Key Insights from "Against Empathy - The Case for Rational Compassion"
- Empathy and compassion are not the same: The first step toward understanding Bloom's argument is distinguishing between empathy and compassion. Empathy is the act of feeling what others feel, while compassion is a more detached form of caring about others.
- Empathy is biased: Empathy tends to favour those who are close to us, or those who are similar to us, leading to partiality and unfairness.
- Empathy can lead to burnout: Empathizing too much with others' pain can lead to emotional exhaustion, reducing our capacity to help.
- Rational compassion...