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Most people think the only problem with empathy is that we don’t have enough of it. Drawing on research into psychopathy, criminal behavior, charitable giving, cognitive neuroscience, and Buddhist meditation practices, Yale psychologist Paul Bloom argues that this is mistaken. Empathy makes us worse as people. We are better off, Bloom says, in both public policy and intimate relationships, drawing upon a combination of reason and distanced compassion. In this session, Bloom explains why.
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