- Joined
- Sep 28, 2022
sympathy = seeing you feel bad makes me feel bad with youMildly off topic, but I was taught a long time ago that sympathy meant feeling bad for somebody and empathy meant feeling bad for somebody because you had gone through what they're going through.
Most people would be sympathetic to a parent who lost a child, for example, but few could be empathetic in that situation because they haven't experienced it themselves and therefore can't fully imagine what the person is feeling.
I found out later this is apparently wrong and I only have a vague idea of what the words mean and how they differ.
Ian hasn't been helpful.
empathy = based on the situation you are in, i can deduce how it makes you feel
tons of people nowadays say 'empathy' when they mean sympathy