Empathy and Manipulation

Empathy is a trait exalted, almost above any other. History has, by whatever means, attached a positive association to the word empathy. We as human beings have no, adherence to the truth.

Plato’s cave is a great allegory, which both expresses the power of moving to a new perspective and the fact that by the nature of the human condition- truth is unattainable. Therefore, to believe that you could empathize with another’s situation is an act of ultimate narcissism. To believe that empathy is the epidemy of virtue is to blindside yourself to the nuanced meaning of the word empathy.

To believe that you have perfected the skill of empathy is to deny the infinite and varying complexities of this world, let alone the nuances of human psychology.

If you asked the question, ‘what is the meaning of empathy’, to random strangers on the street more than once; you more than likely would receive an answer pertaining towards the words goodness, or generosity; instead of statements about the actual meaning of the word, as defined by Merriam-Webster,

“The imaginative projection of a subjective state into an object so that the object appears to be infused with it.”

This is a great definition, especially with the words ‘imaginative’ and ‘projection’ foremost in its structure. As a translation of Greek empathetic "passion, state of emotion," the word empathy has changed in two key ways. Most importantly, etymological evolution extended its definition from ‘identifying with another person’ to, ‘Identifying with another object’. This subtle yet powerful change subsequently removed emotion as a necessity to empathy, as most people don’t view plants or objects as having feelings.

In the modern mis-molding of our minds, the skill of empathy, for the most part, is associated with the pious and selfless. This is a fallacy.

Empathy is an acquired trait. It is no more good than evil.

In fact, the darker manifestation of the skill of empathy is as powerful as it’s lighter antithesis in generosity- and its name is manipulation.

A key facet to the skill of manipulation has always been the prerequisite skill of empathy. For example, in order to advertise you have to empathize as best, you can with a viewer; the very fact that the most successful commercials play directly on sex, food, money, and those innate, ego-survival based things that we all crave.

Although the exercise of empathy is a skill that will never be accurate, it is not one that I am advocating against. In fact, empathy is one of the main themes of being a writer or performer that is creating something to put before an audience.

I seek to remove the bias associations of empathy with virtue, because, whether intentional or not- all that association serves to do is mask the darker and more powerful side of empathy; which sits in thought manipulation.

The nuanced nature of the word empathy may seem clear to you intellectually, but subconsciously you probably carry this association.

Throughout our modernity, our words have become corrupted by the fallacy of our Dualistic Conceptions in good and evil, two traits which are no more exclusive to any one word than they are to any one person.

The reasoning in modernity is that if one can empathize with others, then we will achieve virtue. But the way we use empathy today doesn’t allow for this to become true.

Because empathy has positive association attached to it, it allows for everyone who uses empathy to believe they are virtuous. The problem here is that empathy is easier to achieve with people that are more similar to you in any way.

Paul Bloom, who is writing a book about empathy, and who did a video @BigThink on Youtube, said this all important statement on empathy,

“For many political… moral.. and social debates. It’s always a question of who you empathize with… do you empathize with black teenagers who are shot by cops, or do you empathize with cops, who have a difficult and dangerous job?... Do you empathize with the woman or the fetus?”

The subtext I see in what he is saying here, as relating to the word empathy, is that since empathy has such positive association that it enables anyone who uses empathy to believe they are on the virtuous side.

Bloom goes on to say that these distinctions in who we empathize with are not conducive to any reasonable debate- and I agree. Those who pride themselves on their empathy and generosity are likely ignoring the secondary side of whatever problem they seek to tackle in the world; this is their road to hell, paved with good intentions.

Somebody see Satan in a Sunday hat?

Everyone has different capacities for empathy, based on the strengths or weaknesses of their intuition, imagination, and worldly knowledge- but even that is mostly an illusion- tainted by selective memory.

At worst, the association of the skill of empathy with virtue greases the wheels for thought manipulation and at best it sells you on something. Empathy has always been a prerequisite skill for the enactment of manipulation.

The goal of empathy in modernity is to step into the thought process of another person. It is a more calcified version of original meaning, emanating from the greek- emotion.

The most obvious paradox in the way we think about the word empathy is that the cultivation of the skill of empathy is supposed to be instilled as a selfless act; but generosity, in modernity at least, usually comes from someone who is able to be generous. Therefore, true and complete selflessness is an example, set only by Jesus Christ and those before and after that share his character’s extreme piety.

The fact that the selfless act is ascribed, by Paul, to a character is known as the embodiment of divinity on earth; speaks directly to the fact that the selfless act is almost inhuman.

The pressure with which our society endorses positivity towards the word empathy is indicative of how our society implicitly programs us for thought manipulation. By ignoring the other, darker side of the word empathy; we detract from its ramifications and ensure a lack of understanding of thought manipulators, and enable psychopaths to gain the most power in government, business or any part of society.