From an undated note on my desk:
Empathy
Encouragement
Enlightenment
Excitement
Showing posts with label empathy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label empathy. Show all posts
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Wednesday, March 06, 2013
Quote of the day – responsibility
"No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible." - Stanislas Jerzy Lec
This was a quote used by Dr. Anita Nowak of McGill University in her keynote address at the program "Cultivating Compassion, Empathy, Leadership, and Social Change" at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, today. Her speech was entitled "Empathic Action Rocks: Join the Movement That Can Change Your Life and Change the World.”
It was the only note I took because I couldn't keep up with her presentation and take notes, too. I wanted to double check it before posting, but in doing so, I found the same thought a couple of centuries earlier.
"Aucun flocon de neige ne se sent responsable de l'avalanche." - Voltaire
"No snowflake feels responsible for the avalanche."
I think Nowak's point was that we should feel empathy for those who have problems whether we contributed to those problems or not. And empathy is beyond sympathy; it is doing something to help solve another's problem.
Putting the quote another way, no one person taking water from a well will feel responsible for the well running dry.
This was a quote used by Dr. Anita Nowak of McGill University in her keynote address at the program "Cultivating Compassion, Empathy, Leadership, and Social Change" at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, today. Her speech was entitled "Empathic Action Rocks: Join the Movement That Can Change Your Life and Change the World.”
It was the only note I took because I couldn't keep up with her presentation and take notes, too. I wanted to double check it before posting, but in doing so, I found the same thought a couple of centuries earlier.
"Aucun flocon de neige ne se sent responsable de l'avalanche." - Voltaire
"No snowflake feels responsible for the avalanche."
I think Nowak's point was that we should feel empathy for those who have problems whether we contributed to those problems or not. And empathy is beyond sympathy; it is doing something to help solve another's problem.
Putting the quote another way, no one person taking water from a well will feel responsible for the well running dry.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Empathy already exists in the law
There is a big hew and cry from the right about President Obama seeking a Supreme Court Justice who has empathy. Whether empathy has any place in the law has been debated for generations. See "Empathy and the Law", Stanley Fish, New York Times, 2009-05-24.
Empathy has existed in the law for generations. How many judges have let people off with a warning rather than impose the maximum sentence? How many juries have failed to convict because they felt a defendant didn't get a fair hearing, even when the presented facts implied otherwise?
I remember hearing about a traffic judge in the Twin Cities who would let a traffic offender go if the excuse made him laugh.
How many police officers don't follow through with an arrest or a ticket because they felt there were extenuating circumstances? I remember the time I went the wrong way on a one-way street. I realized my mistake and was ready to turn around when a patrol car came down the street. The short story is that the officer said, "Why don't you turn around?"
If any of those who think empathy has no place in the law ever are caught evading taxes or driving drunk, may the judge impose the maximum allowable sentence on them.
Empathy has existed in the law for generations. How many judges have let people off with a warning rather than impose the maximum sentence? How many juries have failed to convict because they felt a defendant didn't get a fair hearing, even when the presented facts implied otherwise?
I remember hearing about a traffic judge in the Twin Cities who would let a traffic offender go if the excuse made him laugh.
How many police officers don't follow through with an arrest or a ticket because they felt there were extenuating circumstances? I remember the time I went the wrong way on a one-way street. I realized my mistake and was ready to turn around when a patrol car came down the street. The short story is that the officer said, "Why don't you turn around?"
If any of those who think empathy has no place in the law ever are caught evading taxes or driving drunk, may the judge impose the maximum allowable sentence on them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)