Empathy SELLS - but empathy's limitations sell even better! Find out what's going on with the anti-empathy movement and how to answer and debunk the dangerous half truths, lies, and total nonsense.

One can always make a splash by throwing a rotten tomato, and the would-be critique of empathy uncharitably takes the weakest version of empathy and refutes it. In contrast, a rigorous and critical empathy engages in aprocess of continuous improvement of empathy by “cleaning up” the empathicbreakdowns of emotional contagion, projection, conformity, and communicationslost in translation, resulting in the expansion of empathy in the individual and the community.

Yet another reason that the practice of empathy sells but empathy’s limitations sell even better is a consequence of empathy’s own success. Empathy works. Empathy makes a profound and lasting difference tothose who are treated with empathy. But in the age of TikTok does empathy work fast enough? Empathy and its many successes are themselves the occasions for the skepticism, resistance, and embracing the obstacles to empathy. A rigorous and critical empathy can be hard work; being empathic can leave onevulnerable; better to take the easy way out. The reader may say, I want instant empathy, like instant coffee, just add hot water and stir. Wouldn’t it be nice? Nor is anyone saying such a thing as “instant empathy” is impossible. It may work well enough in a pinch; but like instant coffee, the quality may not be on a par with that required by a more demanding or discriminating appreciation and taste – or a more challenging situation. Thus podcast debunks the debunkers of empathy and delivers the answers and responses to the dangerous half truths, alternative facts, and total nonsense being published by the anti-empathy cohort. It shows the way to a renewed rigorous and critical empathy and how empathy makes a profound difference to the individual and the community! Not to be missed.