The Power of Empathy

Our human propensity is to be critical of what we do not understand, but when we make a focused effort to connect and relate with what another feels and how they perceive a particular situation they will know they are valued by us. When we can see from another's perspective it will reveal our compassion, understanding, and our desire to identify with them.

Slide source references:
Slide 1: old/young woman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:My_Wife_and_My_Mother-in-Law.jpg

Slide 2: Goblet/Face
Illusion by Edgar Rubin http://brainden.com/face-illusions.htm#prettyPhoto

Slide 3: rabbit/duck
http://brainden.com/animal-ambiguities.htm Illusion by Joseph Jastrow

Slide 4: Spinning Dancer http://brainden.com/multistable-objects.htm
Spinning Dancer by Nobuyuki Kayahara

Slide 5: When children are shown video clips with situations where they see people suffering pain by coincidence, neural circuits related to pain are being activated in their brain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Empathy_Children.jpg

Look for PART TWO: The Directions of Empathy