[teampractices] Empathy vs compassion, when helping others

[Mukunda Modell]

Just in case it wasn't clear:  that was my bad attempt at humor, nothing
more.

☮

On Thu, Feb 23, 2017 at 8:03 PM, Mukunda Modell <mmodell at wikimedia.org>
wrote:

> I hear that breathing can be dangerous. Showers also.
>
> I apologize for adding precisely nothing useful to this otherwise
> interesting and thought provoking thread.
>
> On Thu, Feb 23, 2017 at 5:42 PM, Kevin Smith <ksmith at wikimedia.org> wrote:
>
>> Thanks both for sharing those links. It quickly became clear to me that
>> my definitions of empathy, sympathy, and compassion, are fuzzy. Quick skims
>> of the relevant wikipedia article intros didn't really help.
>>
>> I have heard that sympathy is "bad", so I'll just empathize instead.
>> Oops, empathy is now dangerous? No problem, I'll just have compassion. Did
>> I actually change anything other than the word?
>>
>> I just proposed a Tea Time topic for this.
>>
>>
>>
>> Kevin Smith
>> Agile Coach, Wikimedia Foundation
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Feb 23, 2017 at 3:09 PM, Natalia Harateh <nharateh at wikimedia.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Thanks for sharing, Max! I’ll definitely read the article. If I can add
>>> to the discussion, here’s a short 2:53 min video explaining empathy in
>>> a way that resonated with me <https://youtu.be/1Evwgu369Jw>.
>>>
>>> TL;DR:
>>>
>>> *What is the best way to ease someone's pain and suffering? In this
>>> beautifully animated RSA Short, Dr Brené Brown reminds us that we can only
>>> create a genuine empathic connection if we are brave enough to really get
>>> in touch with our own fragilities.*
>>>
>>> On 23 Feb 2017, at 23:53, Max Binder <mbinder at wikimedia.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> I ran across an article claiming that empathizing with others on their
>>> issues can be a slippery slope to bias, or at the very least unnecessary
>>> absorption of another person's issues and feelings. The article was
>>> political in nature, so I won't post it, but it did make some claims that I
>>> thought to research.
>>>
>>> That let me to this article on compassion as an alternative to empathy:
>>> http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/when_empathy_hu
>>> rts_compassion_can_heal
>>>
>>> I can't attest for the reputation of the site linked, but it makes some
>>> interesting arguments. I thought those arguments might be relevant since we
>>> often operate in an environment with, and espouse values using, words like
>>> "empathy."
>>>
>>> TL;DR:
>>>
>>> we can better cope with others’ negative emotions by strengthening our
>>>> own compassion skills, which the researchers define as “feeling concern for
>>>> another’s suffering and desiring to enhance that individual’s welfare.”
>>>> “Empathy is really important for understanding others’ emotions very
>>>> deeply, but there is a downside of empathy when it comes to the suffering
>>>> of others,” says Olga Klimecki, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute
>>>> for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Germany and the lead author of
>>>> the study. “When we share the suffering of others too much, our negative
>>>> emotions increase. It carries the danger of an emotional burnout.”
>>>>
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>>>
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>>
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>
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