. He
did not perceive that the sentiment of justice is nothing but a sympathetic
affection of the instinct of personal rights - a sort of reflex function of it.
Such, however, must be the case, if that instinct exists, and if this
hypothesis of Adam Smith's be true. Here
lies the explanation of those qualms of conscience, as we call them, felt by
men who have committed dishonest actions. It is through this instrumentality
that we receive satisfaction on paying another what is due to him. And with
these two faculties also, originate that indignation which narratives of
political oppression excite in us, and that gnashing of the teeth with which we
read of the slave-dealer's
barbarities.
It was elsewhere hinted, that though
we must keep up the distinction between them, it is nevertheless true that
justice and beneficence have a common root, and the reader will now at once
perceive that the common root is - sympathy. All the actions properly
classified under the one, and which we describe as fair, equitable, upright,
spring from the sympathetic excitement of the instinct of personal rights;
whilst those usually grouped under the other, as mercy, charity, good-nature,
generosity, amiability, considerateness, are due to the action of
sympathy upon one or more of the
other feelings.
In support of the foregoing theory
much detailed evidence can be adduced. If it be true that men's perceptions of
justice are generated in the way alleged,
it will follow that, other things equal, those who have the strongest sense of their
own rights, will have the strongest sense of the rights of their
neighbours. And, by observing whether this is the case or not, we may put
the theory to the proof. Let us do
this.
The first
illustration that suggests itself is afforded by the
Society of
Friends. Ever since they appeared in the days of Charles I., the members of
that body have been remarkable for their determined assertion of personal
liberty. They have shown it in their continued resistance to ecclesiastical
power; in the obstinacy with which they successfully defied persecution; in
their still-continued refusal to pay church-rates; and even in their creed,
which does not permit a priesthood. Observe, now, how the sentiment which these
peculiarities imply has manifested itself sympathetically. Penn and his
followers were the only emigrants of their age who made any acknowledgment to
the aborigines for the land they colonized. Of this same sect were the
philanthropists who commenced the agitation for abolishing
the slave trade; and who
were most energetic in carrying it on. Amongst lunatic asylums, the York Retreat was one of the
first, if not the first, in which a non-coercive treatment of the insane was
adopted. They were Quakers too, who
years ago began publicly to exclaim against the
injustice as well as the cruelty of war. And, whilst it may be true that in
business they are firm in the assertion of their claims, it is not less true
that on the whole they are remarkable for honest dealing.
Conversely, we find that those who
have not a strong sense of what is just to themselves, are likewise deficient
in a sense of what is just to their fellow men. This has long been a common
remark. As one of our living writers puts it - the tyrant is nothing but a
slave turned inside out. In earlier days, when feudal lords were vassals to the
king, they were also despots to their retainers. In our own time, the Russian
noble is alike a serf to his autocrat, and an autocrat to his serf. It is
remarked even by school-boys, that the bully is the most ready of all to knock
under to a bigger bully. We constantly observe that those who fawn upon the
great are overbearing to their inferiors. That "emancipated slaves exceed all
other owners (of slaves) in cruelty and oppression," is a truth established on
numerous authorities. And that where opportunity offers the submissive nature
becomes a tyrannical one, is further illustrated by the fact, that the negroes
are frequently caught and sold by their own kings.
Thus we find the proposed theory to
be supported both by direct and converse evidence. One qualification must be
made, however. There is no necessary connection between a sense of what is due
to self, and a sense of what is due to others.
Sympathy and instinct of rights
do not always co-exist in equal strength any more than other faculties do.
Either of them may be present in normal amount, whilst the other is almost
wanting. And, if devoid of sympathy, it is possible for a man
who has a sufficient impulse to assert his own claims, to show no corresponding
respect for the claims of his fellows. The instinct of rights being of itself
entirely selfish, merely impels its possessor to maintain his own privileges.
Only by the sympathetic excitement of it, is a desire to behave equitably to
others awakened; and when sympathy is absent such a desire is
impossible. Nevertheless this does not affect the general proposition, that
where there exists the usual amount of
sympathy, respect for the rights
of others will be great or small, according as the amount of the instinct of
personal rights is great or small. And thus in the average of cases, we may
safely conclude that a man's sense of justice to himself, and his sense of
justice to his neighbours, bear a constant ratio to each other.
Sympathy can be strengthened only
by exercise. No faculty whatever will grow, save by the performance of its
special function—a muscle by contraction; the intellect by perceiving and
thinking; a moral sentiment by feeling.
Sympathy, therefore, can be
increased only by exciting sympathetic emotions. A selfish child is to be
rendered less selfish, only by arousing in it a fellow-feeling with the desires
of others. Patience, self-denial, a sufficient insight into youthful emotions,
and a due sympathy with them,
added to a little ingenuity in the choice of means, will usually accomplish all
that can be wished. Only let a parent's actions and words and manner show that
his own feeling is a thoroughly right one, and he will rarely fail to awaken a
responsive feeling in the breast of his child.
Now it is by the growth of those two
faculties - the strengths of sympathy, and the instinct of
personal rights - which together originate what we term a Moral Sense. In
proportion to the strengths of sympathy, and the instinct of
personal rights, will be the impulse to conform to the law of equal freedom.
And in the mode elsewhere shown, the impulse to conform to this law will
generate a correlative belief in it. Only after considerable social advance,
can there arise either subordination to this law, or a perception of its
truth.
The impulse to maintain liberty of
action which generates regard for the liberty of action of others is explicable
by an extension of Adam Smith's doctrine
of sympathy. Our sentiment of
justice is really due to a sympathetic excitement of such impulse.
When each individual possesses an
active instinct of freedom, together with an active
sympathy - then will all the
still existing limitations to individuality, be they governmental restraints,
or be they the aggressions of men on one another, cease. Then, none will be
hindered from duly unfolding their natures; for whilst every one maintains his
own claims, he will respect the like claims of others. Then, there will no
longer be legislative restrictions and legislative burdens; for by the same
process these will have become both needless and impossible. Then, for the
first time in the history of the world, will there exist beings whose
individualities can be expanded to the full in all
directions.
Researchers have found compelling evidence that people who
are more empathetic possess a particular variation of the oxytocin receptor
gene.
Published in the journal Proceedings in the National Academy
of Sciences, the findings by researchers at the University of California,
Berkeley, support other research showing that oxytocin plays a major role in
countering stress. All humans inherit a variation of this gene or "allele" from
each parent.
The study looked at the three combinations of gene
variations of the oxytocin receptor. The most empathetic - able to get an
accurate read on others' emotions - had two copies of the "G allele." In
contrast, members of the AA and AG allele groups were found to be less capable
of putting themselves in the shoes of others and more likely to get stressed
out in difficult situations.
"All living
beings feel
pain. Only arrogant
humans
feel they are somehow entitled to
ignore this simple fact." - Tim I. Martin
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