[FRIAM] the power of metaphor.

Thu Jan 7 17:57:50 EST 2021

One of the senior psychoanalysts in Pittsburgh once said to my wife that
nothing is sadder than the last act of a narcissist.

"Act" as a metaphor for part of a play.  I will be interested to learn
whether I will have empathy for Trump during his last act.

Frank
---
Frank C. Wimberly
140 Calle Ojo Feliz,
Santa Fe, NM 87505

505 670-9918
Santa Fe, NM

On Thu, Jan 7, 2021, 3:40 PM Marcus Daniels <marcus at snoutfarm.com> wrote:

> The feeling must at least be bounded – it is simulated and controlled.
> One is trying to get the upper hand.
>
>
>
> *From:* Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> *On Behalf Of *Prof David West
> *Sent:* Thursday, January 7, 2021 2:36 PM
> *To:* friam at redfish.com
> *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] the power of metaphor.
>
>
>
> It states that making a connection by showing the target empathy is a
> great way to get past defenses and obtain more credible information than
> torture — and it said this long before CIA idiots decided that
> waterboarding was the way to go.
>
>
>
> davew
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> On Thu, Jan 7, 2021, at 1:21 PM, thompnickson2 at gmail.com wrote:
>
> I wonder what the cia handbook says about empathy during interrogation.
>
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>
> n
>
>
>
> Nicholas Thompson
>
> Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology
>
> Clark University
>
> ThompNickSon2 at gmail.com
>
> https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> *On Behalf Of *Marcus Daniels
>
> *Sent:* Thursday, January 7, 2021 1:41 PM
>
> *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <
> friam at redfish.com>
>
> *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] the power of metaphor.
>
>
>
> 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
>
> https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Friam <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>
>
> *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> *On Behalf Of *
> thompnickson2 at gmail.com
>
> *Sent:* Thursday, January 7, 2021 9:51 AM
>
> *To:* 'The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group' <
> 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
>
> https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Friam <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>
>
> *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> *On Behalf Of *
> thompnickson2 at gmail.com
>
> *Sent:* Thursday, January 7, 2021 9:30 AM
>
> *To:* 'The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group' <
> 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
>
> https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Friam <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>
>
> *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> *On Behalf Of *
> thompnickson2 at gmail.com
>
> *Sent:* Thursday, January 7, 2021 8:53 AM
>
> *To:* 'The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group' <
> 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
>
> https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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