The Importance of Empathy

In the note “Getting In Our Own Way: 2 Barriers We Contribute To That Limit Social Change“, I named egocentrism and ethnocentrism as two important roadblocks to overcome.

“Egocentrism refers to the ways in which we put ourselves at the center of the universe. In developmental psychology it often refers to a stage in development where young children can have difficulty understanding that there are realities that are different from the ones that they are currently experiencing; believing that other people experience the world in the same way that they do….

Closely aligned with believing that all others experience the world in the same ways as we do, is the belief that all others should believe that our way is the superior way. Ethnocentrism can refer to the ways in which we can think our culture and ways of doing things are superior to others’ ways of doing and being.”

One way to resist those roadblocks is to work at developing a sense of empathy. Check out the message in this video.

Ubuntu,

From Aspiring Humanitarian, Relando Thompkins-Jones