[FRIAM] the power of metaphor.

[Marcus Daniels]

If the CIA builds up a dossier on the foibles of a foreign leader and possible ways to manipulate that leader, I would not call that empathy.   Can one get in the skin of another without feeling their pain or validating it?   I think one certainly can, and that it can be better to do that in many situations.

From: Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> On Behalf Of thompnickson2 at gmail.com
Sent: Thursday, January 7, 2021 11:29 AM
To: 'The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group' <friam at redfish.com>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] the power of metaphor.

Does seeing imply visual vulnerability?  Hearing imply auditory vulnerability?  Well, I suppose.  Any time we make ourselves open to information, I suppose we are in some sense vulnerable.  But aren't we also impowered?  Feelings only make one vulnerable if one fails to process them.

N

Nicholas Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology
Clark University
ThompNickSon2 at gmail.com<mailto:ThompNickSon2 at gmail.com>
https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/



From: Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com<mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com>> On Behalf Of Marcus Daniels
Sent: Thursday, January 7, 2021 12:03 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam at redfish.com<mailto:friam at redfish.com>>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] the power of metaphor.

A problem with empathy is that it typically understood to be a "feeling".   Feeling means offering vulnerability.    The class of people we are discussing should not be offered that.   They should be shown, in a calm and steady manner, to a bland government bus after the empathy value is firmly in the off position.

From: Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com<mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com>> On Behalf Of thompnickson2 at gmail.com<mailto:thompnickson2 at gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 7, 2021 9:51 AM
To: 'The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group' <friam at redfish.com<mailto:friam at redfish.com>>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] the power of metaphor.

Well, I hate to shortcut a perfectly good argument, but I think, now, we agree.  If you concede that empathy is a form of perception whose value as information cannot be denied, I can readily agree that so focusing on one's empathy as to avoid all other sources of information is dangerous and stupid  and cloying.

Nick

Nicholas Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology
Clark University
ThompNickSon2 at gmail.com<mailto:ThompNickSon2 at gmail.com>
https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/



From: Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com<mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com>> On Behalf Of Marcus Daniels
Sent: Thursday, January 7, 2021 11:39 AM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam at redfish.com<mailto:friam at redfish.com>>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] the power of metaphor.

Sure, I use my eyes and visual cortex to judge the speed of an oncoming car.   But I shouldn't model that last fractions of a second before impact in luxurious detail.  That's suicidal.  I should step on the brakes or the gas to avoid the collision.   That's what all this empathy talk strikes me as - giving dangerous people so many mental cycles that they do collide into you.    Wringing ones hands before victimization is complete.  No, take the mental cycles and develop some tactics and strategy for preventing these people from being dangerous.

I only mention Ted Cruz because he seems a slightly interesting person, in a sort of satanic way.   Most of the others are mad dogs as far as I am concerned.

From: Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com<mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com>> On Behalf Of thompnickson2 at gmail.com<mailto:thompnickson2 at gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 7, 2021 9:30 AM
To: 'The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group' <friam at redfish.com<mailto:friam at redfish.com>>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] the power of metaphor.

Marcus,

You could not have written what you wrote here, with it's searing pointedness, without empathy.  Empathy is not an ideology; is an organ of perception.

n

Nicholas Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology
Clark University
ThompNickSon2 at gmail.com<mailto:ThompNickSon2 at gmail.com>
https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/



From: Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com<mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com>> On Behalf Of Marcus Daniels
Sent: Thursday, January 7, 2021 11:05 AM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam at redfish.com<mailto:friam at redfish.com>>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] the power of metaphor.

The prior reflections by Glen on young adulthood makes me wonder about Ted's.   Was there a particular point at which he decided to be a public person and that he realized he could find an angle in any situation?   Did he anticipate what his life would become, or did he just fall into it?  Sometimes it seems like he doesn't even enjoy it.   It seems there is no objective distance he gets from his nihilism.  There's just always the next thing he has to do.

From: Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com<mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com>> On Behalf Of thompnickson2 at gmail.com<mailto:thompnickson2 at gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 7, 2021 8:53 AM
To: 'The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group' <friam at redfish.com<mailto:friam at redfish.com>>
Subject: [FRIAM] the power of metaphor.

Bret Stephens, a NYT columnist, described Ted Cruz as "a serpent covered in Vaseline" .  Will I ever get that image out of my head?

Nick

Nicholas Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology
Clark University
ThompNickSon2 at gmail.com<mailto:ThompNickSon2 at gmail.com>
https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/



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