How to Read Minds
Recognize and identify the thoughts, feelings,
and perspectives of others.
How can I read minds?
And how will it
make me smooth?
Researchers often define empathy as the ability to sense other people’s emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling" (Greatergood, 2019). This sounds a lot like mind reading!
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There are 3 types of empathy. According to author Justin Bariso:
Cognitive empathy is the ability to understand how a person feels and what they might be thinking. Cognitive empathy makes us better communicators because it helps us relay information in a way that best reaches the other person.
Emotional empathy (also known as affective empathy) is the ability to share the feelings of another person. Some have described it as "your pain in my heart." This type of empathy helps you build emotional connections with others.
Compassionate empathy (also known as empathic concern) goes beyond simply understanding others and sharing their feelings: it actually moves us to take action, to help however we can. (Bariso, 2018).
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Empathy makes you smooth because you become more attentive to others' feelings and listen better. You "get" people and they want to be around you.
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Let's watch this interactive video for more information. Some questions will pop up as you are viewing, just to make sure the content is clear. ​ Press submit when you finish the questions.
"I see your pain" is a phrase that shows sympathy.
"I feel your pain" is a phrase that shows empathy.
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In her talk as shown in the above video, Dr. Brene Brown says empathy is a choice and it can be a vulnerable choice because in order to connect with someone you have to first connect with that feeling inside of you.
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