Quote:
Originally posted by Rudey
Actually, no. I meant sympathy. I have quite the grasp on the English language, and often those that recommend words to me lack that very grasp.
Usually empathy goes beyond sympathy in the form of a shared common experience. I sympathize with a woman who has her child murdered but I cannot empathize.
"The most often quoted article on empathy comes from physician Howard Spiro. He defines empathy this way:
Empathy is the feeling that persons or objects arouse in us as projections of our feelings and thoughts. It is evident when "I and you" becomes "I am you," or at least "I might be you."
Lawyers often use this technique every time a murderer kills someone. They play to people's emotions and try to reason through it. "Johnny had a rough childhood and was molested so that is why he grew to hate authority figures and killed these middle aged women."
And of course there are plenty of people that connect with klansmen and reason through the fact that they don't like Blacks; they are labeled racists.
-Rudey
|
Actually, you just proved my point. No one in this thread gave a statement that meets the definition of
sympathy. Therefore, sympathy was the wrong word to use in your attack on those who choose to give an opinion that you don't like.
As for the lawyer thing...hey, whatever works. But like I said before, there is NO justification for murder. Its always wrong.