Paul Bloom: belief

Transcript context

…Your view that there’s too much empathy — you wrote a book called Against Empathy — what emotion in you does that come from? For me, it comes from frustration with other people. I hold that same view, but I feel it’s rooted in my emotions as much as my reason. I then rationalize it with my reason. I see, ex post, my emotions are actually somewhat correct, but it stems from my frustration with others. Maybe, for me, shame and guilt. I think I’ve made a lot of mistakes and moral mistakes in my life by being too caught up in empathy. My argument against empathy is limited. It argues that empathy is a poor moral guide. It leads to bad decisions. If I have to ground in my own emotions, it might be regret over my own bad decisions. I think I suffer from an abundance of empathy. I think at the margin, I’ve moved against empathy more being a podcast host, that I’ll ask a question —…

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