Will Someone Else’s Shoes Fit?

by Doug Berube

            The old saying goes, “you should walk a mile in their shoes first” before you judge them. This is a saying I’ve heard all my life, as I would imagine most have been told the same parable. The lesson to be learned was not to judge someone until you first understand what other went through. We are also taught from the “Good Book” to treat ours are you would have them treat you. Both statements are proclaimed from generation to generation, and I wonder if the true meaning is known. The social media are filled with hatred, prejudice, and apathy, which doesn’t support any moral connection to those words of wisdom. Does society comprehend the words to the meaning of empathy?

            What does empathy mean? Merriam-Webster defines it as “The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.” That is a very general definition because humans are highly complicated beings. The capability to imagine yourself as someone else is a very complex imaginative process. Each of us has basic recognized emotions that are innate and could probably be achieved unconsciously. Thomas Jefferson wrote, “man was destined for society. His morality, therefore, was to be formed to this object.” Humans are social beings, and our morality is inherent to our cultural development.
            As social beings, we need to ask a moral/empathy question to determine our attitude.  Would you make the decisions you make about people you don’t know if they where your neighbors, and you had to look into their eyes every day? I know someone will say that if they were your neighbor, they wouldn’t be a stranger. I think the point of the question is that everyone should treat as your neighbor. We have to go back to treating others as you would have them treat you. Theorist William Icker's states empathy as, “A complex form of psychological inference in which observation, memory, knowledge, and reasoning are combined to yield insights into thoughts and feelings of others.
            There is an “Empathy Experiment” by Capital University in Columbus, Ohio using volunteer students to explore whether empathy can be taught, and if so, what are the effects? Nichole Johnson post this is the second year and the topic of is, “Nutrition in America," to answer a specific question: Can we empathize with someone who makes choices we disagree with? Capital University President Danvy A. Bowman said, But now I want to explore the notion of teaching empathy through an issue that many perceive to be a matter of choice – the food we eat – as opposed to circumstance – being a member of the working poor community.” This experiment is to will test the University of Michigan's report that there is a decline in empathy among college students today compared with similar students two to three decades ago. The students from Capital University will be reporting on their experiment this month, and it will be interesting to see the outcome.
            Neuroscience has been conducting experiments using fMRI to determine how the neural system subserving emotion regulation modulates the other components that are involved in empathy. The one question worth exploring are the external influences that affect how we choose to see other people, nations, and religions. Social Media are prolific with pundits preaching their consequences for not following what they are pushing. Empathy is in the brain, and this is in support of Jefferson’s observations. We are by nature social, and our morality comes from our being. There are disorders that affect our social ability for empathy or other individual interactions. All of humanity should practice empathy, because currently, as throughout history human have not. Humans are not freed from tribalism and monoculturalism which mean treating others as you would want them to treat you has its hindrances. The “Empathy Experiment” should help with our understanding of empathy, and if it can be taught, our society can be improved as a benefit to all.