My (probably unpopular) opinion on arab refugees

[henryp]

1) Empathy has two applications.  There's understanding how and why someone feels a certain way by looking at things from their perspective.  That I enjoy doing, and partake in it as sincerely and fully as possible.  And then there's caring about those people/feelings, which I don't really do. 

Empathy is understanding and sharing other people's feelings. As a sociopath, you're not capable of understanding why your comprehension of other people's feelings is incomplete. What you're doing is intellectually mimicking a capacity you don't possess, at least not in full measure. Not your fault, you have bad wiring. I don't blame someone who's color blind for not being able to see nuance I can, you're in the same situation. I think you're probably high-functioning, like someone who is only partially color blind.

CL expressed sympathy.  You say I have bad wiring.  Because with all that empathy, you can't imagine any other way of viewing the world being happy or good.  It's not your fault of course.  They just taught you how to empathize wrong.  A saying I like is "Empathy is just making everything about yourself."  I think the people of yesteryear were smart, and recognized most people were self-centered dickholes, so they made it "Treat others as you would want to be treated" rather than "Treat others as they want to be treated." 

It's why people are so close-minded, and discourse is just two people hollering at a wall.  Because you can't see past your own feelings and perspective.

What I'm curious about, is whether biological empathy is also garbage.  Or the shitty version of empathy you're rocking was just reinforced so heavily in your formative years, that it's overwritten it to some extent.