Take the Empathy Test

First topic message reminder :

http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/quizzes/results/14/


Your empathy score is 94 out of 110, indicating a high level of empathy in general.

Our empathy quiz measures two particular dimensions of empathy. Your score suggests that you have a strong ability to sense other people's emotions—the dimension of empathy known as “affective empathy.” This means that other people's feelings may be contagious: If they seem happy, you feel happy; if they seem afraid, you feel afraid; if they are suffering, you feel their pain. Your ability to sense others' emotional states may also make you feel more concerned about their welfare, and more likely to want to help them when they are distressed. Sometimes, however, affective empathy can increase feelings of personal distress when you encounter suffering, which can impede your ability to provide effective support.

Your score also suggests that you can easily put yourself in others' shoes and imagine what they might be thinking or feeling—the dimension of empathy known as “cognitive empathy.” Your ability to take other people's perspectives may help you communicate and negotiate more effectively in your personal and professional relationships, and it may also make you less likely to rely on stereotypes when trying to understand others' behavior.

Original Quill wrote:

korban dallas wrote:
what pop up blocker are you using ?
i just turn it of when i notice a problem then turn it back on ,also i can select what pop ups i want as i have done in the case of that quiz now it knows what to allow no problems

I use Adblock, which comes with Firefox.  When I enable it, it turns off about half of this website, including quote, edit, all lights indicating a new post, all PM access...and I forget what else, but that's enough.  Then I turn off Adblock, and I have a pop-up every three seconds, and some screen robberies and shifts to elsewhere.  A post that would take 3-minutes, sometimes takes up to 10- or 15- minutes because of all of the shuffling and reshuffling around.

You can see why I switched from Firefox.

Ah well there your problem

use this
https://www.ghostery.com/en/

bloody excellent

Thanks.  I'll try it.

What's wrong with Adblock. And why did it all start after I downloaded it? Weird.

Original Quill wrote:Thanks.  I'll try it.

What's wrong with Adblock.  And why did it all start after I downloaded it?  Weird.

Duno i used adblock once but to many problems so ditched it
same with anything with the Norton lablel its more trouble than its worth

sassy wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:

I loved it when Bush had the shoes thrown at him, but there was nothing unfair about that

To answer Rags, if the person I didn't like was being treated disrespectfully, but was being treated disrespectfully because they had been a tosspot, and was not much younger, or much smaller, or in any way more vunerable than the person doing the disrespecting, I'd probably feel empathy for the person disrespecting them.  However, if they were in a vunerable position, I would stop the bullying, not because I agreed with them, but because I would have empathy for their vunerablity.   I'd still also have empthy for why the person was disrespecting them as putting up with a tosspot is never easy, but would consider bullying wrong, so would say so.

See Rags, I think you problem is, you don't have the first idea about what empathy is, and think it is to do with liking someone.  

Well there you are then - like I said, the answer is "it depends". The answers to those questions are not simple because they're too vague.

Ben_Reilly wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:

Perhaps you could give some examples - the questions were a bit vague and general.

You see, I suspect that it would not upset you to see someone you didn't like being treated disrespectfully. I suspect that you would love it.

I loved it when Bush had the shoes thrown at him, but there was nothing unfair about that

Oh dear - you must lack empathy then Ben.

veya_victaous wrote:I want to twist this debate on it's head

Has anyone considered that the number skill for a 'torturer' is actually empathy?
Empathy is merely understanding they way another will feel in a circumstance, the normal follow on is kindness towards the one you are empathetic for, but it doesn't have too be.

Does empathy automatically imply sympathy?
Does apathy imply lack of empathy?
can empathy and  mercilessness exist together?

So not having empathy can actually be a good thing?

Raggamuffin wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:

I loved it when Bush had the shoes thrown at him, but there was nothing unfair about that

Oh dear - you must lack empathy then Ben.

Or, you tried empathy on, and like the shoes it didn't fit.

korban dallas wrote:

Original Quill wrote:Thanks.  I'll try it.

What's wrong with Adblock.  And why did it all start after I downloaded it?  Weird.

Duno i used adblock once but to many problems so ditched it
same with anything with the Norton lablel its more trouble than its worth

Oh dear. ghostery jams all of firefox on the download page.

Original Quill wrote:

korban dallas wrote:
Duno i used adblock once but to many problems so ditched it
same with anything with the Norton lablel its more trouble than its worth

Oh dear.  ghostery jams all of firefox on the download page.

not on mine bud ? and i only use firefox best guess is something else is causing a problem for it

korban dallas wrote:

Original Quill wrote:

Oh dear.  ghostery jams all of firefox on the download page.

not on mine bud ? and i only use firefox best guess is something else is causing a problem for it

Yes. One thing I have learned is that each machine has it's own personality, dependent on what software it has and how they interact. I downloaded ghostery and it's not telling me something is wrong, just goes to the download page and freezes firefox on that page. I'll go back this afternoon and play with it...I mean, I'm not lost. I've got Google as a browser, also IE.

Need to play with it.

Original Quill wrote:

korban dallas wrote:
not on mine bud ? and i only use firefox best guess is something else is causing a problem for it

Yes.  One thing I have learned is that each machine has it's own personality, dependent on what software it has and how they interact.  I downloaded ghostery and it's not telling me something is wrong, just goes to the download page and freezes firefox on that page.  I'll go back this afternoon and play with it...I mean, I'm not lost.  I've got Google as a browser, also IE.

Need to play with it.

that`s so true all machines have there own personality its one of the things that become quite apparent when you have spent years fixing them

Raggamuffin wrote:

veya_victaous wrote:I want to twist this debate on it's head

Has anyone considered that the number skill for a 'torturer' is actually empathy?
Empathy is merely understanding they way another will feel in a circumstance, the normal follow on is kindness towards the one you are empathetic for, but it doesn't have too be.

Does empathy automatically imply sympathy?
Does apathy imply lack of empathy?
can empathy and  mercilessness exist together?

So not having empathy can actually be a good thing?  

umm not really
its like not having money
if you don't have it, you aren't in a position to use it for good or bad

What about the question about people being "less fortunate"? Do they mean people who think they're less fortunate than you, or people who you think are less fortunate than you?

korban dallas wrote:

Original Quill wrote:

Yes.  One thing I have learned is that each machine has it's own personality, dependent on what software it has and how they interact.  I downloaded ghostery and it's not telling me something is wrong, just goes to the download page and freezes firefox on that page.  I'll go back this afternoon and play with it...I mean, I'm not lost.  I've got Google as a browser, also IE.

Need to play with it.

that`s so true all machines have there own personality its one of the things that become quite apparent when you have spent years fixing them

yeah...and most of em are either downright stubborn OR simply malicious.....

Raggamuffin wrote:What about the question about people being "less fortunate"? Do they mean people who think they're less fortunate than you, or people who you think are less fortunate than you?

very interesting
I think there is something rather annoying/offensive about someone that claims to be less fortunate when they are actually rather fortunate.
that's why i say my improvement in economic class is due to luck as much as anything, I may not have been born rich but I was born smarter than most and that has given me opportunities that many others born in my circumstance would never have been given. Plus I have a great family and parents and a stable childhood, So really I am still very fortunate in non-economic terms

veya_victaous wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:What about the question about people being "less fortunate"? Do they mean people who think they're less fortunate than you, or people who you think are less fortunate than you?

very interesting
I think there is something rather annoying/offensive about someone that claims to be less fortunate when they are actually rather fortunate.  
that's why i say my improvement in economic class is due to luck as much as anything, I may not have been born rich but I was born smarter than most and that has given me opportunities that many others born in my circumstance would never have been given. Plus I have a great family and parents and a stable childhood, So really I am still very fortunate in non-economic terms

Well there you are then Veya - there's another question from the quiz which doesn't really have a definitive answer.

I would go further and say that being more or less fortunate is not necessarily linked to one's economic class or their family circumstances.

However, if you think about the second part of my question - ie, the issue of whether one thinks someone else is less fortunate, does that not imply a rather patronising attitude?

They might have less money, but does that make them less fortunate? Perhaps they might earn less but have a job they love more than a person who earns loads of money but doesn't enjoy their job. They might be a hermit, but does that make them less fortunate? Not if they like being a hermit.

It all depends on what people mean by "fortunate" doesn't it?

If they themselves say they're less fortunate, I think your empathy level would depend on whether you agree or not.

I agree the quiz wasn't actually very good mainly because it equated empathy with sympathy.
Just because you would do something unkind doesn't mean you didn't do it know full well how the other would feel

Raggamuffin wrote:

veya_victaous wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:What about the question about people being "less fortunate"? Do they mean people who think they're less fortunate than you, or people who you think are less fortunate than you?

very interesting
I think there is something rather annoying/offensive about someone that claims to be less fortunate when they are actually rather fortunate.  
that's why i say my improvement in economic class is due to luck as much as anything, I may not have been born rich but I was born smarter than most and that has given me opportunities that many others born in my circumstance would never have been given. Plus I have a great family and parents and a stable childhood, So really I am still very fortunate in non-economic terms

Well there you are then Veya - there's another question from the quiz which doesn't really have a definitive answer.

I would go further and say that being more or less fortunate is not necessarily linked to one's economic class or their family circumstances.

However, if you think about the second part of my question - ie, the issue of whether one thinks someone else is less fortunate, does that not imply a rather patronising attitude?

They might have less money, but does that make them less fortunate? Perhaps they might earn less but have a job they love more than a person who earns loads of money but doesn't enjoy their job. They might be a hermit, but does that make them less fortunate? Not if they like being a hermit.

It all depends on what people mean by "fortunate" doesn't it?

If they themselves say they're less fortunate, I think your empathy level would depend on whether you agree or not.

There are people you know you're more fortunate than, though, and I just took the question that way. I see homeless people out in our 40-degree heat and I know they're not as fortunate as I am.

Ben_Reilly wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:

Well there you are then Veya - there's another question from the quiz which doesn't really have a definitive answer.

I would go further and say that being more or less fortunate is not necessarily linked to one's economic class or their family circumstances.

However, if you think about the second part of my question - ie, the issue of whether one thinks someone else is less fortunate, does that not imply a rather patronising attitude?

They might have less money, but does that make them less fortunate? Perhaps they might earn less but have a job they love more than a person who earns loads of money but doesn't enjoy their job. They might be a hermit, but does that make them less fortunate? Not if they like being a hermit.

It all depends on what people mean by "fortunate" doesn't it?

If they themselves say they're less fortunate, I think your empathy level would depend on whether you agree or not.

There are people you know you're more fortunate than, though, and I just took the question that way. I see homeless people out in our 40-degree heat and I know they're not as fortunate as I am.

You reckon I might over over-thinking this too much then?

Let's face it, most people are going to fill in the answer most likely to score highly aren't they? I actually deliberately filled in all the answers which would score low, but I still scored 22.

veya_victaous wrote:I agree the quiz wasn't actually very good mainly because it equated empathy with sympathy.
Just because you would do something unkind doesn't mean you didn't do it know full well how the other would feel

Yes, I think it does equate empathy with sympathy, which is something Sassy was keen to avoid. Perhaps she should have chosen a different quiz.

Raggamuffin wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:

Well there you are then Veya - there's another question from the quiz which doesn't really have a definitive answer.

I would go further and say that being more or less fortunate is not necessarily linked to one's economic class or their family circumstances.

However, if you think about the second part of my question - ie, the issue of whether one thinks someone else is less fortunate, does that not imply a rather patronising attitude?

They might have less money, but does that make them less fortunate? Perhaps they might earn less but have a job they love more than a person who earns loads of money but doesn't enjoy their job. They might be a hermit, but does that make them less fortunate? Not if they like being a hermit.

It all depends on what people mean by "fortunate" doesn't it?

If they themselves say they're less fortunate, I think your empathy level would depend on whether you agree or not.

There are people you know you're more fortunate than, though, and I just took the question that way. I see homeless people out in our 40-degree heat and I know they're not as fortunate as I am.

You reckon I might over over-thinking this too much then?

Let's face it, most people are going to fill in the answer most likely to score highly aren't they? I actually deliberately filled in all the answers which would score low, but I still scored 22.

I actually find that problem with most quizzes and tests -- they're so transparent.