Caution: Long post. Multiple issues.
Some simplifying assumptions for brevity.
These are opinions about group tendencies.
This is a discussion, not debate forum.
The empathy spectrum....
Some have little. Some have much. Most are in the middle.
But empathy has more dimensions than a linear range.
The "parochial empathy" phenomenon resembles a vector,
ie it has both magnitude and direction.
Ref....
Can Empathy Actually Be Harmful? | SPSP
Excerpted....
....some research shows that people do not show empathy equally to others. In fact, people often exhibit an empathy bias, meaning that they are more empathetic to those who are similar to them in some way (an ingroup member) than to those with whom they share less in common (an outgroup member). These groups can refer to any social category a person considers themselves to be a part of, some more superficial such as being a student at a particular university or a fan of a certain sports team, and some deeply defining such as race, gender, or religion. This resulting "empathy gap" is known as parochial empathy, and unlike the empathy one extends to people similar to oneself, it can have very negative consequences, especially when it goes beyond feelings and actually leads to disparities in how we treat different social groups. For instance, other research on different types of groups has shown that parochial empathy can predict things like prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behavior towards immigrants.
......End of excerpt.
Adding to empathy complexity is individual variation
in the extent to which empathy or values govern their
views on politics & religion. It might be viewed as the
old notion of left brain (rational) vs right brain (feeling).
Where is this leading?
The Israel vs Hamas / Israel vs Palestinians conflict.
And the 2 major sides taken finding little in common.
I notice that arguments between pro-Palestinian (p-P)
& pro-Israel (p-I) advocates tend to exhibit parochial
empathy.
- p-I advocates focus upon what happened, ie, 1,400
killed & 200+ kidnapped by Hamas.
- p-P advocates focus upon 11,000 Palestinians killed,
many times more maimed, & hundreds of thousands
made homeless.
If posters are limited to parochial empathy, there
will be no reconciliation. That must be understood
by both sides if it's ever to be overcome.
For those who place values above empathy, the
other significant difference behind this divide is that
the Hamas attack on civilians largely ended last month.
But Israel's attack on Palestinian civilians continues.
To p-I types, it's history.
To p-P types, it's a current event.
If solving the conflict is one's goal, rather than apologetics,
then the p-I types must give more weight to both current
events, & the history that inexorably led to violent armed
resistance, eg, the Oct 7 Hamas attack.
There....that'll get things going.
Now, let's treat this thread differently from the
others. We won't describe each other as evil,
anti-semites, islamophobes, or poopy heads.
Some simplifying assumptions for brevity.
These are opinions about group tendencies.
This is a discussion, not debate forum.
The empathy spectrum....
Some have little. Some have much. Most are in the middle.
But empathy has more dimensions than a linear range.
The "parochial empathy" phenomenon resembles a vector,
ie it has both magnitude and direction.
Ref....
Can Empathy Actually Be Harmful? | SPSP
Excerpted....
....some research shows that people do not show empathy equally to others. In fact, people often exhibit an empathy bias, meaning that they are more empathetic to those who are similar to them in some way (an ingroup member) than to those with whom they share less in common (an outgroup member). These groups can refer to any social category a person considers themselves to be a part of, some more superficial such as being a student at a particular university or a fan of a certain sports team, and some deeply defining such as race, gender, or religion. This resulting "empathy gap" is known as parochial empathy, and unlike the empathy one extends to people similar to oneself, it can have very negative consequences, especially when it goes beyond feelings and actually leads to disparities in how we treat different social groups. For instance, other research on different types of groups has shown that parochial empathy can predict things like prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behavior towards immigrants.
......End of excerpt.
Adding to empathy complexity is individual variation
in the extent to which empathy or values govern their
views on politics & religion. It might be viewed as the
old notion of left brain (rational) vs right brain (feeling).
Where is this leading?
The Israel vs Hamas / Israel vs Palestinians conflict.
And the 2 major sides taken finding little in common.
I notice that arguments between pro-Palestinian (p-P)
& pro-Israel (p-I) advocates tend to exhibit parochial
empathy.
- p-I advocates focus upon what happened, ie, 1,400
killed & 200+ kidnapped by Hamas.
- p-P advocates focus upon 11,000 Palestinians killed,
many times more maimed, & hundreds of thousands
made homeless.
If posters are limited to parochial empathy, there
will be no reconciliation. That must be understood
by both sides if it's ever to be overcome.
For those who place values above empathy, the
other significant difference behind this divide is that
the Hamas attack on civilians largely ended last month.
But Israel's attack on Palestinian civilians continues.
To p-I types, it's history.
To p-P types, it's a current event.
If solving the conflict is one's goal, rather than apologetics,
then the p-I types must give more weight to both current
events, & the history that inexorably led to violent armed
resistance, eg, the Oct 7 Hamas attack.
There....that'll get things going.
Now, let's treat this thread differently from the
others. We won't describe each other as evil,
anti-semites, islamophobes, or poopy heads.
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