Emotions and Feelings
Is Empathy Overrated?
Questions for discussion:
What is empathy?
Is there any difference between empathy and compassion?
Does our empathy have limits? Have you noticed that we feel more empathy to specific individuals, than to larger number of people?
With how much people can you really empathize simultaneously?
In 2012 20 children and six adults were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Why did this give rise to such a powerful reaction? This is horrible, but the toll from these mass shootings equals about one-tenth of 1 percent of American homicides, a statistical nonevent. Is empathy sometimes irrational and insensitive to statistical data? If so, why?
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. Can our empathy sometimes cause false decisions?
Positive Thinking: Is it something we all need to learn?
Why pessimists have a reason to be cheerful
Whatever explains Japan’s chart-topping life expectancy, it isn’t being really chipper all the time
Emotional Hygiene
Bosses should be sent on mental health courses to stop employees becoming stressed and depressed, claims major study as expert reveals tips to make you happier at work
- Employees reported 18% less sick days if their manager went on the course
- Hectic workloads can often lead to poor mental health - resulting in sick days
- The world-first University of New South Wales research is dubbed 'promising'
Persuading your boss to go on a mental health awareness course could stop you from becoming depresse
Jealousy, Prejudice and Discrimination
Reading: Jealousy, Prejudice, and Short People
Psychological Boundaries
Reading:
Boundaries define where we end and other people begin, both physically and emotionally. Psychologically, they define a space we see as our own, separate from other people. When we are in love or feel very close to another person through friendship, collaboration, or special circumstances, boundaries may get blurred, as we see ourselves not as separate from them. However, even then boundaries continue to be an important piece of our emotional health.
Is envy eating us alive?
Reading:
Is Envy Eating Us alive?
Have you ever been in the situation of seeing someone you perceive as an equal succeed beyond their – and your – wildest dreams? Have you ever struggled to understand how they did it, given that they are, according to you, no more talented or skilled than you? If the answer to these questions is yes, you have likely struggled with the painful feeling of envy.
Introverts and extraverts
- Are introversion and extraversion inherited qualities?
- In what age does the type of personality peep?
- Is it possible to be an extravert and introvert simultaneously?
Mood, Feelings and Emotion
Questions for discussion:
