"It is often discussed as reciprocal to empathy, which is defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another (see my previous post on the topic). Nicole Karlis, in her book Your Brain on Altruism, writes that it may be time to reframe altruism not just as personal restoration but as something communal. I cannot agree more."
"How can we overcome what stifles our ability to work together to tend to the needs of others? I believe that finding our way to recognize our interdependency means going beyond the words altruism and empathy. This entails using all our senses, body language, tone, etc., to understand how to communicate in an analogue manner what lies hidden between us."
"Nothing remains the same from one moment to the next, you can't step into the same river twice. Life-evolution-the whole universe of space/time, matter/energy-existence itself-is essentially change.... The more things go on moving, interconnecting, conflicting, ever-changing, the less balance there is-and the more life."
Altruism is defined as selfless concern for others and empathy as the ability to understand and share another's feelings. Reframing altruism as communal emphasizes shared responsibility rather than solely individual restoration. Helping others and understanding emotions provide mind‑body benefits, yet evidence suggests empathy and altruism can be superficial and hard to sustain in hectic modern life. Recognizing interdependency requires moving beyond labels toward embodied, analogue communication that employs senses, body language, and tone to convey what lies hidden between people. Constant change and interconnected motion characterize existence, increasing complexity while nourishing life.
Read at Psychology Today
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