NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/soc/bi/17202

Internet Message Format | 1992-12-22 | 3.2 KB

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From: [e-mail] (Guy Barry)
Newsgroups: soc.bi
Subject: Re: Understanding
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 22 Dec 92 18:33:38 GMT
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In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Ciaran McHale) writes:
>In <[e-mail]>
>[e-mail] (Guy Barry) writes:
>>I think Ciaran and I may be slightly at cross-purposes here.  I'm viewing
>>"understanding" in this context as primarily an emotional thing, whereas
>>he's viewing it as primarily an intellectual thing.  I think that's what
>>forms the basis of our disagreement.  There's a sort of emotional
>>understanding which is just reacting to people's feelings on a gut
>>level, quite independently of any sort of intellectual content.
>>Maybe if I use "empathy" for the first and "comprehension" for
>>the second it'll help to clear things up.
>
>I think that sums up our differences quite well. Having recognised this,
>I don't think there is much else left to discuss since I don't think a
>discussion about whether or not "empathy" is more important than
>"comprehension" would be fruitful. As such, I won't be responding to the
>bulk of your posting, but rather to just a few odds and ends which we
>may be able to tidy up.
>
>>[on reading books]
>
>My point is that comprehension can aid empathy, at least for me.
>Certainly, I can empathise much better if I have a comprehension of the
>issues. Your mileage seems to vary in this regard (you can empathise
>with or without comprehension).

It's the same for me really.  I suppose my only point was that it's
possible to notice that someone's hurt or upset without knowing what
they're hurt or upset about, and to respond directly to the emotion.
You don't need to know what caused it to be able to generate an
appropriate *emotional* response.

>>>Let me rephrase the above into the following dialogue.
>>>
>>>    Man:    Please tell me about what it's like to suffer sexual
>>>        harassment on a daily basis.
>>
>>Whoa, stop.  Do you *really* ask women questions like this?  If that's
>>really all you want to know, then yes, go and buy a book on it.  But
>>I want to understand people as people, not as case studies.
>
>The question isn't whether I, personally, ask questions like that.
>Rather, the question is whether such questions get asked. From my
>experience, the answer is Yes.

OK, sorry for personalizing it.  I just can't think of a situation
where such a blunt question would come up!

--
Guy Barry, University of Cambridge | Phone: [phone]
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