Against empathy
by Paul Bloom · first published 2016
43% recommend57% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Argues that empathy, the feeling of another's pain, can bias moral judgment, and that rational compassion works better; useful for anyone thinking about ethics, charity, or how to help others.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"We often think of our capacity to experience the suffering of others as the ultimate source of goodness. Many of our wisest policy-makers, activists, scientists, and philosophers agree that the only problem with empathy is that we don't have enough of it. Nothing could be farther from the truth, argues Yale researcher Paul Bloom. In Against Empathy, Bloom reveals empathy to be one of the leading motivators of inequality and immorality in society. Far from helping us to improve the lives of others, empathy is a capricious and irrational emotion that appeals to our narrow prejudices. It muddles
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…why empathy is such a hot topic... , I don't think our goal is to empathize more with other people. Really liked the point Paul Bloom made with his book about Rational Compasion: https://www.amazon.com/Against-Empathy-Case-Rational-Compass... We should be able to understand how smb feels, not feel the same. Personally, I'm quite interested in why/when people are synchronizing their movements. Shameless self plug: http://kaikunze.de/papers/pdf/gupta2019blink.pdf Don't…
on “Empathy and perspective taking: How social skills are built” ↗…reason why efforts to encourage empathy for people with depression, anxiety, or other mental disorders often focus on the biological basis of the conditions." There is a deeply insightful book called "Against Empathy : The Case for Rational Compassion" by a Paul Bloom. I hadn't thought too much about it until I read the above quote assuming empathy to be a Good Thing and that researchers and doctors et al should strive…
on “When Do We Have Empathy for the Mentally Ill?” ↗>What about the hypothesis that focusing on empathy is the problem, rather than its application the cure? This is the thesis of the aptly named book "Against Empathy" by Paul Bloom. I always highly recommend it to everybody whenever I get the chance, because the thought that this might even be a possibility seldom ever crosses many people's minds.
on “Selective Empathy Can Chip Away at Civil Society” ↗…interested in how it made them feel to do something nice for sick kids. I didn't understand that, I thought the goal was to perform the maximum amount of good for the kids. I recommend two books: 1. Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion by Paul Bloom https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062339355/against-empathy/ Summary: people should be more compassionate, not more empathetic. 2. The Elephant in the…
on “The Disneyfication of a University” ↗…talk more about the practicalities of utilitarianism, I'd be very happy to (or to link to SEP/LW/EA essays that dig more into this issue). :-) One great book that addresses this issue specifically is Against Empathy, on the limits of reasoning by what "feels" best (while still respecting that it's impossible to perfectly calculate utility irl); would highly recommend if you're interested.
on “Money, the Unit of Caring (2009)” ↗to reference/recommend this book, I swiped a blurb from a ddg search: Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion is a 2016 book written by psychologist Paul Bloom. The book draws on the distinctions between empathy, compassion, and moral decision making. Bloom argues that empathy…
on “I am rich and have no idea what to do” ↗…having "pathological empathy" before [1], and to this day I refuse to accept that empathy is a weakness. To put it in a different context, the psychologist Paul Bloom wrote an interesting book titled "Against Empathy." He makes a distinction between "emotional empathy" and "cognitive empathy". He is an advocate of the latter, while acknowledging that the former can lead to many sub-optimal outcomes.
on “You can't optimize your way to being a good person” ↗You should read 'Against Empathy' by Paul Bloom. It talks all about this issue.
on “Lawsuit: Sexual harassment ‘victim’ was San Francisco business rival in disguise” ↗There's a great book discussion this problem https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_Empathy
on “TikTok profits from livestreams of families begging” ↗> Empathy is, in a word, selfish. In his bracing and persuasive 2016 book Against Empathy, Paul Bloom writes, “Empathy is a spotlight focusing on certain people in the here and now… Empathy is biased… It is shortsighted.” Author understands empathy as a micro emotional transaction enacted…
on “The Banality of Empathy” ↗…at. Yale researcher Paul Bloom wrote a whole book about this concept of empathy as a bad thing, and I think that is what the manifesto is getting at (I'd almost argue quoting): https://www.amazon.com/Against-Empathy-Case-Rational-Compass... TL;DR is this: > We often think of our capacity to experience the suffering of others as the ultimate source of goodness. Many of our wisest policy-makers, activists, scientists,…
on “About This Googler's Manifesto” ↗…https://nypost.com/2016/04/17/conservative-professors-must-f... https://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/08/18/44... https://www.google.com/search?q=political+correctness https://bostonreview.net/forum/paul-bloom-against-empathy https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/07/why-it... http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1745691616659391... https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jjycJDLHc9oixA7FiG3-M2yJ... http://www.spsp.org/blog/stereotype-accuracy-response
on “Jordan Peterson Interviews James Damore” ↗…are often a stronger influence. 6. "makes repugnant attacks on compassion and empathy" COMPLETELY WRONG. It references a plea for compassion instead of empathy, because empathy leads to bad outcomes, Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion by Paul Bloom: "Brilliantly argued, urgent and humane, AGAINST EMPATHY shows us that, when it comes to both major policy decisions and the choices we make in our everyday…
on “Google Doesn't Want What's Best for Us” ↗https://www.amazon.com/Against-Empathy-Case-Rational-Compass...
on “Ask HN: What skills to acquire in 2019?” ↗I don't particularly agree with him, but Yale psychology professor Paul Bloom wrote a book called Against Empathy [1]. I think his definition of empathy is narrower than what many people think of when they think of empathy, so in some ways his argument struck me as a battle against a straw man. But TBH I haven't…
on “Drinking While Jurying” ↗