Psychology Compassion - A Discussion

Well, having heard comments from people both online and in reality, and having had time to think about it, I've noticed something.

People seem to have less compassion than they used to.

First off, what is compassion? I've always thought of it as thinking about other people, and considering another's feelings. Simply treating them and thinking of them with their well-being in mind (this may be physical or emotional)

It's defined on www.dictionary.com as:

com·pas·sion n. - Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it.

And there's an entry on wikipedia here.

So it's essentially thinking and behaving in a way that considers others.

My question is, why does this seem to be so hard to come by? I hear people say things like "I have no pity for xxx people" or "You brought this on yourself, you deserve it." or "It has nothing to do with me, I don't care"

Things like that.

So, my question is, quite simply, why. Why do people act without thinking of others? Why do they refuse to believe that anyone has any emotions other than themselves? Why can't we seem to be willing to help each other when we're in pain?






Why can't we respect each other and care for each other, simply because we are?






That's all I have to say for now, I'm not going to voice my thoughts until I've had a chance to see what all of you have to say.

 

it would gave to depend on what they did if they get any compassion if they know what they did is wrong they probably would not get any compassion from others it just would have to depend on how bad they did something

 

In childhood to early teenage years it might have to do with egocentrism - the inability to be cognitively aware of the viewpoint of others. Normally teenagers get over this, but there are still adults who show this trait. If they are unable to take the viewpoint of others then they are less likely to understand how they would feel in their situation.

 

Compassion is so hard to come by now a days simply because people are selfish. Well, most people anyhow. It's human nature to be selfish. Another part of it is they don't want to spend the time, money, or effort doing it. That's somewhat laziness. The final reason speaks for itself. Look at the news and you'll see the answer. Crime, drugs, death. They've all increased over the past 10 years or so. So, fear, is the main reason people don't show compassion. They might be walking into a trap and end up getting killed.

But there is light. There are people out there who show compassion with no worries that something bad might happen to them. Though these people are rare and hard to come by, there are some out there who are willing to sacrifice anything, just to help people.

 

http://gr.bolt.com/oldsite/articles/violence/violence.htm

Actually, violent crime rates have gone DOWN in the past ten years.

 

Compassion to me is - doing something you love witha passion, whether its towards someone/ something or whatever.
Buuuut, my policy resides mainly in the - 'it's not my problem so do it yourself' stuff. I don't really care much about other people, other than loved ones i.e. girlfriend, best friend. that just about covers it.

Compassion really, (just my opinion) is ones feeling towards anything, whether it is a good or bad feeling.

 

i think that it has to do with the globlization of capitalism.
capitalism by nature is a all for me none for you set up. so it would make sense if peoples views of campassion are shrinking.

or

it could be that the people of the world are truly grasping individalism and being who they really are everyone else be damned. [iffy]


i lean more towards the capitalism thing myself.:anime: