Why Empathy Just Doesn’t Cut It

Reading this interview between Sean Illing from Vox and Paul Bloom, a professor of psychology at Yale, really opened my eyes to the dynamics of what empathy really is, and why it may actually be harmful to society. I think a really important factor to take into consideration is what definition of empathy you're basing your actions on. Bloom only has qualms with the definition of empathy where you adopt the emotions of others, not the definition of simply caring for other human beings. 

My favorite quote from Bloom during the interview was when he said, “My point is that there are better and more reliable tools [than empathy].” After breaking down this article and rereading some of the major points, this statement makes total sense. While empathy may work in certain situations, it is unreliable and can introduce bias into even the most simple of situations. Because of this, it would be better practice to utilize a more controlled emotions such as compassion when trying to help someone or solve a problem.

Many human-centered designers seem to really focus on using empathy as a means of achieving the most applicable, and useful, final products. However, HCD, I think, uses the word empathy in the sense of simply hearing and understanding other people, not adopting their emotions and sentiments. Design research methods such as co-creation and photo studies are examples of this. Both of these methods aim to allow participants to have a say or show their side of things, in order for the researchers to have a more whole understanding of their users. This type of empathy allows human-centered designers to acknowledge an entire community or group based off of a small sample of that group. But unlike the type of empathy Bloom is arguing against, these designers are not completely consumed by the individuals’ stories or emotions; they use their findings and data as a way to positively address a larger problem. 

This was an incredibly interesting article. It seems that empathy may be an over-utilized word that has almost completely lost its true meaning in the 21st century, just like the words love or nice. Empathy is a very heady emotion and virtue when broken down to its original context; but now we toss it around as something we all do everyday, which is just not the case. This is why empathy just doesn’t cut it as a way of solving problems and helping people. Paul Bloom does an amazing job explaining why idolizing empathy as a must have in every situation is wrong may actually be hurting society as a whole.

Source: The Case Against Empathy by Sean Illing with Paul Bloom