The Decline of Empathy Within Human Beings
- आँ Marilyn | FIGU USA INC
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Before diving into the ongoing studies showing consistent decline in empathy within human beings and how it affects the entire world negatively, one must understand sympathy and compassion, which have often been mistaken for empathy and have led human beings astray in believing one does not in fact lack empathy which is the most important ability of the three.
Any human being can have sympathy for another human being as it is solely feeling based (i.e when one expresses misfortune and the other feels a sense of sadness, feeling sorry for, or even pity). One does not have to understand or go through the experience themselves to show and verbally express such emotions. Compassion, which is the strongest (most existent) of the three within human beings today, tends to originate from sympathy but also cultivates the desire to take action and help one through their hardships that caused pain and suffering, to alleviate them of such burdens.
"For the human being ego-love means that he/she places himself/herself at the centre of attention of everything, whereby in her/her blatant infatuation with his/her ego, as a result of lacking empathy for the fellow human beings and everything that exists, he/she only cares about himself/herself, therefore he/she neglects the others."
"Billy' Eduard Albert Meier
Narcissism in the current population has been on the rise due to the worldly changes in our current times, such as technological advances that have allowed easier access to huge social media presences on popular platforms, the consistent public posting of one’s own successes in life that have caused an increase in comparisons within those that may have not achieved such, who therefore now strive for those same successes or more, as well as societal norms displaying the importance of focusing inward to one’s own achievements and material desires that the human being is no longer focused outward to the next. Narcissism is defined from six key factors such as having an exaggerated sense of self-importance, a need for admiration, a sense of entitlement, taking advantage of others, low self-esteem and lacking empathy for others. As well as the believed distortion "live and let live" which was once "live and help live" has been carried out through the actions of the human beings themselves.
So, what truly is empathy? It is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. One does not have to physically experience something but is fully capable of putting themselves into another person’s shoes and feeling the experience in its entirety as well as the feelings of the other who actually had the experience. This does not require taking action to help alleviate someone, as does compassion. This does not share the same feelings of pity, sorry or sadness for someone, as sympathy does. This is simply an understanding of another’s feelings, actions and perspective that does not solicit action or even advice.
One study between 1979-2009 showed a steep decline in empathy within human beings where 61 percent lacked the ability to empathize with their fellow human beings. In more recent times, between 2019-2022 (the core of the covid-19 pandemic) it continued to drop by 14 percent. Being that the millennials (born 1981-1996) are the average adults of this current time, an additional study was done to show they had the largest decrease of 20 percent. More specifically, the decline in empathy has affected women more than men by nearly double; With men at 8 percent and women at 19 percent. With the explanation that as this becomes more predominant in the majority of human beings, as well as the way of our digital world and societal norms, it is becoming easier for human beings to become numb as they feel the world has become negative as a whole and if others do not care, why should they.
In order for human beings to master the skill of empathy, they must first have genuine care and concern for others. They must know how to actively acknowledge others and learn to listen without the desire to speak or be heard themselves. True empaths are in tune with their surroundings, not just with their fellow human beings, but with fauna and flora as well, leading to deep connections with humans, animals and nature. Empaths have the capability of feeling the energy of all their surroundings due to being so aware. Empathetic human beings are known to be highly intuitive and sensitive, often needing time alone to recharge if surrounded by negative emotions and energies to prevent emotional overloads or drained energy.
All human beings are encouraged to ponder how this has affected the world in its wholeness and how detrimental this has been to our planet and can continue to be if change within human beings themselves is not started now. If the majority of mankind is lacking the ability to empathize with their fellow human beings, has no acknowledgement or regard for our animals, plant life, nature and all that lives amongst us, does not have the will to change nor have the capability to teach their offspring or others how to empathize and show care for all living things, what will that look like in another 40 years? 40 years beyond that? The time for change is now.
आँ Esmerelda Kopczyk | Guest Writer
Quote by "Billy' Eduard Albert Meier (June 14th 2014)
ORIGINAL GERMAN SOURCE: Was ist die wahre Selbstliebe, und was ist die schädliche narzisstische Eigenliebe?
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