http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100528/sc_livescience/todayscollegestudentslackempathy

Quote :

"Today's College Students Lack Empathy College students today are less likely to "get" the emotions of others than their counterparts 20 and 30 years ago, a new review study suggests. Specifically, today's students scored 40 percent lower on a measure of empathy than their elders did. "

empathy quiz at end of article

5/28/2010 12:04:47 PM

empathy is for faggots

5/28/2010 12:06:29 PM

What is it called when you are morally bankrupt, but with money

I am that

5/28/2010 12:07:06 PM

Quote :

"53/70 points = higher empathy than 60% of participants "

5/28/2010 12:16:48 PM

I was kinda with them until this:

Quote :

"In terms of media content, this generation of college students grew up with video games, and a growing body of research, including work done by my colleagues at Michigan, is establishing that exposure to violent media numbs people to the pain of others."

Complete ignorance of social interaction within the medium in question/jumping to conclusions.


I'd argue that it's mostly because people are growing up on interaction and communication that is increasingly web-based rather than in person. I'm sure the researchers made that argument, too, but of course the stupid fuckers writing the news report have to go for the video game angle. ....Also, they aren't necessarily learning less/developing less skills about social interaction, but just a slightly different set of social skills more oriented towards social interaction online.

5/28/2010 12:17:05 PM

empathy is for faggots

5/28/2010 12:21:04 PM

Since when does lack of empathy = morally bankrupt?

That's more akin to being an asshole.
Morally bankrupt is shit like keeping a 7 year old as a sex slave.

5/28/2010 12:21:40 PM

I'd like to add... with the increasing amount of comfort that technology gives us in our day-to-day lives, people's average problems are becoming more and more trivial. Thus, the reaction of "your 'problems' are petty and insignificant, and/or mostly self-inflicted" becomes more reasonable while seeming much less empathic (the private mental reaction, anyway... obviously you wouldn't say that to their face, and obviously this wouldn't apply to something that is legitimately a big problem).

5/28/2010 12:31:52 PM

Quote :

"43/70 points = lower empathy than 80% of participants"

Vague questions.

[Edited on May 28, 2010 at 12:56 PM. Reason : -]

5/28/2010 12:56:14 PM

34

5/28/2010 12:58:09 PM

Not surprising, Bill.

5/28/2010 12:58:51 PM

59/70

I'm all about trying to see others' point of view

5/28/2010 1:01:07 PM

17/70

oops

5/28/2010 2:04:34 PM

41/70

5/28/2010 2:13:48 PM

To answer the OP: Yes.

5/28/2010 2:16:48 PM

62/70

5/28/2010 2:18:47 PM

Being that it's a self-evaluation... could it not also mean that older generations are simply less frank about their own personal traits which could be perceived as negative... or in simple terms, less likely to give an accurate-but-negative answer on a quiz?

(assuming that the quiz the news story linked to is the same one used in the research)

[Edited on May 28, 2010 at 2:26 PM. Reason : .]

5/28/2010 2:24:51 PM

we're from the "greed is good" generation, who here is surprised

5/28/2010 2:27:07 PM

54.3/70

^greed is eternal

5/28/2010 2:29:49 PM

Greed is eternal but it was pretty much the 80 that taught us "stop being guilty about it"

5/28/2010 2:30:40 PM

Not surprised at all, really.

I am, however, mildly annoyed by how often the new generation is portrayed as somehow inferior or morally bankrupt... rather than portrayed as being just as moral as any other generation, just under a somewhat different system of morality.

Really I'm surprised by how much past generations seem surprised that younger people reject their traditional system of values. Shit, it happens all the time.

5/28/2010 2:33:25 PM

used up all my care on internet forums. aint got none left for the real world.

5/28/2010 2:36:00 PM

Quote :

"I am, however, mildly annoyed by how often the new generation is portrayed as somehow inferior or morally bankrupt... rather than portrayed as being just as moral as any other generation, just under a somewhat different system of morality."

Change the system and anything becomes moral

5/28/2010 2:38:30 PM

Yeah that was my point. Various cultural norms changing -> changing system -> new established morality.

Or were you just agreeing?

5/28/2010 2:40:51 PM

Liberal faggots and conservative assholes ITT

5/28/2010 2:44:02 PM

i like how liberals are "faggots" in the south, where expressing a "liberal" opinion openly takes more balls

5/28/2010 3:08:13 PM

56/70 points = higher empathy than 70% of participants

stupid quiz

5/28/2010 3:12:23 PM

Nah, but my moral credit rating is shit.

5/28/2010 3:16:50 PM

63/70 points = higher empathy than 90% of participants

5/28/2010 3:20:18 PM

26. I got some points for being a rational arguer

5/28/2010 3:22:17 PM

45/70 -- lower than 70% of participants.


this test is bullshit. I'm a caring motherfucker.

5/28/2010 3:27:45 PM

Must've interviewed a bunch of people who graduated from Charlotte Catholic....

5/28/2010 5:29:22 PM

59/70 points = higher empathy than 80% of participants

im a softy, what can i say. i also sometimes feel bad for inanimate objects, bizarro but at least im aware of it and stop myself lol

5/29/2010 1:56:34 AM

62/70

5/29/2010 1:57:57 AM

Quote :

"im a softy, what can i say. i also sometimes feel bad for inanimate objects, bizarro but at least im aware of it and stop myself lol "

i do this too! especially when i was little i felt horrible for my stuffed animals that couldn't sleep next to me or fell on the floor at night.

were there any questions on this about animals? i took it but can't remember. i think i am a bigger softy for animals than people. i only got a 53. which is odd because i feel like i'm the biggest softy ever sometimes. guess not

5/29/2010 1:59:46 AM

no questions ab animals. but i undoubtedly feel 10 times worse for animals than i do for people

5/29/2010 10:31:59 AM

40/70

Maybe the gov can bail me out.

5/29/2010 10:55:34 AM

53/70 75.7% higher

5/29/2010 10:57:35 AM

15/70 - 21.4%
39/70 points = lower empathy than 90% of participants

guess i am the lowest empathic out of everyone alive.

5/29/2010 11:01:33 AM