Mind, Machine, and the Empathic Revolution: Manifesto for a New World

By Aaron Garrison

Like most revolutionaries, I have a dream: of genuine empathy between people -- as to truly see through someone else’s eyes, and discover all it can teach us.

Also in the revolutionary spirit, I have a manifesto, presented as the following essay.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aaron Garrison
• Release date: May 23, 2016

Aaron Garrison

Aaron Garrison is a thirty-year-old man living and working in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina, USA.

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MIND, MACHINE, AND THE EMPATHIC REVOLUTION: MANIFESTO FOR A NEW WORLD

by

Aaron Garrison

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©2015 Aaron Garrison

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Table of Contents

Mind, Machine, and the Empathic Revolution: Manifesto for a New World

Bonus Essay:

The Virtues of Duality

MIND, MACHINE, AND THE EMPATHIC REVOLUTION: MANIFESTO FOR A NEW WORLD

Like most revolutionaries, I have a dream: of genuine empathy between people -- as to truly see through someone else’s eyes, and discover all it can teach us.

Also in the revolutionary spirit, I have a manifesto, presented as the following essay.

The Problem

In my aforementioned dream, the abounding empathy I envision is enabled by technology, and, together, the two spark a human revolution. Before delving into these subjects, however, I must first discuss one of the primary problems facing the world today.

We have empathy issues.

This problem is inclusive and international, knowing no one people, class, or nation. So, rather than a question of existence, our empathy problem is a matter of degree. Though, it’s no wonder that we find ourselves handicapped in this area. Being unable to access another person’s mind and see through their eyes, many of us are unaware of the very concept of empathy, much less a lack of it (or, what benefits that empathy can bring about). Even for the empathic minority, their empathy is often flawed, being couched in their own, limited perceptions of themselves, others, and the world, as to restrict their perspective (resulting in that old mental stumbling block of measuring others by oneself, more often than not). For this reason, the most empathic of us can still be restricted in just how much they can vicariously see into another’s mind and thoughts, being deprived of the many subtle, subjective mental and perceptual parameters which comprise the individual’s unique inner world. Indeed, we see through that empathic glass only darkly, such that even the most empathically advanced of us could benefit from a more explicit peek into the mysteries that lay behind another’s eyes.

As for the effects of this condition, they are complicated, and can be quite obscure.

When it comes down to it, our worldwide want of empathy is seen primarily in more-visible, better-known issues -- namely, that of large-scale misunderstanding and miscommunication. Dig to the root of nearly any problem -- from big to small, personal to national, social to economic, physical to spiritual -- and you are likely to find the culprits to be a lack of empathy and clear communication, in some way or another. In my experience, this dysfunction is common in today’s world, if not universal; and, as a student of history, I can confidently say that this has been the state of things, more or less, for some time (if they were ever any different at all). Worse, ours is a condition that feeds on itself, with non-empathy and misunderstanding begetting only more of same. And so it goes on, day after day, generation after generation, all over the world -- and, worst of all, the problem stays largely invisible, due to its transparent nature. Though I am not a doomsayer, my experience has forced me to conclude that, short of a drastically unprecedented development (or, divine intervention), we are doomed to continue in this emotionally and spiritually destitute state, for any sort of peace or abundance are otherwise temporary and unsustainable.

Heavy stuff, I know. But I am not one to sugarcoat the truth as I see it.

With this condition being global, obscure, and self-perpetuating, there is no easy fix. It would be reassuring to think that the remedy lay in education, government reform, or international diplomacy (or maybe a self-help summit with a catchy title); but, as The Police said in their landmark song, There is no political solution. I make this frank diagnosis not out of pessimism, but a compassionate realism. To be sure, politics certainly have their place, and are not useless; however, they are presently undermined by the very problems they would seek to address, for our institutions and social infrastructure are founded on the non-empathic, non-communicative mentality outlined above. To try and sort out this mess using a traditional approach and existing resources, we’d be employing the exact same things which have