There seems to be a disconnect between those who lie on the periphery of our lives and our empathy. That’s probably not unusual. We are only finite, and we have limitations, including, we might say, limitations on empathy.
From both near and far the world incessantly overwhelms us with stories of injustice, hardship, and tragedy. How can we have enough compassion to embrace all those who suffer? Don’t we have concerns of our own? We do, of course. Aren’t we islands of identifiable self-concerns?
The seas around such islands are very rough with waves that erode our shores. Ships are foundering all around, but we don’t have enough rescue boats to reach those far from shore. Plus, we have to worry about the inundation of the island, with too much empathy drowning us in feelings of helplessness. Yet, remembering the words John Donne wrote in 1624, we say, “No man is an island/Entire of itself/Every man is a piece of the continent….” How can we reconcile such connections to suffering humanity with our own needs? A tinge of guilt runs across our synapses. “Her (His; Their) condition is sad, but what can I do?” we say.
One at a time. Send out a single rescue boat. If that’s all we have room for in our empathy, that might be an indication of some level of compassion sufficient to quash feelings of both guilt and helplessness. Falling short of a universal empathy because of our island life, we have brain cells that, in recognizing the suffering that daily occurs, seek a self-deafferentiation so we can spend a little effort on our self-concerns. If those cells didn’t separate themselves or close themselves off to our center of empathy, the brain might have only one purpose: Empathizing in a world drowning in tragedy.
Deafferented neurons provide another service, allowing us to become just a little selfish, a little self-centered as a mechanism to ward of waves of hopelessness and helplessness. As I wrote above, don’t we have concerns of our own? Yet, each of us has at least one rescue boat to launch; some of us have more. But no one has enough. Distant ships will always founder. That’s a reality all of us islanders must eventually accept. When it comes to our empathy, we by necessity of self-preservation live on islands.
Is it not ironic that the very part of the brain that reaches out to others, the part that empathizes, is the anterior insular cortex?* The island cortex!
http://www.mountsinai.org/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/researchers-identify-area-of-the-brain-that-processes-empathy
From both near and far the world incessantly overwhelms us with stories of injustice, hardship, and tragedy. How can we have enough compassion to embrace all those who suffer? Don’t we have concerns of our own? We do, of course. Aren’t we islands of identifiable self-concerns?
The seas around such islands are very rough with waves that erode our shores. Ships are foundering all around, but we don’t have enough rescue boats to reach those far from shore. Plus, we have to worry about the inundation of the island, with too much empathy drowning us in feelings of helplessness. Yet, remembering the words John Donne wrote in 1624, we say, “No man is an island/Entire of itself/Every man is a piece of the continent….” How can we reconcile such connections to suffering humanity with our own needs? A tinge of guilt runs across our synapses. “Her (His; Their) condition is sad, but what can I do?” we say.
One at a time. Send out a single rescue boat. If that’s all we have room for in our empathy, that might be an indication of some level of compassion sufficient to quash feelings of both guilt and helplessness. Falling short of a universal empathy because of our island life, we have brain cells that, in recognizing the suffering that daily occurs, seek a self-deafferentiation so we can spend a little effort on our self-concerns. If those cells didn’t separate themselves or close themselves off to our center of empathy, the brain might have only one purpose: Empathizing in a world drowning in tragedy.
Deafferented neurons provide another service, allowing us to become just a little selfish, a little self-centered as a mechanism to ward of waves of hopelessness and helplessness. As I wrote above, don’t we have concerns of our own? Yet, each of us has at least one rescue boat to launch; some of us have more. But no one has enough. Distant ships will always founder. That’s a reality all of us islanders must eventually accept. When it comes to our empathy, we by necessity of self-preservation live on islands.
Is it not ironic that the very part of the brain that reaches out to others, the part that empathizes, is the anterior insular cortex?* The island cortex!
http://www.mountsinai.org/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/researchers-identify-area-of-the-brain-that-processes-empathy
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