Each week, we will bring you one thought or life philosophy we have espoused. Today's wisdom is a metaphor for life inspired by yoga.
We believe in Inhaling what you need, and exhaling what you have.
Learning Empathy from Shakespeare and Twilight
Empathy, like anything else, is a skill. It can be learned, practiced, or forgotten. Think for a moment about a piece of art or cultural expression that you completely and utterly do not understand. It might be this, or this, or this... They seem like strange and obtuse things in this world, like the crazy uncle who shows up to family reunions. But empathy is not an exercise with things you already care about, empathy is a skill that derives most value when applied to what you would normally dismiss.
Let’s try this exercise on two seemingly opposite categories of art. I’ve always struggled to appreciate classical art. I didn’t hate it but I found it boring and irrelevant. I didn’t understand it. On the other side of the spectrum, there is the confounding modern series called Twilight. Why couldn’t Bella just get over Edward? The answer lies in the mindset of the audience. In this case, both Shakespeare and Meyer alike are speaking to a particularly passionate and emotional stage of romantic relationships. To people who have lived and experienced those types of relationships, these stories resonate very deeply.
I began to see culture in a different light. I wondered what issues might plague the juggalos or the furries. I turned the eye on myself and tried to discover why I like the art I like. Why do tUnE-yArDs and african music resonate with me so much? I won’t delve into the specific reasons I discovered for my tastes, but I learned the importance of taking the time to make sense of that which we don’t immediately understand. This view of culture lends itself to empathy and unlocks the key to understanding art and audiences alike. In our work at Synaptic Design, this skill is fundamental to making successful technology. The apps and systems we create are rarely intended for us. We must adopt the mindset of our clients and users in order to create something that they find worthwhile. If we can’t understand where our audience is coming from, then we will certainly fail.
— Natalie Doud
Waxing Philosophical on the Meaning of Life
It has been nearly eight years since I allowed myself to ask why we are here. I hated the question. I scoffed at the phrase “the meaning of life” As though there should be one. As though we deserve an answer. As though we even knew what we would do if we had one. Why should there be a purpose? Is not the gift of life enough? Is not the experience of being alive, in and of itself, reason enough?
But that experience is evolving. We are shaping our future. Every year we move closer to some unspoken ideal. With each upgrade, life becomes more how we want it to be. There is a human hunger for connectedness. A yearning to fuse minds. We already have access to the bit of the collective mind that stores data and every day our collective consciousness moves up the cognitive ladder. Algorithms help us make decisions. We seek advice in forums.
But where are we headed? If technology progresses on the rails of human desire, what is the end goal? What do we want if anything is possible? When we can live forever in the cloud, when we can can see and feel what the world experiences in an instant, are we done? Is it our fate to become but cells within a global body, desperately seeking connection with other beings as profound as we? Or do we have other plans in mind?
It is our imperative as individuals and as a collective to ask ourselves why we are here. I want to shirk the responsibility. Some days I want to live as an animal, from whim to whim, experiencing only the present. But 100 years is a long time. And we are ever progressing. If we do not define our goals, then we are subject to those of others – and I am no longer confident that they have our best interests in mind.