I feel like power is an issue often solved by education or something. The more you understand about what is going on in the world, what has gone on in the world, humanity, how people work, etc. the more you realize the guy in front of you isn’t shit (and neither are you). Of course reasonable prudence means monitoring your behavior so you don’t end up broke or homeless. But this may include long-term life approaches as much as (more than) what your boss thinks of you (in my opinion)
The Startup Empathy Dilemma: As power and impact grow, empathy diminishes
11–20 of 34 posts
Re: The Startup Empathy Dilemma: As power and impact grow, empathy diminishes
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have a working theory that these inflection points follow the Fibonacci sequence. At least based on my experience, communication and culture changed dramatically at each stage, most notably around 34 and 55
Interestingly, 30-50 people is the standard range given for 'band societies', the most basic pre-agricultural group. That's been cited as a problem with Dunbar's number, but most people seem to think it's just another major "natural group size" among many. Dunbar has also cited 5 and 15 people as rough 'rings' to which we devote disproportionate amounts of our socialization time. I have a bit of trouble judging how F…
You might have 30 people who live together; but even just to avoid inbreeding, their social milieu would likely include a handful of other bands with nearby territory. Thus any given persons social ties could very reasonably number in the low 3 figures.
Re: The Startup Empathy Dilemma: As power and impact grow, empathy diminishes
#13One of the things that sickened me most about myself happened about a year ago when I took a trip to Philadelphia as a tourist. My wife and I were walking around, and I make the comment of "there doesn't appear to be any homeless people here", after which my wife immediately pointed to a homeless guy that we just walked past.
Somehow, I'd managed to shelter myself enough and live comfortably enough to where I stopped noticing less-fortunate people. It really depressed me, because I had previously thought of myself as a fairly empathetic person.
To help combat this I donate a fair amount of money ($50/month) to mental-health research and make a conscious effort to pay attention a bit more when I'm walking around.
I'm hardly a hyper-successful person, so I can't imagine how hard it would be to empathize if you're a multi-millionaire/billionaire.
EDIT: I know throwing money at a problem hardly counts as "solving" the empathy problem, but it does help me assuage some guilt.
Re: The Startup Empathy Dilemma: As power and impact grow, empathy diminishes
#14One of the things that sickened me most about myself happened about a year ago when I took a trip to Philadelphia as a tourist. My wife and I were walking around, and I make the comment of "there doesn't appear to be any homeless people here", after which my wife immediately pointed to a homeless guy that we just walked past. Somehow, I'd managed to shelter myself enough and live comfortably enough to where I stopped…
If you have time, I'd recommend volunteering for local soup kitchens and donating nonperishable goods, hygene objects, etc. to local shelters. Exposure will help prevent empathy erosion and force you to notice/understand the problem space of the less-fortunate. First-hand accounts and documentaries regarding experiences not your own will also aid you.
Re: The Startup Empathy Dilemma: As power and impact grow, empathy diminishes
#15One of the things that sickened me most about myself happened about a year ago when I took a trip to Philadelphia as a tourist. My wife and I were walking around, and I make the comment of "there doesn't appear to be any homeless people here", after which my wife immediately pointed to a homeless guy that we just walked past. Somehow, I'd managed to shelter myself enough and live comfortably enough to where I stopped…
If you have time, I'd recommend volunteering for local soup kitchens and donating nonperishable goods, hygene objects, etc. to local shelters. Exposure will help prevent empathy erosion and force you to notice/understand the problem space of the less-fortunate. First-hand accounts and documentaries regarding experiences not your own will also aid you.
After that story happened, I actually moved to a less-afluent neighborhood in NYC (for other reasons), and I've (very) recently started tutoring people in math at the local library for people to get their GEDs, which has also helped me somewhat.
A soup kitchen isn't a bad idea though. I will look into that.
Re: The Startup Empathy Dilemma: As power and impact grow, empathy diminishes
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you have time, I'd recommend volunteering for local soup kitchens and donating nonperishable goods, hygene objects, etc. to local shelters. Exposure will help prevent empathy erosion and force you to notice/understand the problem space of the less-fortunate. First-hand accounts and documentaries regarding experiences not your own will also aid you.
After that story happened, I actually moved to a less-afluent neighborhood in NYC (for other reasons), and I've (very) recently started tutoring people in math at the local library for people to get their GEDs, which has also helped me somewhat. A soup kitchen isn't a bad idea though. I will look into that.
I would like to commend your actually going out of your way to deal with something you've identified you wish to change about yourself. Also- I noticed you're in NYC. Would you be opposed to having a coffee chat sometime? (Feel free to decline- no stress. This is HN after all.)
Re: The Startup Empathy Dilemma: As power and impact grow, empathy diminishes
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
After that story happened, I actually moved to a less-afluent neighborhood in NYC (for other reasons), and I've (very) recently started tutoring people in math at the local library for people to get their GEDs, which has also helped me somewhat. A soup kitchen isn't a bad idea though. I will look into that.
I would like to commend your actually going out of your way to deal with something you've identified you wish to change about yourself. Also- I noticed you're in NYC. Would you be opposed to having a coffee chat sometime? (Feel free to decline- no stress. This is HN after all.)
I'd be happy to meet up; email is REDACTED, hit me up there. (This message will be deleted in about 45 minutes to avoid a shitstorm of spam).
EDIT: Doesn't look like I can delete, but I can chop out my email.
Re: The Startup Empathy Dilemma: As power and impact grow, empathy diminishes
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would like to commend your actually going out of your way to deal with something you've identified you wish to change about yourself. Also- I noticed you're in NYC. Would you be opposed to having a coffee chat sometime? (Feel free to decline- no stress. This is HN after all.)
I'd be happy to meet up; email is REDACTED, hit me up there. (This message will be deleted in about 45 minutes to avoid a shitstorm of spam). EDIT: Doesn't look like I can delete, but I can chop out my email.
I've sent an email via a buffalo.edu address. :)
Re: The Startup Empathy Dilemma: As power and impact grow, empathy diminishes
#19I've read about this before, and I think it's true. But has the phenomenon been examined in context? By that I mean: let's say someone becomes wealthy or powerful, and they are known to be wealthy or powerful. The nature of their position allocating resources means that others (not every one, but a significant number) seek to instrumentalize them; i.e. try to get the resources flowing in their direction. I wonder what portion of the decrease in empathy is a response to instrumentalization.
Re: The Startup Empathy Dilemma: As power and impact grow, empathy diminishes
#20I feel like power is an issue often solved by education or something. The more you understand about what is going on in the world, what has gone on in the world, humanity, how people work, etc. the more you realize the guy in front of you isn’t shit (and neither are you). Of course reasonable prudence means monitoring your behavior so you don’t end up broke or homeless. But this may include long-term life approaches…
Nice sentiment but I must correct you: I am definitely shit. And an impostor.