There seems to have been a change in what is considered "cool" these days.
It's as if edginess seeking out a false minimized identity is what's "in". It's if the false identities and loneliness that some feel brings them together. A "cool kids club. This should not necessarily be the case, though.
One trend that I've noticed recently popping up on social media are pages such as "if you have __ traits you must be a ___." They seem almost demeaning, as if a combination of self evaluated Facebook quizzes could make up for the years of personal development you're now misinterpreting.
The word "Empathy" has over 49 million results when searched on Google. And the first thing you see when you look it up is the Webster Dictionary explanation of "the ability to understand and share the feelings of another." It is a scientific terminology, mostly investigated within neuroscience, and people seem to use it as if it isn't. This is harmful and spreads to the issue of misinformation being pushed onto others.
Empathy isn't this mysterious, grand thing. It is simple. And that, in fact, makes it more special than any great, grand mystery it could have been made to be.
If you're curious, you should study it. It causes more harm than good when some lonely person needs to feel special, thus acting as if they are a different species because they have empathy. Every human has empathy. Mental disorders have made things more complicated nowadays, but instead of trying to redifine a word that people put in so much effort to study, realize that when you say something lacks empathy, you're the one giving the word an other-worldly power and fear.
Sheetal Tadiparty
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