Can I Give Myself Credit for Being Empathic?
PAGE IN PROGRESS
What you see here is a page of my hypertext book Me, Looking for Meaning. Initially empty, it will slowly be filled with thoughts, notes, and quotes. One day, I will use them to write a coherent entry, similar to these completed pages. See this post to better understand my creative process. Thank you for your interest and patience! :)
What you see here is a page of my hypertext book Me, Looking for Meaning. Initially empty, it will slowly be filled with thoughts, notes, and quotes. One day, I will use them to write a coherent entry, similar to these completed pages. See this post to better understand my creative process. Thank you for your interest and patience! :)
If I think into the past, I realize that I used to be less empathic. It appears that I was able to improve my empathy. So, maybe I should give myself credit for the ability to improve my empathy?
connect to choice, free will
This brings a bigger question: Can I credit myself for anything? For example, if I think a certain way (and I believe it's a good, right way to think), can I credit myself for thinking this way, as opposed to other people who think/act differently?
First of all, there is a big question whether my way of acting/thinking is really the best/right way. Most people think that about themselves and about others that they are wrong. But how can anybody we certain, really?
But let's leave this aside for now. Let's assume that my way of thinking/acting is the right one. Can I give myself credit for it? If I do not believe in free will, then no. My actions and reactions are fully predetermined by my circumstances. I think that our actions are in many ways determined by our circumstance, but we do have some freedom to choose, even though we are choosing between a predetermined range of options. In this sense, perhaps I can give myself some credit, but not full credit for the way I act/think?
Going back to empathy, I certainly remember that I was not the most empathic person for most of my life. I have always been learning, but I made mistakes along the way that I now find cringeworthy. But maybe I was making choices along the way that did lead me to be more empathic overtime?
Or how about my ability to focus on and enjoy little things I see, like a play of shadows or a crack in the wall? This ability has greatly helped me when I started learning about mindfulness. I assume that there was something in me (e.g., the way my brain could focus on these details and enjoy them) that determined my openness to the idea of mindfulness. But I also think I made some choices along the way that helped me develop my ability and become better at it.
Since we cannot take full credit for what we can do, we should also avoid looking condescentently on people who do things differently. They did make some choices in their lives, but their choices where limited the way your choices were. Most importantly, these choices were limited and different from choices you had. You do not fully know the choices or the circumstances under which the other person had to make their choices. That's the reason to be more humble and empathic, but also curious about other people's circumstances.
About this project: Start page
connect to choice, free will
This brings a bigger question: Can I credit myself for anything? For example, if I think a certain way (and I believe it's a good, right way to think), can I credit myself for thinking this way, as opposed to other people who think/act differently?
First of all, there is a big question whether my way of acting/thinking is really the best/right way. Most people think that about themselves and about others that they are wrong. But how can anybody we certain, really?
But let's leave this aside for now. Let's assume that my way of thinking/acting is the right one. Can I give myself credit for it? If I do not believe in free will, then no. My actions and reactions are fully predetermined by my circumstances. I think that our actions are in many ways determined by our circumstance, but we do have some freedom to choose, even though we are choosing between a predetermined range of options. In this sense, perhaps I can give myself some credit, but not full credit for the way I act/think?
Going back to empathy, I certainly remember that I was not the most empathic person for most of my life. I have always been learning, but I made mistakes along the way that I now find cringeworthy. But maybe I was making choices along the way that did lead me to be more empathic overtime?
Or how about my ability to focus on and enjoy little things I see, like a play of shadows or a crack in the wall? This ability has greatly helped me when I started learning about mindfulness. I assume that there was something in me (e.g., the way my brain could focus on these details and enjoy them) that determined my openness to the idea of mindfulness. But I also think I made some choices along the way that helped me develop my ability and become better at it.
Since we cannot take full credit for what we can do, we should also avoid looking condescentently on people who do things differently. They did make some choices in their lives, but their choices where limited the way your choices were. Most importantly, these choices were limited and different from choices you had. You do not fully know the choices or the circumstances under which the other person had to make their choices. That's the reason to be more humble and empathic, but also curious about other people's circumstances.
About this project: Start page
