Building bridges and establishing ties: the fate of the world is in empathy’s hands

Essay Question: What do you wish more people understood?

Sydney Morning Herald X Dymocks Competition Entry Writing 14 - 18 800 word essay

I have entered this competition for fun(I'm deeply sorry I'm under 14). Just irresistible to enter, that's all.

It is the best of times, it is the worst of times, it is an epoch of foolishness, it is the epoch of brilliance. Today, humanity is fortunate to benefit from the likes of self-driving cars leveraging recliners, robotic chefs cooking your luscious food, and the robot dog you are adoring now or a robot conductor guiding the orchestra. Lamentably, paradise is not what it seems to be. A dystopia looms: the calamitous climate crisis, disastrous drugs, and heavy hatred. Everyday, impending doom is unable to cause the required concern it deserves. So, what is essential to ultimately call this haven the haven we dream of? The answer: empathy.

Many mistake the confusing duo of empathy and sympathy and are thus unable to tell apart from each other. The community being capable of knowing one another in a situation - understanding one another - is empathy. Empathy must be portrayed daily: the ability to fit in others' shoes is an undisclosed method of considerable kindness. Meanwhile, sympathy lacks. It is the cousin of empathy nobody wishes to see at the family gathering. Sympathy may resemble some pity or even smirking upon others, perhaps leading to insidious effects. Stephen King quotes: “Sympathy was to respect the feelings of another. Empathy was to actually share those feelings.” Empathy is a power unlike any uncovered; it is jaw-dropping that the world is refusing to show this virtue and how many more are puzzled at the sight of the word itself. Empathy is experiencing another’s world, though how is one able to show it? The human brain holds neurons capable of copying an action chosen by the closest person: mirror neurons. By showing kindness, it will set off a chain reaction that results in evermore increasing reports of empathising with others: nobody could ask for a better result. Nonetheless, why is empathy needed to quell our disquietude?

Impediments seem to be prowling around unnoticed since us mortals are unwilling to take blame or act for the noble cause of defeating the enemies: the judging of skin, gender, and backgrounds. Hatred is surely part of the problem. Consider school is now the surrounding area, where students are frolicking. Personal experience tells firsthand some of their sense of frolic is that of discriminating against others by damaging others’ possessions and forcing them to the ground. Disability and age segregation are additional types of hatred. Insights for Professionals state a 2017 case where an elder was fired due to her alleged ‘frailty’ when she failed to turn in a report though she was ill-trained for the designated task. A poll conducted by HRD recorded 82% of the responders were discriminated against in workplaces alone. One simple solution to all these nodi is empathy. Understanding that humanity is the same is the keycard to opening the mythic vault. Lowering themselves down in others’ shoes is a dominant component to a better contemporary society. Empathy is therefore needed in almost every single case, including that one of the climate crisis.

When trains shook the world, the climate crisis rose gloomily from the chimneys and was the mastermind of the lack of climate concern and action. Building bridges and ties, empathy is the solution to the climate crisis. Humanity must understand what others feel as the climate crisis is incapable of making only one suffer: it affects the whole cycle of life. Humans are able to work together to initiate an effective plan to mitigate the climate crisis afterwards. According to Linked In, empathy creates a microcosmic change of society, altering the chemistry between individuals. Developing technology is not the problem, ignoring the exquisite nature is unacceptable. Today, the world is green, an irresistible grotto; without empathy, not only the future but the present will be dull black, as the last humans take their last precious breaths to inhale the last bits of fresh oxygen. Online Library suggests empathy in nature supports an individual to consider the emerging environmental issues, enhances humans' connection to nature, and is able to fuel coexistence and even rectify some of the damage humanity caused. Together, with empathy, problems are dealt with. May mercy be brought to this world and terminate major problems alongside empathy.

Humanity should consider this question: is it the end, or a brand new beginning? Empathy fits flawlessly into What a Wonderful World and is the key to slashing at the ever tyrannical climate change and unbearable hatred. With empathy, humans are given a second chance to choose the right, insightful, decisions and a second chance to impact the world; empathy demands action and encourages them to do their first proper good in their lives. Humanity must undoubtedly have shame upon themselves; let us not draw the curtains upon humanity’s flowerless stage.