The divisiveness we're seeing these days, especially online, has turned us off from sharing some of our insights and understandings on many topics in a post-election era of President Trump. Not because we don't have an opinion, the experience, or the passion for certain subjects, but rather the magnetic pull towards arguments, staying on the defense, and lack of engagement in hearing the other side has left us (and many others) exhausted. When there's little compassion shown for others despite our shared values, it's hard to determine where many stand in support of humanity as a whole.
When reading this recent piece from Amy Jo Martin, the ideas of empathy (although obvious to some) speak to how we move forward and create a conversation, rather than an argument, around understanding our differences and finding a way to operate and coalesce together as a United States of America.
Here's an excerpt:
"I came across this video that brings science into the equation. Yes, science! It’s refreshing after an abundance of subjective opinions floating around. I spoke with Poppy Crum, neuroscientist and Chief Scientist at Dolby Labs, and she explained how we literally and physiologically have different realities. We discussed the power and opportunity in understanding that what we see, hear and feel differ. Literally. If we realize we all have slightly different information going into our equations, there’s a chance we can be more human and empathetic.
While some of this is intuitive, the knowledge allows us to potentially transcend our emotions when we’re encountering a challenging opinion and realize the opposing opinion we’re facing was formed based on different information than we have. In the talk, Poppy also explains that immersive technologies can be extremely beneficial in linking our unique sensory perceptions with shared human understanding. Science can serve as a common language. Try watching the video and discussing it with someone who may have a different point of view than yourself. There’s a great deal of exploring left to do around the science of empathy."
- Published by The Huffington Post on February 18, 2017. Full article here.
