I think you’ve hit the nail on the head that television news isn’t the medium in which we’re likely to see genuine empathy. Of course there are times when people make an instant connection, but often empathy develops out of a sustained, intense experience of listening to the other person. I would imagine it is hard for any candidate to concentrate and listen to a single person at a campaign stop where there are bright lights, tons of people, cameras flashing and microphones everywhere.

Shaktinah, Thanks for pointing out that “The trying to act like others… not only is it not empathy but it’s disrespectful.” I agree; it can be a way of minimizing another’s person experience, especially when that experience is one of hardship.

Great post! The trying to act like others… not only is it not empathy but it’s disrespectful. It presumes that you can fool the other people into thinking that you’re just like them (which is inane) instead of recognizing difference and doing the work to actually try to understand their perspectives.

And I totally agree that fitting in with the common folk via sound bite is not something either of them do well. (As a terrible bowler myself I feel badly for Barack). But neither of them was raised with a spectacular degree of privilege, so I wonder if part of the problem is that it’s hard to capture empathy on TV. I’m trying to think of times when I’ve seen someone express empathy on the news….and I’m coming up short (maybe Anderson’s reporting in New Orleans?). It seems like it has to be done in writing or in person, but not necessarily something that makes a “bite”.

(I hate to say it, but generally speaking, I’m in favor of simpler sentences in sermons, but it has nothing to do with low-income people, but with clarity.)

Yes, empathy also involves the recognition of something in another person that is familiar. As in, “Ok, I haven’t gone through a divorce, but my friend is describing feeling lonely, and I’ve felt that too, in a different situation.” That’s true. I guess what I meant to say is that the sense of recognition and connection can happen even in a situation in which people come from different cultures, social locations or life experiences, and that it happens when we are able to really listen to another person, and accept both the ways in which we are similar and the ways in which we are different.

I think there are some universals that allow us to experience empathy. For example, we have all experienced “loss”, or “loneliness”. While the actual details of those experiences and levels may differ, there is a common emotional component, i think, beneath it all. I think we do need to be connected to our own emotions and our own human vulnerabilities to experience empathy. I think real connection with people who have different experiences means connecting with our common humanness that is at the root of it all. Not that you’re sitting there focusing on your own stories while listening to another tell their story; it’s more of a forgetting about yourself while listening deeply to their story. But you understand the emotions because you’re human–and just as vulnerable to loss and pain as the next person, no matter the circumstances.

Just my thoughts…