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jess162k7
Deinonychus
Joined: Aug 19, 2007
Posts: 318
Location: south wales
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 Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 10:14 am Post subject: Empathy and Sympathy |
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This Might Be Silly Lol... But What's The Difference Between Empathy And Sympathy?
Just I Came On Just Now And Seen A Post About Empathy And It Made Me Think
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Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
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trotz
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Joined: Apr 25, 2008
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| Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 10:39 am Post subject: |
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| Sympathy is when you can relate to a person's feelings because you have experienced them yourself. Empathy is when you feel sorry for someone, even though you may not have been through whatever problem they are having. |
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jess162k7
Deinonychus
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Location: south wales
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| Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 10:48 am Post subject: |
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oh righti see... they sound like similar meanings though..
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Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
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LiendaBalla
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Joined: Oct 24, 2007
Age: 30
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Location: Houston Texas United States
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| Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 10:53 am Post subject: |
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| trotz wrote: | | Sympathy is when you can relate to a person's feelings because you have experienced them yourself. Empathy is when you feel sorry for someone, even though you may not have been through whatever problem they are having. |
I thought that was the other way around. Sympathy, as people use it here where I am, is when someone feels sorry or concerned for someone else. Empathy is relation to emotions others, and an ability to understand them. But hey, they are so alike..
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trotz
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Joined: Apr 25, 2008
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| Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:01 am Post subject: |
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Actually, there's more to sympathy. It 's more of a relationship between people in that one's experience can affect another in a similar way. An example would be if a bunch of businesses shut down and people lose their jobs. An employee of one business can sympathize with one of another that closed. They have the same negative experience.
To empathize in this case would be to understand what it would feel like to lose your job. You know that you don't want it to happen to yourself, so you can still get an idea of their feelings. |
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jess162k7
Deinonychus
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Posts: 318
Location: south wales
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| Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:05 am Post subject: |
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lol yeah i thought it might of been other way round too..
um.. confused lol
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Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
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trotz
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| Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:15 am Post subject: |
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According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary:
Sympathy: A relationship between persons or things wherein whatever affects one simply affects the other.
Empathy: The experience as one's own of the feelings of another.
I think the definition for "empathy" should be phrased the experience as if it was one's own... |
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ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
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| Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:17 am Post subject: |
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Sympathy is when you feel sorry for someone.
Empathy is when you feel what someone is feeling. |
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jess162k7
Deinonychus
Joined: Aug 19, 2007
Posts: 318
Location: south wales
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| Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:19 am Post subject: |
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thats the same thing sorta... 
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Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
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Baffi
Tufted Titmouse
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| Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 6:55 pm Post subject: |
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| ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo wrote: | Sympathy is when you feel sorry for someone.
Empathy is when you feel what someone is feeling. |
This is how I've understood it. |
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Sora
Love all, trust a few
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| Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 7:18 pm Post subject: |
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I am not sure if I get this right. I'll try. Think about it like this (simplified and crying used as an extreme example):
'I feel sympathy for you, when I can understand your sadness, agree that you should be sad even though. I may have experienced similar before or observed another's experiences in great detail.
I feel so sad for you, as I can truly understand your pain that I may even cry along with you.'
'I feel empathy for you, even though you have not told me much of what makes you sad and depressed. But I easily recognise that you are from looking and listening to you. And this mere fact makes me sad too and I may cry alongside.
Maybe you want to tell me what this situation feels like for you. Why exactly you are sad, what has happened?'
Of course, you can have both at the same time.
Usually, people can read body language, ask for information, feel the sadness before knowing all about the situation by empathy, think of their own experiences and feel additional sadness due to sympathy... it's intermingled in people who have both.
I have neither. So I really have no idea if what I say is completely correct or if the details vary slightly. I asked for that too once, because people kept using the two to mean the very same and which confused me.
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MR
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Joined: Jun 25, 2008
Age: 39
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| Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:19 pm Post subject: |
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| I think, as I understand it, if you feel sad for someone who's sad, that's empathy. So the first example would be both empathy and sympathy. |
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