Brené Brown on Empathy

Royal Society of Arts · 24.1M views · 2013-12-10 · 2:53

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Overview

A short animated RSA piece with Dr Brene Brown's voiceover on the difference between empathy and sympathy. She argues that real connection requires getting in touch with your own vulnerability, rather than trying to fix someone's pain.

On Hacker News

Recommended as a quick, memorable explanation of how to support someone in pain without making it about yourself.

Recommended by 3 HN people across 3 months · HN mentions 2013–2020

Topics

Psychology & human behavior Mental health & neurodiversity

What people said

rpdillon · 2020-10 · Recommendation
My employer had me go through training that had this video as part of the curriculum. Though I already understood the ideas, the video was still useful for me. It's less than 3 minutes long. [VIDEO] In short, sometimes people need connection to others; problem-solving mode isn't always the most useful path.
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andrewtbham · 2016-01 · Recommendation
I'm unsure how this anecdote proves anything about a correlation between empathy and wealth. Whether you are rich or poor, you can have empathy. If you're interested in empathy, I suggest you watch this brenee brown video. The video may seem anecdotal but she has done a lot of research about shame and vulnerability and... having read her books, money is not something that comes up in the research. [VIDEO]
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neilk · 2013-12 · Recommendation
Most of what I read is related to startups or economics, but for the short list of change-my-life books: This year I read a lot about what you might loosely call the Paleo movement / anti-carbs and sugar movement. The New Evolution Diet , The Primal Blueprint , books by Gary Taubes, and so on. I think this is going to change how I eat and exercise forever. The Gift of Imperfection and other works by Brené Brown. Lately this is being promoted by Oprah, which isn't usually a good sign. I think it stands apart because it's not theory or poetry; it's based on some solid research on what people living more productive and satisfying lives are actually doing. If nothing else, her books have made me a better friend when my friends are in pain. [VIDEO]
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Sources

Video by Royal Society of Arts, played through YouTube.

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