In his new book, “Suicidal Empathy: Dying to be Kind” (Broadside Books), out May 12, Dr. Gad Saad explores how liberal politics have too often led societies to collapse. Here he explains how empathy sounds good — until it ends up permitting all manner of bad behavior and chaos.
Empathy is an admirable virtue; as a social species, we have evolved the capacity for empathy. We seek prospective spouses and close friends who exhibit this trait.
We look for empathetic health care providers, be they physicians, therapists, or veterinarians.
But as Aristotle explained millennia ago via his golden mean, all good things in moderation. Too little or too much of anything is often worse than some optimal sweet spot.
This insight applies to empathy as well. Little or no empathy is a hallmark of psychopaths. Too much of it is a telltale sign of the suicidally empathetic, which also includes invoking empathy in the wrong situations for the wrong targets.
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