The incentives for elites seem to prevent understanding. By (being known as) understanding non-elites, you lose your elite status.
A king is allowed to express certain amount of empathy with starving peasants, and he still remains king. For political elites, expressing empathy with their opponents would probably be a career suicide. (Instead, the proper form of “understanding” your opponents is to attack their strawmen.)
The incentives for elites seem to prevent understanding. By (being known as) understanding non-elites, you lose your elite status.
A king is allowed to express certain amount of empathy with starving peasants, and he still remains king. For political elites, expressing empathy with their opponents would probably be a career suicide. (Instead, the proper form of “understanding” your opponents is to attack their strawmen.)