Bloom Response

I do not agree with Bloom that empathy is a spotlight. No matter how bad the person is, for me and because of my religion, I will always find a way to forgive and care about others. Just because someone you do not like is going though a rough patch, does not mean that you can just not care. Even the people I dislike most have rough spots and if I can be there for them and try to empathize that relationship will never be strong. I see empathy as a way to build relationships with others. If two people go through pain together then they are bonded for a very long time.

Bloom makes very good points with the Sandy Hook shooting and how the bad things you see on tv are not the only bad things that are happening, but those people on tv are the ones getting sympathized with not the hungry people on the street. I also never really thought that people would have empathy for other just to make themselves feel better. I would not say that he challenged my perception, he just showed me other ways empathy can be bad. The way I see it empathy is good or bad based on the people that give it to others.

Bloom talks about how not always voicing your empathy is important, “But suppose that stopping the vaccine program will cause, say, a dozen random children to die. Here your empathy is silent — how can you empathize with a statistical abstraction” (Bloom 3). For me this dilemma would be hell to go through but as the saying goes, the one for the many. You not saying anything is harder yet smarter because this means you have thought this trough and have realized its consequences. If yo0u try to stop the vaccine, this means for me that you do not really care and I know that it is devastating to watch a child pass, but saving 12 others IS worth it.