A radical experiment in empathy
-
0:01 - 0:05My students often ask me,
"What is sociology?" -
0:06 - 0:10And I tell them it's the study of the way
in which human beings are shaped -
0:10 - 0:12by things that they don't see.
-
0:13 - 0:16And they say, "So,
how can I be a sociologist? -
0:17 - 0:19How can I understand
those invisible forces?" -
0:19 - 0:20And I say, "Empathy.
-
0:20 - 0:22Start with empathy.
-
0:22 - 0:25It all begins with empathy.
-
0:25 - 0:27Take yourself out of your shoes,
-
0:27 - 0:30put yourself into the shoes
of another person." -
0:30 - 0:31Here, I'll give you an example.
-
0:32 - 0:36So I imagine my life
if, a hundred years ago, -
0:36 - 0:39China had been the most powerful
nation in the world -
0:39 - 0:42and they came to the United States
in search of coal. -
0:42 - 0:45And they found it, and, in fact,
they found lots of it right here. -
0:45 - 0:49And pretty soon,
they began shipping that coal, -
0:49 - 0:51ton by ton,
-
0:51 - 0:54railcar by railcar, boatload by boatload,
-
0:54 - 0:57back to China and elsewhere
around the world. -
0:58 - 1:00And they got fabulously
wealthy in doing so. -
1:00 - 1:03And they built beautiful cities
-
1:03 - 1:06all powered on that coal.
-
1:08 - 1:11And back here in the United States,
-
1:11 - 1:13we saw economic despair, deprivation.
-
1:13 - 1:15This is what I saw.
-
1:15 - 1:17I saw people struggling to get by,
-
1:17 - 1:20not knowing what was what
and what was next. -
1:20 - 1:23And I asked myself the question:
-
1:23 - 1:26How is it possible that we could
be so poor here in the United States, -
1:26 - 1:30because coal is such a wealthy
resource; it's so much money? -
1:30 - 1:31And I realize:
-
1:31 - 1:34because the Chinese ingratiated themselves
-
1:34 - 1:37with a small ruling class
here in the United States, -
1:37 - 1:41who stole all of that money
and all of that wealth for themselves. -
1:41 - 1:44And the rest of us,
the vast majority of us, -
1:44 - 1:45struggle to get by.
-
1:45 - 1:48And the Chinese
gave this small ruling elite -
1:49 - 1:52loads of military weapons
and sophisticated technology -
1:52 - 1:55in order to ensure that people like me
-
1:55 - 1:58would not speak out
against this relationship. -
1:59 - 2:00Does this sound familiar?
-
2:01 - 2:05And they did things like train Americans
to help protect the coal. -
2:05 - 2:08And everywhere, there were
symbols of the Chinese -- -
2:08 - 2:11everywhere, a constant reminder.
-
2:12 - 2:14And back in China,
-
2:14 - 2:15what do they say in China?
-
2:15 - 2:19Nothing! They don't talk about us.
They don't talk about the coal. -
2:19 - 2:20If you ask them,
-
2:20 - 2:23they'll say, "Well, you know,
we need the coal. -
2:23 - 2:26I mean, come on, I'm not going
to turn down my thermostat. -
2:26 - 2:28You can't expect that."
-
2:28 - 2:32And so, I get angry, and I get pissed,
-
2:32 - 2:34as do lots of average people.
-
2:34 - 2:36And we fight back,
and it gets really ugly. -
2:36 - 2:39And the Chinese respond
in a very ugly way. -
2:41 - 2:43And before we know it,
they send in the tanks -
2:43 - 2:45and they send in the troops.
-
2:45 - 2:47And lots of people are dying.
-
2:48 - 2:51And it's a very, very difficult situation.
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2:53 - 2:56Can you imagine what you would feel
-
2:56 - 2:58if you were in my shoes?
-
2:58 - 3:00Can you imagine
walking out of this building -
3:00 - 3:02and seeing a tank sitting out there,
-
3:02 - 3:04or a truck full of soldiers?
-
3:06 - 3:09Just imagine what you would feel,
because you know why they're here; -
3:09 - 3:11you know what they're doing here.
-
3:11 - 3:14And you just feel the anger
and you feel the fear. -
3:14 - 3:17If you can, that's empathy.
That's empathy. -
3:17 - 3:20You've left your shoes,
and you've stood in mine. -
3:21 - 3:23And you've got to feel that.
-
3:23 - 3:25OK, so that's the warm-up.
-
3:25 - 3:26That's the warm-up.
-
3:26 - 3:30Now we're going to have
the real radical experiment. -
3:30 - 3:34So, for the remainder of my talk,
what I want you to do -
3:34 - 3:38is put yourselves in the shoes
of an ordinary Arab Muslim -
3:38 - 3:40living in the Middle East --
-
3:40 - 3:42in particular, in Iraq.
-
3:44 - 3:46And so to help you,
-
3:46 - 3:50perhaps you're a member
of this middle-class family in Baghdad. -
3:51 - 3:53What you want is the best for your kids.
-
3:53 - 3:55You want your kids to have a better life.
-
3:55 - 3:57And you watch the news, you pay attention.
-
3:57 - 4:01You read the newspaper, you go down
to the coffee shop with your friends, -
4:01 - 4:03you read the newspapers
from around the world. -
4:03 - 4:06Sometimes you even watch satellite,
CNN, from the United States. -
4:06 - 4:09You have a sense of what
the Americans are thinking. -
4:09 - 4:12But really, you just want
a better life for yourself. -
4:12 - 4:13That's what you want.
-
4:13 - 4:17You're Arab Muslim living in Iraq.
-
4:17 - 4:18You want a better life for yourself.
-
4:18 - 4:20So here, let me help you.
-
4:20 - 4:23Let me help you with some things
that you might be thinking. -
4:23 - 4:24Number one:
-
4:24 - 4:29this incursion into your land
these past 20 years and before -- -
4:29 - 4:31the reason anyone
is interested in your land, -
4:31 - 4:33and particularly
the United States, is oil. -
4:33 - 4:36It's all about oil; you know that,
everybody knows that. -
4:36 - 4:39People back in the United States
know it's about oil. -
4:39 - 4:45It's because somebody else
has a design for your resource. -
4:45 - 4:47It's your resource --
it's not somebody else's. -
4:47 - 4:50It's your land; it's your resource.
-
4:50 - 4:52Somebody else has a design for it.
-
4:53 - 4:55And you know why they have a design?
-
4:55 - 4:57You know why they have
their eyes set on it? -
4:57 - 4:59Because they have
an entire economic system -
4:59 - 5:02that's dependent
on that oil -- foreign oil, -
5:02 - 5:05oil from other parts of the world
that they don't own. -
5:05 - 5:08And what else do you think
about these people? -
5:08 - 5:09The Americans, they're rich.
-
5:09 - 5:12Come on, they live in big houses,
they have big cars. -
5:12 - 5:14They all have blond hair,
blue eyes. They're happy. -
5:14 - 5:18You think that. It's not true, of course,
but that's the media impression. -
5:18 - 5:19And that's what you get.
-
5:19 - 5:20And they have big cities,
-
5:20 - 5:23and the cities are all dependent on oil.
-
5:25 - 5:27And back home, what do you see?
-
5:27 - 5:29Poverty, despair, struggle.
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5:29 - 5:32Look, you don't live in a wealthy country.
-
5:32 - 5:34I mean -- this is Iraq.
-
5:35 - 5:37This is what you see.
-
5:37 - 5:40You see people struggling to get by.
-
5:40 - 5:42It's not easy; you see a lot of poverty.
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5:42 - 5:44And you feel something about this.
-
5:44 - 5:46These people have designs
for your resource, -
5:46 - 5:47and this is what you see?
-
5:48 - 5:50Something else you see
that you talk about -- -
5:50 - 5:52Americans don't talk
about this, but you do -- -
5:52 - 5:55there's this thing,
this militarization of the world, -
5:55 - 5:57and it's centered
right in the United States. -
5:57 - 5:59And the United States is responsible
-
5:59 - 6:03for almost one half
of the world's military spending. -
6:04 - 6:06Four percent of the world's population!
-
6:06 - 6:09And you feel it; you see it every day.
-
6:09 - 6:10It's part of your life.
-
6:10 - 6:13And you talk about it with your friends.
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6:13 - 6:15You read about it.
-
6:15 - 6:18And back when Saddam Hussein was in power,
-
6:18 - 6:21the Americans didn't care
about his crimes. -
6:21 - 6:24When he was gassing
the Kurds and gassing Iran, -
6:24 - 6:25they didn't care about it.
-
6:25 - 6:27When oil was at stake,
-
6:27 - 6:31somehow, suddenly, things mattered.
-
6:32 - 6:35And what you see, something else:
-
6:35 - 6:37the United States,
-
6:37 - 6:39the hub of democracy around the world --
-
6:39 - 6:42they don't seem to really be supporting
democratic countries -
6:43 - 6:44all around the world.
-
6:44 - 6:47There are a lot of countries,
oil-producing countries, -
6:47 - 6:50that aren't very democratic,
but supported by the United States. -
6:51 - 6:52That's odd.
-
6:52 - 6:55Oh -- these incursions, these two wars,
-
6:55 - 6:57the 10 years of sanctions,
-
6:57 - 7:01the eight years of occupation,
-
7:01 - 7:05the insurgency that's been
unleashed on your people, -
7:05 - 7:08the tens of thousands,
the hundreds of thousands -
7:08 - 7:10of civilian deaths?
-
7:13 - 7:15All because of oil.
-
7:16 - 7:17You can't help but think that.
-
7:18 - 7:19You talk about it.
-
7:20 - 7:22It's in the forefront
of your mind, always. -
7:23 - 7:25You say, "How is that possible?"
-
7:25 - 7:28And this man, he's everyman --
-
7:29 - 7:31your grandfather, your uncle,
-
7:31 - 7:33your father, your son, your neighbor,
-
7:33 - 7:35your professor, your student.
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7:35 - 7:38Once a life of happiness and joy
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7:38 - 7:40and suddenly, pain and sorrow.
-
7:42 - 7:48Everyone in your country
has been touched by the violence, -
7:48 - 7:51the bloodshed, the pain,
the horror -- everybody. -
7:51 - 7:57Not a single person in your country
has not been touched. -
7:57 - 7:59But there's something else.
-
7:59 - 8:03There's something else about these people,
these Americans who are there. -
8:03 - 8:05There's something else
about them that you see -
8:05 - 8:06that they don't see themselves.
-
8:07 - 8:09And what do you see? They're Christians!
-
8:09 - 8:10They're Christians.
-
8:10 - 8:14They worship the Christian God,
they have crosses, they carry Bibles. -
8:14 - 8:16Their Bibles have a little insignia
-
8:16 - 8:19that says "US Army" on them.
-
8:20 - 8:23And their leaders, their leaders:
-
8:23 - 8:27before they send their sons and daughters
off to war in your country -- -
8:27 - 8:28and you know the reason --
-
8:28 - 8:30before they send them off,
-
8:30 - 8:33they go to a Christian church,
and they pray to their Christian God, -
8:33 - 8:36and they ask for protection
and guidance from that god. -
8:36 - 8:37Why?
-
8:37 - 8:41Well, obviously,
when people die in the war, -
8:41 - 8:46they are Muslims, they are Iraqis --
they're not Americans. -
8:46 - 8:49You don't want Americans to die --
"Protect Our Troops." -
8:49 - 8:51And you feel something about that --
-
8:51 - 8:52of course you do.
-
8:52 - 8:54And they do wonderful things.
-
8:54 - 8:56You read about it, you hear about it.
-
8:56 - 8:58They're there to build schools
and help people. -
8:58 - 9:00That's what they want to do.
-
9:00 - 9:03They do wonderful things,
but they also do the bad things, -
9:03 - 9:04and you can't tell the difference.
-
9:04 - 9:07And this guy, you get a guy
like Lt. Gen. William Boykin. -
9:07 - 9:10Here's a guy who says
that your god is a false god. -
9:10 - 9:12Your god's an idol;
his god is the true god. -
9:12 - 9:15The solution to the problem
in the Middle East, according to him, -
9:15 - 9:17is to convert you all to Christianity --
-
9:17 - 9:18just get rid of your religion.
-
9:19 - 9:21And you know that.
Americans don't read about this guy. -
9:21 - 9:24They don't know anything
about him, but you do. -
9:24 - 9:26You pass it around.
You pass his words around. -
9:26 - 9:28I mean, this is serious. You're afraid.
-
9:29 - 9:32He was one of the leading commanders
in the second invasion of Iraq. -
9:32 - 9:34And you're thinking,
"My God, if this guy is saying that, -
9:35 - 9:37then all the soldiers
must be saying that." -
9:37 - 9:39And this word here --
-
9:39 - 9:41George Bush called this war a crusade.
-
9:41 - 9:43Man, the Americans,
they're just like, "Ah, crusade. -
9:43 - 9:45Whatever. I don't know what that means."
-
9:45 - 9:48You know what it means --
it's a holy war against Muslims. -
9:48 - 9:52Look, invade, subdue them,
take their resources. -
9:52 - 9:54If they won't submit, kill them.
-
9:54 - 9:56That's what this is about.
-
9:56 - 9:59And you're thinking, "My God,
these Christians are coming to kill us." -
9:59 - 10:01This is frightening.
-
10:01 - 10:03You feel frightened.
Of course you feel frightened. -
10:03 - 10:06And this man, Terry Jones:
-
10:06 - 10:09I mean here's a guy
who wants to burn Qurans, right? -
10:09 - 10:12And the Americans:
"Ah, he's a knucklehead. -
10:12 - 10:15He's a former hotel manager; he's got
three dozen members of his church ..." -
10:15 - 10:16They laugh him off.
-
10:16 - 10:20You don't laugh him off,
because in the context of everything else, -
10:20 - 10:21all the pieces fit.
-
10:21 - 10:23Of course this is how Americans think.
-
10:23 - 10:26So people all over the Middle East,
not just in your country, -
10:26 - 10:27are protesting.
-
10:27 - 10:29"He wants to burn Qurans, our holy book.
-
10:29 - 10:31These Christians --
who are these Christians? -
10:31 - 10:35They're so evil, they're so mean --
this is what they're about?" -
10:35 - 10:37This is what you're thinking
as an Arab Muslim, -
10:37 - 10:39as an Iraqi.
-
10:39 - 10:41Of course you're going to think this.
-
10:41 - 10:45And then your cousin says,
"Hey coz, check out this website. -
10:45 - 10:47You've got to see this -- Bible Boot Camp.
-
10:47 - 10:48These Christians are nuts!
-
10:48 - 10:51They're training their little kids
to be soldiers for Jesus. -
10:51 - 10:54They take little kids
and run them through these things -
10:54 - 10:56till they teach them
how to say, 'Sir! Yes, sir!' -
10:56 - 10:59and things like 'grenade toss'
and 'weapons care and maintenance.' -
10:59 - 11:02And go to the website --
it says 'US Army' right on it. -
11:02 - 11:04I mean, these Christians, they're nuts.
-
11:04 - 11:06How can they do this
to their little kids?" -
11:06 - 11:08And you're reading this website.
-
11:08 - 11:11And of course, Christians
in the United States, or anybody, -
11:11 - 11:13says, "This is some little church
in the middle of nowhere." -
11:13 - 11:15You don't know that.
-
11:15 - 11:17For you, this is like, all Christians.
-
11:17 - 11:19It's all over the Web: "Bible Boot Camp."
-
11:19 - 11:21And look at this.
-
11:21 - 11:23They even teach their kids --
-
11:23 - 11:25they train them in the same way
the US Marines train. -
11:26 - 11:27Isn't that interesting.
-
11:27 - 11:30And it scares you, and it frightens you.
-
11:30 - 11:32So these guys, you see them.
-
11:32 - 11:35You see, I, Sam Richards --
I know who these guys are. -
11:35 - 11:38They're my students, my friends;
I know what they're thinking. -
11:38 - 11:39You don't know.
-
11:39 - 11:42When you see them, they're something else.
-
11:42 - 11:44They're something else.
-
11:44 - 11:46That's what they are to you.
-
11:47 - 11:49We don't see it that way
in the United States, -
11:49 - 11:51but you see it that way.
-
11:55 - 11:56So here.
-
11:57 - 11:59Of course, you've got it wrong.
-
11:59 - 12:01You're generalizing. It's wrong.
-
12:01 - 12:03You don't understand the Americans.
-
12:03 - 12:05It's not a Christian invasion.
-
12:05 - 12:08We're not just there for oil;
we're there for lots of reasons. -
12:08 - 12:10You have it wrong. You've missed it.
-
12:10 - 12:13And of course, most of you
don't support the insurgency; -
12:13 - 12:15you don't support killing Americans;
-
12:15 - 12:17you don't support the terrorists.
-
12:17 - 12:19Of course you don't. Very few people do.
-
12:19 - 12:21But -- some of you do.
-
12:22 - 12:23And this is a perspective.
-
12:24 - 12:27OK. So now, here's what we're going to do.
-
12:27 - 12:30Step outside of your shoes
that you're in right now, -
12:31 - 12:32and step back into your normal shoes.
-
12:32 - 12:34So everyone's back in the room. OK?
-
12:35 - 12:37Now here comes the radical experiment.
-
12:37 - 12:39So we're all back home.
-
12:39 - 12:41This photo: this woman --
-
12:41 - 12:43man, I feel her.
-
12:43 - 12:45I feel her.
-
12:45 - 12:46She's my sister,
-
12:46 - 12:50my wife, my cousin, my neighbor.
-
12:50 - 12:51She's anybody to me.
-
12:51 - 12:54These guys standing there,
everybody in the photo -- -
12:54 - 12:55I feel this photo, man.
-
12:57 - 12:58So here's what I want you to do.
-
12:58 - 13:02Let's go back to my first
example, of the Chinese. -
13:02 - 13:04I want you to go there.
-
13:04 - 13:08It's all about coal, and the Chinese
are here in the United States. -
13:08 - 13:09What I want you to do is picture her
-
13:09 - 13:12as a Chinese woman
receiving a Chinese flag -
13:12 - 13:17because her loved one has died
in America in the coal uprising. -
13:18 - 13:19And the soldiers are Chinese,
-
13:19 - 13:21and everybody else is Chinese.
-
13:22 - 13:25As an American, how do you feel
about this picture? -
13:27 - 13:29What do you think about that scene?
-
13:32 - 13:34OK, try this. Bring it back.
-
13:34 - 13:36This is the scene here.
-
13:36 - 13:38It's an American, American soldiers,
-
13:38 - 13:41American woman who lost
her loved one in the Middle East, -
13:41 - 13:43in Iraq or Afghanistan.
-
13:43 - 13:45Now, put yourself in the shoes,
-
13:45 - 13:49go back to the shoes
of an Arab Muslim living in Iraq. -
13:51 - 13:56What are you feeling and thinking
about this photo, -
13:56 - 13:58about this woman?
-
14:06 - 14:08OK,
-
14:08 - 14:10now follow me on this,
-
14:10 - 14:12because I'm taking a big risk here.
-
14:12 - 14:15And so I'm going to invite you
to take a risk with me. -
14:15 - 14:17These gentlemen here, they're insurgents.
-
14:17 - 14:21They were caught by the American soldiers,
trying to kill Americans. -
14:21 - 14:24And maybe they succeeded.
Maybe they succeeded. -
14:24 - 14:28Put yourself in the shoes
of the Americans who caught them. -
14:29 - 14:31Can you feel the rage?
-
14:31 - 14:34Can you feel that you just want
to take these guys -
14:34 - 14:35and wring their necks?
-
14:35 - 14:36Can you go there?
-
14:37 - 14:39It shouldn't be that difficult.
-
14:39 - 14:42You just -- oh, man.
-
14:43 - 14:48Now, put yourself in their shoes.
-
14:51 - 14:53Are they brutal killers
-
14:53 - 14:55or patriotic defenders?
-
14:57 - 14:58Which one?
-
14:58 - 15:02Can you feel their anger,
-
15:02 - 15:03their fear,
-
15:03 - 15:05their rage
-
15:06 - 15:08at what has happened in their country?
-
15:08 - 15:12Can you imagine that maybe
one of them, in the morning, -
15:12 - 15:16bent down to their child
and hugged their child -
15:16 - 15:20and said, "Dear, I'll be back later.
-
15:20 - 15:23I'm going out to defend
your freedom, your lives. -
15:23 - 15:25I'm going out to look out for us,
-
15:26 - 15:28the future of our country."
-
15:29 - 15:30Can you imagine that?
-
15:30 - 15:32Can you imagine saying that?
-
15:33 - 15:35Can you go there?
-
15:38 - 15:39What do you think they're feeling?
-
15:48 - 15:49You see, that's empathy.
-
15:50 - 15:51It's also understanding.
-
15:51 - 15:53[understand]
-
15:53 - 15:54Now, you might ask,
-
15:54 - 15:58"OK, Sam, so why do you
do this sort of thing? -
15:58 - 16:00Why would you use
this example of all examples?" -
16:00 - 16:03And I say, because.
-
16:03 - 16:05You're allowed to hate these people.
-
16:05 - 16:10You're allowed to just hate them
with every fiber of your being. -
16:10 - 16:13And if I can get you
to step into their shoes -
16:14 - 16:17and walk an inch -- one tiny inch --
-
16:18 - 16:21then imagine the kind
of sociological analysis -
16:21 - 16:24that you can do in all other
aspects of your life. -
16:25 - 16:27You can walk a mile
-
16:27 - 16:32when it comes to understanding why
that person's driving 40 miles per hour -
16:32 - 16:33in the passing lane;
-
16:34 - 16:36or your teenage son;
-
16:36 - 16:40or your neighbor who annoys you
by cutting his lawn on Sunday mornings. -
16:40 - 16:43Whatever it is, you can go so far.
-
16:44 - 16:46And this is what I tell my students:
-
16:46 - 16:49step outside of your tiny, little world.
-
16:49 - 16:54Step inside of the tiny,
little world of somebody else. -
16:54 - 16:55And then do it again
-
16:55 - 16:57and do it again and do it again.
-
16:57 - 16:59And suddenly, all these tiny,
little worlds, -
16:59 - 17:01they come together in this complex web.
-
17:01 - 17:05And they build a big, complex world.
-
17:05 - 17:07And suddenly, without realizing it,
-
17:07 - 17:09you're seeing the world differently.
-
17:09 - 17:11Everything has changed.
-
17:11 - 17:13Everything in your life has changed.
-
17:14 - 17:17And that's, of course, what this is about.
-
17:17 - 17:20Attend to other lives,
-
17:20 - 17:21other visions.
-
17:21 - 17:24Listen to other people,
-
17:24 - 17:26enlighten ourselves.
-
17:27 - 17:30I'm not saying that I support
the terrorists in Iraq. -
17:31 - 17:34But as a sociologist, what I am saying is:
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17:35 - 17:37I understand.
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17:39 - 17:43And now perhaps -- perhaps -- you do, too.
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17:43 - 17:44Thank you.
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17:44 - 17:47(Applause)
- Title:
- A radical experiment in empathy
- Speaker:
- Sam Richards
- Description:
-
By leading the Americans in his audience at TEDxPSU step by step through the thought process, sociologist Sam Richards sets an extraordinary challenge: can they understand -- not approve of, but understand -- the motivations of an Iraqi insurgent? And by extension, can anyone truly understand and empathize with another?
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 17:47
Krystian Aparta commented on English subtitles for A radical experiment in empathy | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for A radical experiment in empathy | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for A radical experiment in empathy | ||
TED edited English subtitles for A radical experiment in empathy | ||
TED added a translation |
Krystian Aparta
The English transcript was updated on 3/2/2017. The word "[understand]" (on-screen text) was added at 15:51.