Posted by hyperfocus on December 11, 2011, at 20:31:15
In reply to Re: empathy » hyperfocus, posted by Dinah on December 11, 2011, at 8:49:54
When I was in uni I took the most objectionable attitude of being interested in what I was studying. I got attacked by TAs and other students and even a few lecturers for nothing more than reading a lot and asking a lot of questions and doing things I had learnt on my own. Later in my life the people I worked with seemed upset that I tried to treat every task as an opportunity to learn something new.
I'm sure I was (and still am) arrogant and dismissive, which is sort of mandatory for 21-year olds feeling their intellectual curiosity starting to blossom. But I don't think I deserved what I got from people at school and to a lesser extent at work. Yeah I sort of looked down on people for not caring about or not being interested in what they were studying or working on, and not doing anything past the minimum required. Maybe I was an that-word-sg2-used about some things. But I never had any envy of or malice towards anyone and I would never do to anybody what people did to me. One TA said to another in front of me "He thinks he knows it all, but really he knows nothing." I would never deliberately conspire with other people to hurt or shun someone or sabotage what they were doing, or gloat over someone's misfortune. The only thing I was interested in was doing what I love - and it was this attitude that was seen as the most objectionable out of all the students.
Maybe it's just the community I had to grow up in. I've always regretted not going to another school and getting as far away as I could from the small and insular place I grew up in when I had the opportunity. But it seems like everywhere the world is moving only agonizingly slowly towards the realization that our self-interest is best served by being conscientious and unselfish and understanding and compassionate towards others. I don't know how many World Wars and Stalins and Pol Pots and Rwandas and DRCs and Ivory Coasts we will have to endure along the way.
C-PTSD: social phobia, major depression, dissociation.
Currently: 500mg amitriptyline single dose at night.
Also: Allegra, 1000mg Vitamin C.
Slowly improving.
poster:hyperfocus
thread:1004294
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20111122/msgs/1004750.html