Barclay Paragraph Practice

In our modern-day world, individuals tend to exhibit empathy by responding reactively rather than proactively to tragic circumstances, as the aftermath of a tragedy can bring public attention to the suffering of many individuals. If individuals were more proactive than reactive in facing global challenges, empathy would likely propagate with greater ease. In the brief argumentative and thought-provoking essay “Is Empathy Overrated” by Canadian-American psychology professor Paul Bloom, he asserts, “Imagine learning that a faulty vaccine has caused Rebecca Smith, an adorable eight-year-old, to get extremely sick. If you watch her suffering and listen to her and her family, the empathy will flow, and you’ll want to act. But suppose that stopping the vaccine program will cause, say, a dozen random children to die. Here your empathy is silent” (14). In this particular scenario, because one child had a face to her name, individuals felt more empathy as opposed to when there were a vast number of troubled children. While some might refute Bloom’s claim and say that expressing empathy is challenging due to our limited awareness of global tragedies, we are still in a position to enlighten ourselves about the world’s prevailing issues. On the contrary, American novelist and Harvard graduate David Foster Wallace writes that utilizing empathy can result in a series of misconceptions and affirms, “Think about it: there is no experience you have had that you are not the absolute centre of. The world as you experience it is there in front of YOU or behind YOU, to the left or right of YOU, on YOUR TV or YOUR monitor. And so on. Other people’s thoughts and feelings have to be communicated to you somehow, but your own are so immediate, urgent, real” (7). It is apparent that Bloom and Wallace present opposing viewpoints, as indicated in these quotes. All in all, it is evident that, while Bloom views empathy as a tool to become more connected with our peers, Wallace advocates that empathy can often be perceived the wrong way and an individual should foster their own mental-wellbeing and personal development before striving to offer assistance to those in need.