Citation, please? I’m not sure I’m familiar with this.
it can be thought of as an informational update
Could you expand on this? Do you mean this in any but the most literal, technical sense? I am not sure how to view any gain of empathy (whether learned or otherwise) as an epistemic update.
I think I was a bit unclear, and that somehow you managed to not at all get what I meant. I have a draft post written on this point, I’ll publish it some time in the future, and tap out for now.
If “empathy” means “ability to understand the feelings of others” or “ability to predict what others will do”, then it seems straightforward that empathy is learnable. And learnability and teachability seem basically the same to me. Examples indicating that empathy is learnable:
As you get to know someone, things go more smoothly when you’re with them
Socializing is easier when you’ve been doing a lot of it (at least, I think so)
Those definitions of “empathy” are, however, totally inconsistent with Ben’s mention of mirror neurons; so I doubt that this is what he had in mind.
(Your argument is actually problematic for several other reasons, but the aforesaid inconsistency makes your points inapplicable, so it’s not necessary to spend the time to demonstrate the other problems.)
I mean that empathy is a teachable skill, and that it can be thought of as an informational update, yet apparently changing your ‘moral’ behaviour.
Citation, please? I’m not sure I’m familiar with this.
Could you expand on this? Do you mean this in any but the most literal, technical sense? I am not sure how to view any gain of empathy (whether learned or otherwise) as an epistemic update.
I think I was a bit unclear, and that somehow you managed to not at all get what I meant. I have a draft post written on this point, I’ll publish it some time in the future, and tap out for now.
If “empathy” means “ability to understand the feelings of others” or “ability to predict what others will do”, then it seems straightforward that empathy is learnable. And learnability and teachability seem basically the same to me. Examples indicating that empathy is learnable:
As you get to know someone, things go more smoothly when you’re with them
Socializing is easier when you’ve been doing a lot of it (at least, I think so)
Managers are regularly trained for their job
Those definitions of “empathy” are, however, totally inconsistent with Ben’s mention of mirror neurons; so I doubt that this is what he had in mind.
(Your argument is actually problematic for several other reasons, but the aforesaid inconsistency makes your points inapplicable, so it’s not necessary to spend the time to demonstrate the other problems.)