Why I’m against empathy | Paul Bloom

This interview is an episode from The Well, our new publication about ideas that inspire a life well-lived, created with the John Templeton Foundation. Subscribe to The Well on YouTube ► Up Next ► Are we a selfish species? Empathy is a poor moral guide. The reason is because we naturally feel the most empathy for the people who look, speak, and behave just like us. While empathy — that is, putting ourselves in another person’s shoes and feeling what they feel — is certainly good in many cases, it’s not always the appropriate response to a situation. Instead of empathy, we should practice rational compassion. Read the video transcript ► ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Paul Bloom: Paul Bloom is the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor of Psychology at Yale University