Empathy: The Heart of Democracy
What is the Heart of Democracy?
"Empathy," the two gentlemen Barack Obama and George Lakoff would answer.
Metaphors
"Standing in someone else's shoes" is a metaphor of empathy, and so is "Seeing through someone else's eyes". Such metaphors shape our neural structure through which we look at another person.
Beyond Metaphors
Empathy has been and has to be the heart of democracy: people care about people in a genuine democracy, and they are equal before the law, and again liberty means liberty for each person irrespective of race and religion. That's a lot of neural networks of empathy there.
In Politics
Obama once remarked that empathy deficit is more of a pressing political problem. Huh, who can argue with that?
In Neuroscience
Cognitive linguist George Lakoff would agree with Obama. Lakoff himself says empathy is the reason we have the notions of freedom and fairness.
Furthermore, according to Lakoff, empathy is at the heart of rationality itself.
"Empathy Circuit," in neuroscience, is an influential hypothesis.
Conclusion
E-m-p-a-t-h-y is not merely a buzzword. It is both the heart of rationality and democracy. Eureka!
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