Empathy - Kiwi test

Post Reply New Topic

I was reading about empathy response in AS people, and how some view empathy as the opposite of mind blindness. Meaning if you have mind blindness you have a lack of empathy. I disagree, as do some others. I think Aspies have good empathy perhaps stronger than NTs in some respects. Not being able to read someone's face can lead others to think we don't have empathy, but once we really understand what someone else is going through the feelings are definitely there.

I have a little experiment for you all.

Watch this youtube video and reply with how it affected you. I noticed that this video affects various people very differently. I showed it to my best friend who is NT, and he "didn't get it" and was not affected at all. I can't believe I had to explain it to him. My wife who is also NT didn't get it either but then when I explained it she thought it was sick and thought I was strange for being emotionally moved by it. Others will feel great empathy for the little bird. See what you think!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdUUx5FdySs

I saw that a long time ago, and always thought it was very well done. When you realise what he's doing, it's quite moving in its way.

I took it as a commentary about the lengths one might be willing to go to fulfill one's dreams, and the validity of the notion that a perfect moment, however brief, is worthwhile to someone who wants it enough, even if the price is the ability to experience other moments in the future.

My response was: How can someone not get it?
I agree with the above.

The little kiwi seems to have an Aspie level of focus and determination. I think this, many NTs don't relate to. Many think you'd have to be sick in the head to kill yourself to achieve some kind of self centered dream. But that's not the point in my opinion. I view it as an exposition of the tremendous longing and depth of pain of having something so basic that others take for granted denied you just because your wings don't work. This paralleled the Aspie's struggle with his own mind and living in a world filled with NTs who so easily interact with one another. I think I felt this way about the video before I drew the connection.

I think the sentiment is pretty touching, but every time I see this video I'm plagued by overly logical thoughts such as "Even if it was possible to nail a tree to a cliff, a kiwi bird certainly wouldn't be capable..."

I thought that was very beautiful. Thanks for posting.

I feel the kiwi was sad and could not love him or herself for being a kiwi, and wanted to fly like a bird that he/she would trade his/her own life just to finally feel like one. it was bittersweet in a way but sad.

I think it's sad. I'm also puzzled as to the poor kiwi's motivation. Was he suicidal to begin with and just wanted to go out with a bang? That's an awful lot of work. I'd suspect bipolar disorder rather than unipolar depression, because most depressed people don't have that much energy.

Or did he want to fly that badly? Just to know what it was like? I can only speculate as to how he must have felt, then, surrounded by flying birds. He probably believed them when they said (perhaps not in so many words, but constantly) that flying was the meaning of life. So he was driven to throw everything away for a pale imitation if it, because his way of living was never considered valid...

I don't see why anyone would think it was sick. It's very poignant. The quality of the video is great, the music is great, and I absolutely love how the realization that the kiwi is committing suicide is easy to come to and not hidden, but simply left for you to figure out, rather than melodramatically played up. It has more effect this way.

It just bugs me that the kiwi could lift that tree, though. But I see that as one of the breaks from reality that enhances the cartoonish style. I approve.

You just wish the kiwi could've found other kiwis who would acknowledge that you don't need to fly to be happy, or who might have invented ways for him to fly. I think the reason we get it, though, is not that we're inherently more empathetic, but simply that we've been there or know people who've been there. You'd probably get flipped results if you showed NTs and Aspies a video that was sad because of a realization that the main character lost all his friends and family.

I showed it to my NT mother. She didn't get it until I explained it to her. Then she didn't understand why anyone would do that. But she thought it was very, very sad.

My thoughts while I was watching the video:

"Ok, let's see what this guy's doing... he's building something... nailing trees to the cliff. Why would he do that? Now that looks like a vertical forest... why would he be building a vertical forest? This should have something to do with empathy, so there should be something about it that could make people sad... Oh, I get it, he wants to know what it feels like to be a bird. Wow, that's a really great idea for an animated short! The guy who came up with it must be really creative. I wonder what kind of software he used. It probably took so much work to create this video."

I didn't think it was sad - maybe because the music was too upbeat. I didn't even consider the possibility that the kiwi was committing suicide until I read some of the other replies here.

At first I thought it was trying to eat a long worm because that would have been a classic joke but when I saw what it was doing I thought "genius" (vertical trees are a great idea for some reasons). The forest intigued me, it was beautiful to see that he just wanted to fly and put all his life in his dream.

I wondered if he was comitting suicide but I think the tear was one of happiness because he has reached his goal, I'm not sure though. Facing death because that the only way to feel that you are what you are supposed to be is both sad and incredible.

(Luckily, it's a cartoon, because that would have been impossible in real life)

aww... This is so sad
Seriously, how can someone not get it?

It took me awhile to get what was going on. I was focused more on the music and the shape of the kiwi.
But I did feel for it at the end.

I dunno. My brain feels slow today.

Made me cry. My son who is also aspie says "it's only a cartoon!! ! it would be funny if it hit a tree" . Though I think he was just tryin to cheer me up

Not sure what this has to do with autism, but it was clever.

Any Kiwi smart enough to set trees up on a cliff to simulate flying would certainly have some sort of landing figured out. I didn't see the bird die. Why is anyone assuming that was the outcome?

I don't see how anyone could not get that cartoon... I thought it was pretty obvious.