Empathy Is the Superpower to Be in Sync
It makes you see what others can’t
“If you don’t share someone’s pain, you can never understand them.”― Nagato
Before embarking on this life-changing experiment, psychiatrist Helen Riess was a little bit hesitant. One of her students wanted to find out whether when there is empathy between two people, their heart rates are in sync — or not.
A doctor-patient relationship seemed like the perfect scenario. Dr. Riess finally agreed to be videotaped and hooked up to some cables. A confident young patient would join her on this experience.
Later, when she looked at the results, the psychiatrist was blown away. Both her patient’s tracings and hers were in sync. But for the wrong reason. She would soon find out that, as a psychiatrist, she wasn’t as empathetic as she thought.
This experiment turned out to be a career-defining one for Dr. Riess — it helped her see what most of us miss.
Empathy in the age of anger
We usually refer to empathy as ‘walking in someone else’s shoes.’ The assumption is that, before judging someone, we must understand their experiences, feelings, and challenges.
