Connor,
Had you attended the concluding event for the Empathy Experiment, or even interviewed one of us, the main point of your opinion article may have been quite different.
While the ultimate goal of the Empathy Experiment was, obviously, to see if empathy can be taught, the learning along the way is something I and the other students never could have received in a classroom or on our own. No one wakes up in the morning and says, “Today I want to learn what it feels like to be homeless and scared for my health and future!” The Empathy Experiment was the impetus that brought me out of the Capital community and into a world that previously I had thought little about.
I have often stated that we are shielded by our modern lifestyles and community- how many Capital students realize the extent of suffering that occurs right here in Columbus? Down the street? When we don’t see something every day, we tend not to think about it.
The Empathy Experiment forced us out of our comfort zones and opened our minds to the lives of others in hopes that it may stir our human emotion to invoke change in our society. And it has. If you talk to any of the students that participated, they would tell you that the Empathy Experiment has changed the way they view our society and that it has changed us as students and as people. Empathy is like a ladder. Every experience, every emotion brings you one rung closer to that ultimate goal of empathy. Can we ever reach it without being a different person with different experiences altogether? Probably not; however, every step closer we become to altruism, to understanding and caring about others, is a step in the right direction.
Connor, I have completed your challenge before you made it and so have many others. My entire experience at Capital, in addition to the Empathy Experiment, has led to a radical change in my life goals. I now cannot fathom a career and life that does not involve giving burdened people a voice, that does not positively influence the world in some way, no matter how small that way might be. The Empathy Experiment was a mile in the right direction on the long road of my life, and I will continually be reminded of the lessons I was taught.
Now, I have a challenge. Stop reading TweetsByAnon! I have never read TweetsByAnon because I am not interested in the opinions of those whose only goal is to hurt others with no accountability, and you shouldn’t be either. Taking part in it, talking about it, even reading it only fuels the fire of hatred. If no one wanted to read it, it wouldn’t exist! Stop forming opinions until you have information to back them up. Stop passing judgment on others (lackadaisical, upper-middle class twenty-somethings, for example) until you have walked a mile in their shoes.
And my final challenge: whether you participate in the Empathy Experiment or watch from the sidelines, keep its message and my message in your heart and let it guide you every step of the way. Reserve judgment. A little change can make a big difference. Act with compassion, sympathy, and if possible, empathy. This was taught to me, now learn it and teach it to others. This is my challenge.
by Liz Delfing
contributor
*This article was in response to this story.
