Zaki: Empathy has three core components, emotional empathy, cognitive empathy and empathic concern or compassion. He says these pieces of empathy are weirdly independent at a number of levels. Zaki: One of the biggest mistakes we make is assuming that people are just like us.
For a long time, scientists believed our capacity for empathy remains more or less fixed throughout our lives. But research by Jamil Zaki, a psychology professor at Stanford, shows that empathy is actually a skill we can cultivate. Jamil explains that there are different types of empathy — three, to be exact! — and we can learn to be more discerning about when we apply them. Maya and Jamil also discuss the dangers of caring too much, and how we can show compassion for others while avoiding burnout.
For a behind-the-scenes look at the show, follow @DrMayaShankar on Instagram.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.