Opinion: There Are Some Problems Empathy Can’t Solve
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Loading... - Bennani Beni
- 24 Apr 2023
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I remember sitting in on a friend’s family argument as my friend’s teenage brother — we’ll call him Tony — repeatedly shouted, “You don’t understand, mom!”
Sitting awkwardly, I realized something while pretending to eat my food. Tony was right. His mom doesn’t understand.
Tony was skipping school due to stress, and his mother was heartbroken. Tony’s mother felt pity for her son’s stress but wanted him to go back to school.
Tony yearned for empathy from his mother, while all his mother showed was sympathy.
“Sympathy is a feeling of sincere concern for someone who is experiencing something difficult or painful,” according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary. “Empathy involves actively sharing in the person’s emotional experience.”
Tony’s mother was not empathetic. She didn’t share in Tony’s anxiety and dread. All those emotions were uniquely Tony’s. After all, how is it even possible to completely empathize with someone?
On some level, we can empathize, but by the nature of separate embodiment, Tony’s mom will never fully understand his feelings. Read More…
