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June 21, 2008
Feeling empathy for Genghis Khan
Empathy. That's normally thought of as the ability to put oneself in another person's position. It's part skill and part common sense, although I am not 100% certain that understanding the emotions of others necessarily requires an ability to feel them as that person might. Try as I might to understand why Hitler hated Jews, I cannot vicariously "feel" hatred towards Jews, because it just isn't there. Empathy is a big topic. Just today, an Inquirer Op-Ed titled "Try listening - you may hear something surprising" challenged readers to empathize with people from other races and classes: I've wondered what the owners of million-dollar homes would lose if they spoke without condescension to their flooring contractor. I wonder whether they realize that, when disdaining to acknowledge this "other" person,Good questions. It's always a good idea to get as much information as possible before jumping to conclusions. (What, for example, should our attitude be towards flooring contractors who happen to own million-dollar homes?) Some academics -- like this law professor -- consider empathy a "value" that should be taught. Anyway, what prompted this topic was an epic foreign film I saw last night -- "Mongol," which painted an unconventional portrait of Genghis Khan. As I watched the story of how a wretchedly abused child grew into a loving, misunderstood family man who tried to unite his messed up people, I found myself empathizing with "Temudjin." Or would that be Genghis? How about Mr. Khan? Really, I did. Perhaps Senator Kerry's remark about his fellow soldiers behaving in a manner reminiscent of the man should be viewed through the new lens of empathy. But was I really feeling empathy towards Genghis Khan? Or was it the actor's portrayal? The problem is that not only are historical details murky, but let's face it, Genghis Khan is the kind of guy Americans normally think of as something other than nice. Not only was he a ruthless conquerer, but his personal touches included doing things like pouring molten silver into the ears and eyes to execute a prisoner, slaughtering entire villages, and you know, laying waste and committing genocide. It challenges and broadens the mind to make an attempt at empathy with such a guy. I've even tried empathizing with Stalin, Hitler, Mao, and Pol Pot, but always with mixed results. One of the problems with empathy is that too many people confuse understanding with forgiving and forgetting. Another stubborn issue is that most of these awful tyrants were not only profoundly evil, they had psychopathic personalities, which means that they were incapable of empathy. But empathy is not supposed to be a two way street. Maybe the real test of empathy is the ability to empathize with people wholly lacking in the ability to empathize. (On the other hand, it might be a bit like trying to empathize with a Great White Shark. It's always good to understand. But how far does it go?) posted by Eric on 06.21.08 at 09:44 AM
Comments
Often, the more you understand, the less you forgive. (Jillian Becker) I believe empathy is far overrated. It's a fatuous conceit to believe that one is not entitled to judge another's actions without first getting inside his skin. Trying to understand Hitler's antipathy towards Jews founders upon the very real truth that the antipathy was entirely irrational. No Jew, or Jews, had ever offered Hitler harm of any sort. They were nothing but a blank screen for him to project his own hatred and rage and sense of impotence. Likewise, Ted Bundy was a psychopath. Which meant that he himself was completely lacking in empathy, incapable of seeing other people as anything other than resources to exploit or obstacles to overcome. You don't need to experience psychopathy to realize that it's extraordinarily dangerous - in fact, were you to"experience" it you'd be one yourself and thus incapable of understanding why it would be wrong. But going back to Hitler, he was a vegetarian, a non smoker, loved dogs, and was kind to children. And a bona fide war hero. Empathize with that. Some years ago The Onion did a "news story" from 1945, quoting prominent psychologists bemoaning that the Allies responded to Hitler's acting out militarily instead of trying to understand him. Steve Skubinna · June 21, 2008 12:41 PM SO...MISTER STEVE. WHICH PART OF FRANCE DID YOU INJEST THIS PROPAGANDA!WHEN TEMOGEN WAS THE HNIC A CHILD COULD WALK FROM ONE END OF HIS DOMAIN TO THE OTHER.WITH A BAG OF GOLD,AND,BE UNMOLESTED. PABLO · June 21, 2008 02:18 PM SO...MISTER STEVE. WHICH PART OF FRANCE DID YOU INJEST THIS PROPAGANDA!WHEN TEMOGEN WAS THE HNIC A CHILD COULD WALK FROM ONE END OF HIS DOMAIN TO THE OTHER.WITH A BAG OF GOLD,AND,BE UNMOLESTED. PABLO · June 21, 2008 02:18 PM Thanks for setting me straight on that Pablo, I needed the reality check. Good of you to double post in case I missed any of your subtle arguments the first time around. The shouting also adds immeasurably to your argument. Truly you are a fiendishly clever disputant and I doff my hat to you. What color is the sky in your world? Steve Skubinna · June 21, 2008 04:16 PM Post a comment
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When I saw the commercial for this film, it seemed like they were going to portray Gengis Khan as some sort of hero. I wondered if anyone would be offended by that. Is there really any cultural memory of what he and his descendants did? It's not uncommon to see portraits of Alexander as a hero. Napoleon too. Who's going to be a hero a few hundred years from now?