"The Empathy Gym"

Yet another great program from Hidden Brain, about empathy. 

I totally agree that a difficult childhood navigating the intentions of adults is like an empathy workout!

The man who lived in the Chicago art gallery for 30 days was so powerful. I almost cried over the story of the lamp (someone broke his lamp and a complete stranger brought him a new one; other strangers brought him homemade baked goods and new socks). 

I have to say that a few years ago, I would have totally agreed with the theory that people who live in cities and feel more anonymous develop a lack of empathy, but since Trump's election, I no longer believe this. Since then, I have heard friends and relatives express the most shocking lack of empathy, particularly regarding the situation of immigrants and other non-whites. Many of these people live in small towns. It is people in cities who are protesting at airports over the Muslim ban and who are sheltering immigrants from ICE. I no longer think that city living and low empathy have any correlation at all. In fact, it's quite the opposite - living among people who are different from yourself seems to make it harder to see them as Other. People who live in homogeneous situations, where they never see or interact with people who are different, seem prone to develop less empathy for the humanity of others.