Date/Time
Date - 26/06/2021
14:00 - 16:00
Categories
Attendees
- Niels
Details
In 2006 and throughout his POTUS tenure, Obama warns of an ‘empathy deficit’ – an endemic inability to stand in another’s shoes and see through another person’s eyes. Immediately following this, his successor, according to Yale psychology professor Paul Bloom, harnesses in abundance the empathy bias of voting Americans and secures political victory. What is going on here? Do we have too much or too little empathy in the world? Is there some Goldilocks zone where our empathic powers are optimised for a planetary flourishing of goodness? Or perhaps it is not a matter of how much, but ‘simply’ of how we understand, direct and are directed by this phenomenon that connects people through shared wavelengths of emotion.
What do we mean by empathy? What sort and how much of it do we actually need to make the world a better place?
According to Bloom, empathy is not only unnecessary for moral decision-making, it can even lead to choices that are irrational and immoral. This view stands in stark contrast to empathy-enthusiast Roman Krznaric, a philosopher, scholar and political scientist whose idea to create ‘empathy museums’ has spread to educational and cultural institutions all over the world.
At this month’s discussion, we examine the ideas of Bloom and Krznaric and throw our own ideas into the mix as well. We will base our conversation on the below article and video:
(1) https://www.vox.com/conversations/2017/1/19/14266230/empathy-morality-ethics-psychology-compassion-paul-bloom (~ 15 mins)
(2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG46IwVfSu8 (10:28)
WHAT: Gentle Thinkers online discussion
WHEN: Saturday 26.06.21, 14:00 – 16:00
WHERE: Online via Jitsi
HOW: (1) Book your spot below (2) At the start of the event, click on this link
Meet.jit.si/gentlethinkers
Bookings
Bookings are closed for this event.