Empathy in a changing world

It's easy to often think about how different we are from one another. How we look, act, speak, and express ourselves can differ greatly. There are so many cultures mixing together and living amongst each other like never before. It's basic to see the differences between us, but then what about the similarities? I believe it's in our human nature to compete against one another, whether we are doing it subconsciously or not. This makes it terribly hard to see others for what they truly are, the same as ourselves. Instead we like to point out what it is we don't like about them, and draw on negative energy that perhaps in turn makes us feel better about ourselves. In my opinion, this feels morally wrong, and I try to avoid my judgements as much as I can but of course nobody is perfect.

When I encounter an argument I simply ask myself, where is this person coming from? I know that their anger or frustration is most likely not a direct result of our interaction, but manifesting from a different experience they had. I understand this process because it's what I do at times too. I can see how our lives are actually much more similar than I had once thought. When it comes down to it we all pretty much want the same thing in this life, happiness, love, and peace. When we can start to realize that we can start to have compassion for one another; we can start to have empathy.

I've heard many times from many people that if I want to see this world change, than you have to be the spark. "Be the change you want to see in the world!" Easier said than done right? Well, maybe not so much. Empathy could be the answer. Empathy is described by Eisenberg as a mirroring or vicarious experience of another's emotions, whether they be sorrow or joy. When we have empathy for one another, we can actually help alleviate their pain and suffering. And since as the Buddha said, "life is suffering" shouldn't we try to help replace that suffering with the things we actually want like happiness, love, and peace? By placing myself in another's shoes I can start to analyze why they may be acting in a certain way and be able to help them through that instead of putting up a guard and making it worse.

Of course its hard to say, "be compassionate all the time", because that is simply impossible. What I am saying is that the harder we try day in and day out to recognize the other side of the story, then empathy will follow naturally. As seen in a study by Goetz on Empathy she notes that,

"empathy (which can lead to compassion) has evolved to support prosocial behavior towards those who are genetically close to us. He also argues that by using familial symbolism, religion encourages us to expand our prosocial acts to a larger group."

When looking to the future, I see the importance of empathy and compassion not only towards humans but to our entire Earth and all that we can know. in our world if we want to co-exist we will need to embrace these traits. 

Eisenberg, N. (2002). Empathy-related emotional responses, altruism, and their socialization. In R. J. Davidson & A. Harrington (Eds.), Visions of compassion: Western scientists and Tibetan Buddhists examine human nature (pp. 131-164). London: Oxford University Press.

Goetz, J. (2004). Compassion and Empathy Research. Greater Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life. Retrieved on 2/8/14 from, http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/compassion_an_annotated_bibliography/