However, reason and evidence are insufficient to combat fear. There are plenty of examples of destructive decisions that are the result of science and engineering untethered from humane values.
The other essential ingredient is empathy. Daniel Goleman writes about three kinds of empathy:
cognitive empathy or the ability to recognize the perspective of others; emotional empathy: the ability to feel and identify with the emotions of others; and, compassionate empathy: this is when understanding and feeling translate into actually helping others.
Recognizing and managing one’s own emotions is another essential ingredient of empathy. Leaders who understand and manipulate the emotions of others, but fail at either empathy or compassion are all too common.
So, is selective empathy.
Teaching these abilities is the goal of what has become known as social and emotional learning.
