I have a problem with what is reported to have happened at a recent AMA meeting regarding euthanasia.
I have a problem with what is reported to have happened at a recent AMA meeting regarding euthanasia. I will post about that eventually. But it led me to some other things that are worth considering in that context.
The WBUR piece about trying to teach empathy around death and dying to medical students, and the Verge/Paul Bloom piece about actually understanding empathy and what it can and can't do, its risks and benefits.
There are pros and cons to all. One caveat about the WBUR piece - they cherry pick an example from Paul Bloom that is not incorrect, but it is terribly biased without its larger context. In the WBUR piece it sounds terrible and it made me ready to dismiss him. Then I read his piece in The Verge. He's making an extremely important point about empathy and emotion and it's supposed to be an inflammatory example. For a reason, though, not just to annoy people.
P.S. I feel a lot like a weird Dumbledore, here, but I think it would help a lot if people would just say death and dying and not come up with a list of euphemisms to make it seems like it's something else. That list of euphemisms also tends to suggest there's something wrong with death and dying in our various cultures and subcultures. If it's wrong, then we should feel it's wrong. If it's just a normal part of life, then it's just a normal part of life. Lots of things that are normal aren't necessarily fun or nice, but they are normal.
https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/6/13857268/paul-bloom-psychology-against-empathy-virtual-reality-politics
http://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2018/11/16/virtual-reality-dying-palliative
http://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2018/11/16/virtual-reality-dying-palliative
The WBUR piece about trying to teach empathy around death and dying to medical students, and the Verge/Paul Bloom piece about actually understanding empathy and what it can and can't do, its risks and benefits.
There are pros and cons to all. One caveat about the WBUR piece - they cherry pick an example from Paul Bloom that is not incorrect, but it is terribly biased without its larger context. In the WBUR piece it sounds terrible and it made me ready to dismiss him. Then I read his piece in The Verge. He's making an extremely important point about empathy and emotion and it's supposed to be an inflammatory example. For a reason, though, not just to annoy people.
P.S. I feel a lot like a weird Dumbledore, here, but I think it would help a lot if people would just say death and dying and not come up with a list of euphemisms to make it seems like it's something else. That list of euphemisms also tends to suggest there's something wrong with death and dying in our various cultures and subcultures. If it's wrong, then we should feel it's wrong. If it's just a normal part of life, then it's just a normal part of life. Lots of things that are normal aren't necessarily fun or nice, but they are normal.
https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/6/13857268/paul-bloom-psychology-against-empathy-virtual-reality-politics
http://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2018/11/16/virtual-reality-dying-palliative
http://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2018/11/16/virtual-reality-dying-palliative
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