Hello Regis!
Our next topic is over the psychological battle of empathy in America. Psychologists explain empathy as the general feeling, moral implication, or mindset of critically thinking about others’ situations and feelings and how certain actions or events will affect them. Empathy, however, is a tricky term and statistically Americans struggle to agree on what exactly it means and especially on its importance. It seems since Covid, there has been a general decrease in empathy in America. People simply weren’t able to show it as much through video calls and socially distanced conversations. We lost a lot of our ability to connect; not to mention the general effect of social media and communication behind screens. As a society, our empathy has deteriorated mostly through imperceptible, unpreventable ways. Currently though, empathy is taking a unique role in our world as the debate shifts to empathy being good or bad. This is where the American crisis comes in as society disagrees on, not just the importance of empathy, but its place in our minds and actions. Empathy is a complex idea; too much of it suggests you’re letting others walk over you while too little of it implies the opposite. The key idea seems to be to keep empathy in mind at the very least, it influences your actions and makes those actions more responsible for the general population and people you know. Empathy can seem small, but in modern politics and times, it can make a huge difference.
Read more:
Building trust in science through conversation and empathy | AllSides (MIT study)
The U.S. Has an Empathy Deficit | Scientific American
What can I do:
Activism and accountability
Ask other people’s views, healthy debate is always good
Research for your opinions
About this page:
RJ Media is implementing a new section that covers current events, not within our school, but within our wider community around the world. Our goal is to address topics that students may not get a chance to talk about anywhere else. We want to give you the chance to collect information and formulate opinions. Some topics will be more interesting than others to you, and that it okay! Exploration and education is all about finding your passions.
