"Empathy is Narcisism" Discuss

[Taverner]

Heard this quote the other day on NPR. It intrigued me - at first it sounded like pure Ayn Rand Objectivism, but after a while, I could see where the thinker was going...not that I agree.

Empathy, the act of feeling for someone as oppsed to sympathy, the act of feeling with somebody, is a projection of your feelings onto that person, much like anthromorphism.

So in a way, I could see where the person was going with this...

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. Horseshit.

More bricks in the wall attempted.

[knowbody0]

2. im way too empathetic.

but those incapable of empathy usually seem narcisistic.

[Tom Kitten]

3. I think the opposite is true.

Sociopaths are usually narcissists

[laura888]

4. think of the world without empathy

a cold, cold world it would be.

[LostInAnomie]

5. Up is down, war is peace.

I can see where the person is going. The act of empathy conveys that you can know something that only the other person can truly know, and in a way is grandiose thinking. I still disagree.

A lack of empathy is more akin to narcissism. It is a complete disregard for the feeling and situation of the other person and placing your own motives first.