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Empathy

The Paradox of Empathy

Ramsey McNabb on knowing how other people feel.

Tragically, Hector’s father is involved in a car accident and dies. Hector is devastated. An acquaintance, Anita, tells him that she knows just how he feels. Angered at her presumption, he responds, “No, you don’t know how I feel!” After all, how could she know how he feels? She doesn’t know what he is going through, what he is thinking and how he is feeling. No one can know how anyone else feels.

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