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the dangers of empathy

Empathy is widely held as an important research mindset among designers. Many design research processes begin with the word. While broadly necessary to design practice, empathy is not without its problems. Most designers and researchers do not also know the dangers of empathy. Consider that:

1. We confuse and conflate empathy, sympathy, and compassion. The differences are critically important.
2. Empathic resonance in the brain is extremely biased. We find it hard to empathize with people unlike ourselves.
3. Having too much empathy may also be problematic and can be weaponized by bad actors.
4. We feel empathy only for humans and animals‚ not for objects, spaces, places, or our planet.

Below you’ll find a work-in-progress document that lists 16 limitations of empathy. We invite you to read, comment and suggest changes. You can also contribute to the conversation by submitting your own encounters with empathy’s limitations.

empathy’s limitations

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