#EMPATHY

[pagemari]

empathy and sensitivity is a blessing loves!!

⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

"match my freak!" match my sweetness. match my benevolence. match my empathy. match my ability to feel emotions so deeply it tears me apart from the inside out

[disco-archetypes]

EMPATHY - So that's what that emotion was, before. It was *wishful thinking*.

[crimson-and-clover-1717]

Weaponised empathy: to understand another’s feelings and triggers, and use that knowledge against them.

Izzy knows all about weaponised empathy. That if he throws a tantrum and threatens to leave, Ed will do whatever to stop it. This might be the first time we see it as viewers, but it’s not the first time it’s happened. Ed’s resigned ‘I should deal with this’ shows no element of surprise. He’s done this little dance with Izzy many times.

Izzy doesn’t explicitly know - and neither does Ed - that when Izzy behaves in this manner, he is pressing on psychological bruising linked with Ed’s father; picking at a seam that runs through Ed like a fault-line. Izzy just knows it works.

Izzy taps into Ed’s guilt when in fact Ed is the one wronged. Ed tells Izzy he was right to call him names; tells him he can be captain of the ship; tells him he’ll kill Stede Bonnet, interpreted as a vow Ed cannot change his mind on (‘He promised me’, 106).

Last time Ed fought back against an abusive father-figure, Ed killed him; and then Ed looked within and decided whatever it was that allowed him to do that was monstrous. Ed cannot look that ‘monster’ in the eye again, and so Izzy is able to repeat the fatherly-abuse pattern because Ed has put a blindfold on introspection indefinitely.

Feeling pity or sorrow for a person who deserves it, and wanting to help in some way is not weaponised empathy despite ideas circulating currently in the world.

What Izzy is doing is. He is able to read and feel something within Ed which is broken, using it against him as a form of manipulation. It’s sociopathic to feel someone’s pain and use it for your own advancement.*

How differently Stede acts when he realises Ed’s brokenness…

*I wrote this earlier this week in response to current political rhetoric and had it sitting in my drafts. I think it comments in other ways now also. I want to reiterate: feeling empathy towards someone who tells you they are genuinely hurting, and you wanting to do something to help, is not causing the collapse of the Western world. It is what sustains us. Those that choose to manipulate natural empathy against a person for their own gain are the ones weaponising. But I would rather give my empathy to 99 who need it, and allow the one who doesn’t deserve it to take some too, than not give at all. Be smart, protect your hearts and wallets where you can, but never stop saying ‘I’m your friend’. Never stop channelling your inner Stede.

[bobthebenevolentpirate]

People with all kinds of personality disorders (YES EVEN NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER) experience distressing emotions much more intensely than makes sense for the situation, so they're in very genuine emotional pain when they experience a distressing emotion. This makes them do irrational things, sometimes things that harm other people. While their personality disorder is not an excuse for them to continue harming others without consequence, it is at the very least important to acknowledge that you do not know what's going on with them and that they might be doing their best.

They are still responsible for their actions, and for recognizing that they are causing harm and working to improve. But they might also be doing their best while dealing with terrifyingly intense emotions that prevent them from thinking rationally.

At the end of the day you have to understand some people are mentally ill like really really mentally ill on a level you can’t understand. I see this a lot when someone does something weird or incomprehensible and people are shocked trying to figure out their intentions and why they’d do it and it’s like there’s people who are psychotic or delusional or have rapid mood swings you’ll never be able to comprehend and very often people with other mental illnesses who are able to function more acceptably have a bad lack of understanding of that and compare what they can do and act like as the standard not understanding that’s not the same playing field

[thoughtstherapy]

Empathy Burnout Is A Real Thing | Follow us on YT

[shining-dawn]

The way the government treats homeless people and panhandlers ought to be evidence enough on its own that empathy doesn't always lead to ethical behavior. Middle and upper class people get uncomfortable seeing homeless people because seeing someone in a bad state triggers an uncomfortable empathic response. They feel bad seeing people suffering. But people respond by trying to remove the source of their discomfort just as often as they respond with compassion.

That's why cities respond with hostile architecture and brutality. They just need to make the problem invisible, and people stop complaining.

Empathy is very useful, but it's no substitute for actual ethical principles.

[liberalsarecool]

Women are brave.

#ReverendMariannEdgarBudde

This just in; Christians now angry at church bishop for saying church things in a church.

[jacobnordby]

Message of the year:

“How do you spot an idiot? Look for the person who is cruel. The kindest person in the room is often the smartest.” — Gov Pritzker

[youlookkindadead]

i've seen quite a bit of confusion about this, so let me attempt to clear things up :

empathy is the ability to feel somebody's emotions as though they are affecting you personally. for example, somebody tells you "my dog died last night!" -> you now feel as though you've lost a pet personally -> you feel grief and sadness just like the other person. not everyone has empathy. it's a trait some people develop and others don't. some have high empathy, some have low empathy, some (like me) have none.

sympathy is the ability to understand and care about somebody else's struggles, even if you don't feel them yourself. so, somebody tells you their dog died -> you realize how this affects them emotionally -> you care about this person, and are upset that they are suffering. not everyone has sympathy either! it's a scale, just like empathy.

compassion is doing something to relieve another person's suffering or make them feel better. somebody tells you their dog died -> you don't want them to remain upset -> you come up with ways to help them feel better, like offering comfort and distractions, or other forms of support. compassion is a learned trait, not something you can be born with like empathy or sympathy. anyone can learn to be compassionate, although some may struggle more with it than others; it's a skill, just like anything else.

however, none of these are required to be a good person. that's a choice you make on your own accord. i hope this clears things up!

[itsaspectrumcomic]

Sometimes it feels like I'm absorbing the emotions of everyone around me

[mmyolk]

i am not religious nor am i american but this wonderful woman made me feel very inspired so i did a quick study

[rynli]

Thought gained: THE MAKING OF A MAN

Part 1 Part 2

[reality-detective]

The more I live the more I realize that we were all lied to as children, taught to believe humans are the only intelligent beings, the only ones capable of emotions and empathy.

But animals are far from unintelligent. It’s not that they lack understanding, it’s that we fail to comprehend them. In fact, many animals display empathy that exceeds what most people could ever hope to achieve. 🤔

[spiritualseeker777]

[mikedawwwson]

What Are You Going Through

Published in The New York Times Sunday Book Review, 4/2/23