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Out of ten, how would you rate your ability to empathize with people with opposing viewpoints? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 1 month ago by StarvingMartist@sh.itjust.works to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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Let's say zero is straight up shutting your ears, going lalala and storming out of the room, let's say 10 is sitting down with a Nazi, genuinely making an effort to see things from their point of view just to see if you could.

Sure this may sound ridiculous but it's basic knowledge that studying your opponents viewpoints is the best way to counter them and get new insight yourself.

Me? Id like to think I'm a 6, I don't cut family ties over their political opinions but I'm very likely to shut that down with a "I don't want to speak politics with you"

Lemmy can be an echo chamber sometimes, but that doesn't mean everyone here is a mindless zombie, how do you all deal with others who believe differently? Can you back it up?

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[–] balsoft@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I'll say it's a 6-9 depending on my mood.

Sure this may sound ridiculous but it’s basic knowledge that studying your opponents viewpoints is the best way to counter them and get new insight yourself.

I don't think this is necessarily empathy. I've read Hitler, Ilyin and Dugin, understood their arguments and point of view. If anything it made me less empathetic to them, seeing their vile hatred spilled on paper like that; but I agree that it is useful in practice to understand people who hate your guts.

To me, empathy means not only understanding the individual's viewpoint, but moreso understanding how they got to it. This is how I can still slightly emphasize with any awful individuals, from nazis to billionaires: I understand that their viewpoint was formed by their position in the capitalist hellscape we fine ourselves in, and by incessant capitalist propaganda. If I was born in their stead and lived through their experiences, I would likely share similar ideas. This makes me more hopeful in the possibility of reform even for the worst of the worst; if a person was convinced of something, they can be convinced that it is wrong too; noone is born a nazi, and so noone is beyond hope in my opinion.

As for my family, they can be incessantly racist and homophobic, not to mention all the various small things like climate change conspiracies etc. I politely disagree with them and try to nudge them towards more inclusivity and empathy for others; we've never had a screaming argument despite holding very different opinions about things so dear to my heart. But yeah at times, especially when I'm in a bad mood, I also just shut down political conversations with them.