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Many people don't realise there are two kinds of empathy. Affective empathy means *feeling* what someone else feels. Cognitive empathy lacks that feeling but means *understanding* what they feel. When most people say "empathy" they're usually referring to "affective." 1/5
People vary in how much affective empathy they feel. Some are highly empathetic, some less so. That seems to be mainly innate. But cognitive empathy can be taught and practised like a skill. Just about anyone can improve at it, even if you're a low affective empathiser. 2/5
Sometimes, when high affective empathisers talk about cultivating empathy, it can be hard for low affective empathisers to grasp. Ironically, the only people high affective empathisers can't empathise with is low affective empathisers. 3/5
I say this to give heart to low affective empathisers, who can feel like there's something wrong with them because they don't *feel* others' emotions as strongly. But you can become a better empathiser, cognitively, through practise. And it's a good skill to cultivate. 4/5
I also say this so high affective empthaisers can, well, empathise better with people who don't feel the way they do. It's easy to assume everyone's emotional life is like our own, but it can vary widely. With compassion and, yeah, empathy, we can all be better humans. 5/5
Also: sending hugs, because even though I don't know how you feel right now, we could all probably use one.
