Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Empathy for a person who claims to have none?

Yes, it's possible. The person isn't capital-E evil; just damaged by life. That said, part of the damage appears to be a lack of empathy for others, without even trying to learn whether their own backgrounds are as damaged/damaging as his/hers. In other words, not wanting to try to be empathetic.

It would be easy to be unempathetic for this person; besides her/his own lack of outreach, is a sometimes brusque personality, that is itself part of the larger picture.

But, this person isn't capital-E evil and has redeeming qualities, in potential as well as actuality, of emotion, intellect and psyche.

That also said, this person is a full decade older than me. How "reachable" he/she is, even by mental health professionals, I have no idea.

No comments: