Echo Chambers

Empathy, compassion, open-mindedness and tolerance. All good things! The societal issue with tolerance, it would seem, is that it’s often misdefined and misinterpreted. When this happens, the essence of empathy, compassion, and open-mindedness are tainted as well. If you are only tolerant of those who already share your views, you are not tolerant. You are in an echo chamber. You are not demonstrating empathy if you expect that if someone hasn’t walked in your shoes that they are unable to be compassionate about your situation, without also considering their situation. You are expecting empathy from others and that expectation is egoically motivated because it’s one-sided. If you don’t like the feeling of being judged, perhaps first consider how your expectations of how others is a form of judgement. You may choose to wear your heart on your sleeve, and that’s okay, so long as you acknowledge that it’s okay for others to keep their hearts in their chests.