Empathy Research 15/10/11

Below is a number of videos from the website: http://cultureofempathy.com/References/Metaphors.htm

and one youtube video (Barrack Obama - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgVAygC-ap0)

In the videos people are asked to describe empathy and to come up with a metaphor as to how to describe it. There was some really interesting findings:

Empathy is like - standing in someone else's shoes

- looking through someone else's eyes

- strings tuned into the same frequency

Marshell Rosenburg - "_ _ _ in empathy, you don't speak at all. You speak with your eyes. _ _ _ Empathy is when the other person feels the connection to with whats alive inside you."

"It is the social glue that bind us together" - Edwin Rutsh (documentary maker)

Barrack Obama - " _ _ _ We have the opportunity to make a habit of empathy, to recognise ourselves in each other _ _ _"

http://cultureofempathy.com/References/Metaphors.htm

What is Empathy??? Here are some examples:

1. It is living with others with a certain mindfulness: observing, listening and understanding
2. It's like a sixth sense in that it presents us with emotional information
3. It is like jazz. Jazz requires listening to the experience rather than just hearing the instruments
4. Empathy is like a Magic Mirror - internal mirror
5. Empathy is like Hearts in Hands
6. People being heard to their satisfaction
7. Experiencing others experiences, musical chairs
8. like the reflection of a lake - mirror can be altered, calm, stormy etc tranquil/peaceful

"_ _ _ Empathy is a quality of character that can change the world _ _ _" - Barack Obama