0:00:24.831,0:00:28.895
My students often ask me,[br]"What is sociology?"

0:00:29.458,0:00:33.810
And I tell them it's the study of the way[br]in which human beings are shaped

0:00:33.834,0:00:35.587
by things that they don't see.

0:00:36.401,0:00:39.725
And they say, "So,[br]how can I be a sociologist?

0:00:40.560,0:00:42.678
How can I understand[br]those invisible forces?"

0:00:42.702,0:00:44.230
And I say, "Empathy.

0:00:44.254,0:00:46.354
Start with empathy.

0:00:46.378,0:00:49.160
It all begins with empathy.

0:00:49.184,0:00:50.940
Take yourself out of your shoes,

0:00:50.964,0:00:53.608
put yourself into the shoes[br]of another person."

0:00:53.632,0:00:55.262
Here, I'll give you an example.

0:00:56.163,0:00:59.567
So I imagine my life[br]if, a hundred years ago,

0:00:59.591,0:01:02.441
China had been the most powerful[br]nation in the world

0:01:02.465,0:01:05.952
and they came to the United States[br]in search of coal.

0:01:05.976,0:01:09.167
And they found it, and, in fact,[br]they found lots of it right here.

0:01:09.191,0:01:12.717
And pretty soon,[br]they began shipping that coal,

0:01:12.741,0:01:14.517
ton by ton,

0:01:14.541,0:01:17.979
railcar by railcar, boatload by boatload,

0:01:18.003,0:01:21.088
back to China and elsewhere[br]around the world.

0:01:21.969,0:01:24.219
And they got fabulously[br]wealthy in doing so.

0:01:24.243,0:01:26.576
And they built beautiful cities

0:01:26.600,0:01:29.700
all powered on that coal.

0:01:31.512,0:01:34.933
And back here in the United States,

0:01:36.314,0:01:37.314
back here

0:01:37.357,0:01:39.504
we saw economic despair, deprivation.

0:01:39.528,0:01:40.976
This is what I saw.

0:01:41.000,0:01:43.631
I saw people struggling to get by,

0:01:43.655,0:01:46.750
not knowing what was what[br]and what was next.

0:01:48.074,0:01:50.341
And I asked myself the question:

0:01:50.365,0:01:53.695
How is it possible that we could[br]be so poor here in the United States,

0:01:53.719,0:01:57.424
because coal is such a wealthy[br]resource; it's so much money?

0:01:57.448,0:01:58.608
And I realize:

0:01:58.632,0:02:02.037
because the Chinese ingratiated themselves

0:02:02.061,0:02:04.820
with a small ruling class[br]here in the United States,

0:02:04.844,0:02:08.382
who stole all of that money[br]and all of that wealth for themselves.

0:02:09.030,0:02:11.196
And the rest of us,[br]the vast majority of us,

0:02:11.220,0:02:12.485
struggle to get by.

0:02:12.989,0:02:16.093
And the Chinese[br]gave this small ruling elite

0:02:16.117,0:02:19.486
loads of military weapons[br]and sophisticated technology

0:02:19.510,0:02:22.276
in order to ensure that people like me

0:02:22.300,0:02:25.300
would not speak out[br]against this relationship.

0:02:26.173,0:02:27.609
Does this sound familiar?

0:02:29.045,0:02:32.406
And they did things like train Americans[br]to help protect the coal.

0:02:34.056,0:02:37.294
And everywhere, there were[br]symbols of the Chinese --

0:02:37.318,0:02:40.294
everywhere, a constant reminder.

0:02:40.831,0:02:42.974
And back in China,

0:02:42.998,0:02:44.324
what do they say in China?

0:02:44.348,0:02:47.947
Nothing! They don't talk about us.[br]They don't talk about the coal.

0:02:47.971,0:02:49.161
If you ask them,

0:02:49.185,0:02:51.576
they'll say, "Well, you know,[br]we need the coal.

0:02:51.600,0:02:54.798
I mean, come on, I'm not going[br]to turn down my thermostat.

0:02:55.322,0:02:56.727
You can't expect that."

0:02:58.074,0:03:01.249
And so, I get angry, and I get pissed,

0:03:01.273,0:03:03.586
as do lots of average people.

0:03:03.610,0:03:06.152
And we fight back,[br]and it gets really ugly.

0:03:06.176,0:03:09.105
And the Chinese respond[br]in a very ugly way.

0:03:11.120,0:03:13.515
And before we know it,[br]they send in the tanks

0:03:13.539,0:03:15.236
and they send in the troops.

0:03:15.882,0:03:17.530
And lots of people are dying.

0:03:18.200,0:03:21.951
And it's a very, very difficult situation.

0:03:24.641,0:03:25.707
Can you feel me?

0:03:26.176,0:03:29.223
Can you imagine what you would feel

0:03:29.247,0:03:31.412
if you were in my shoes?

0:03:31.436,0:03:33.761
Can you imagine[br]walking out of this building

0:03:33.785,0:03:35.603
and seeing a tank sitting out there,

0:03:35.627,0:03:37.954
or a truck full of soldiers?

0:03:39.400,0:03:42.620
Just imagine what you would feel,[br]because you know why they're here;

0:03:42.644,0:03:44.290
you know what they're doing here.

0:03:44.314,0:03:46.933
And you just feel the anger[br]and you feel the fear.

0:03:47.874,0:03:50.640
If you can, that's empathy.[br]That's empathy.

0:03:50.664,0:03:53.843
You've left your shoes,[br]and you've stood in mine.

0:03:54.638,0:03:56.453
And you've got to feel that.

0:03:56.477,0:03:58.176
OK, so that's the warm-up.

0:03:58.556,0:03:59.728
That's the warm-up.

0:03:59.752,0:04:03.486
Now we're going to have[br]the real radical experiment.

0:04:03.510,0:04:07.176
So, for the remainder of my talk,[br]what I want you to do

0:04:07.200,0:04:11.788
is put yourselves in the shoes[br]of an ordinary Arab Muslim

0:04:11.812,0:04:13.541
living in the Middle East --

0:04:13.565,0:04:15.691
in particular, in Iraq.

0:04:17.843,0:04:19.125
And so to help you,

0:04:19.771,0:04:23.747
perhaps you're a member[br]of this middle-class family in Baghdad.

0:04:24.104,0:04:26.798
What you want is the best for your kids.

0:04:26.822,0:04:28.799
You want your kids to have a better life.

0:04:28.823,0:04:30.910
And you watch the news, you pay attention.

0:04:30.934,0:04:34.488
You read the newspaper, you go down[br]to the coffee shop with your friends,

0:04:34.512,0:04:36.733
you read the newspapers[br]from around the world.

0:04:36.757,0:04:39.793
Sometimes you even watch satellite,[br]CNN, from the United States.

0:04:39.817,0:04:42.304
You have a sense of what[br]the Americans are thinking.

0:04:42.328,0:04:45.376
But really, you just want[br]a better life for yourself.

0:04:45.400,0:04:46.588
That's what you want.

0:04:46.945,0:04:50.009
You're Arab Muslim living in Iraq.

0:04:50.033,0:04:51.780
You want a better life for yourself.

0:04:51.804,0:04:53.018
So here, let me help you.

0:04:53.042,0:04:56.533
Let me help you with some things[br]that you might be thinking.

0:04:56.557,0:04:57.826
Number one:

0:04:57.850,0:05:02.176
this incursion into your land[br]these past 20 years and before --

0:05:02.200,0:05:04.319
the reason anyone[br]is interested in your land,

0:05:04.343,0:05:06.487
and particularly[br]the United States, is oil.

0:05:06.511,0:05:09.620
It's all about oil; you know that,[br]everybody knows that.

0:05:09.644,0:05:12.744
People back in the United States[br]know it's about oil.

0:05:13.359,0:05:18.457
It's because somebody else[br]has a design for your resource.

0:05:18.481,0:05:21.034
It's your resource --[br]it's not somebody else's.

0:05:21.058,0:05:24.036
It's your land; it's your resource.

0:05:24.060,0:05:25.733
Somebody else has a design for it.

0:05:26.378,0:05:28.231
And you know why they have a design?

0:05:28.255,0:05:30.352
You know why they have[br]their eyes set on it?

0:05:30.376,0:05:32.450
Because they have[br]an entire economic system

0:05:32.474,0:05:35.683
that's dependent[br]on that oil -- foreign oil,

0:05:35.707,0:05:38.333
oil from other parts of the world[br]that they don't own.

0:05:39.347,0:05:41.914
And what else do you think[br]about these people?

0:05:41.938,0:05:43.545
The Americans, they're rich.

0:05:43.570,0:05:46.091
Come on, they live in big houses,[br]they have big cars.

0:05:46.115,0:05:48.515
They all have blond hair,[br]blue eyes. They're happy.

0:05:48.539,0:05:52.048
You think that. It's not true, of course,[br]but that's the media impression.

0:05:52.072,0:05:53.268
And that's what you get.

0:05:53.592,0:05:54.800
And they have big cities,

0:05:54.824,0:05:58.184
and the cities are all dependent on oil.

0:06:00.200,0:06:02.176
And back home, what do you see?

0:06:02.200,0:06:04.224
Poverty, despair, struggle.

0:06:04.716,0:06:07.108
Look, you don't live in a wealthy country.

0:06:07.132,0:06:09.704
I mean -- this is Iraq.

0:06:11.975,0:06:13.267
This is what you see.

0:06:13.312,0:06:15.626
You see people struggling to get by.

0:06:15.973,0:06:18.042
It's not easy; you see a lot of poverty.

0:06:18.066,0:06:19.733
And you feel something about this.

0:06:19.757,0:06:21.854
These people have designs[br]for your resource,

0:06:21.878,0:06:23.183
and this is what you see?

0:06:23.818,0:06:25.218
It doesn't feel good.

0:06:25.501,0:06:28.326
But here, couple other things.

0:06:29.882,0:06:31.994
Something else you see[br]that you talk about --

0:06:32.018,0:06:34.228
Americans don't talk[br]about this, but you do --

0:06:34.252,0:06:36.779
there's this thing,[br]this militarization of the world,

0:06:36.803,0:06:38.947
and it's centered[br]right in the United States.

0:06:38.971,0:06:40.845
And the United States is responsible

0:06:40.869,0:06:45.524
for almost one half[br]of the world's military spending.

0:06:46.364,0:06:48.356
Four percent of the world's population!

0:06:48.380,0:06:50.924
And you feel it; you see it every day.

0:06:50.948,0:06:52.270
It's part of your life.

0:06:52.294,0:06:55.072
And you talk about it with your friends.

0:06:55.096,0:06:56.684
You read about it.

0:06:56.708,0:06:59.939
And back when Saddam Hussein was in power,

0:07:00.586,0:07:03.487
the Americans didn't care[br]about his crimes.

0:07:03.511,0:07:05.928
When he was gassing[br]the Kurds and gassing Iran,

0:07:05.952,0:07:07.427
they didn't care about it.

0:07:07.451,0:07:09.530
When oil was at stake,

0:07:09.554,0:07:13.014
somehow, suddenly, things mattered.

0:07:14.585,0:07:16.987
And what you see, something else:

0:07:17.011,0:07:18.797
the United States,

0:07:18.821,0:07:20.930
the hub of democracy around the world --

0:07:20.954,0:07:24.593
they don't seem to really be supporting[br]democratic countries

0:07:24.617,0:07:26.504
all around the world.

0:07:26.528,0:07:29.247
There are a lot of countries,[br]oil-producing countries,

0:07:29.271,0:07:32.499
that aren't very democratic,[br]but supported by the United States.

0:07:33.230,0:07:34.393
That's odd.

0:07:34.417,0:07:38.117
Oh -- these incursions -[br]here, let me help you

0:07:39.042,0:07:42.054
these two wars,[br]the 10 years of sanctions,

0:07:42.378,0:07:46.196
the eight years of occupation,

0:07:46.473,0:07:50.127
the insurgency that's been[br]unleashed on your people,

0:07:50.151,0:07:52.976
the tens of thousands,[br]the hundreds of thousands

0:07:53.000,0:07:55.464
of civilian deaths?

0:07:58.214,0:08:00.060
All because of oil.

0:08:00.928,0:08:02.444
You can't help but think that.

0:08:02.888,0:08:04.269
You talk about it.

0:08:05.000,0:08:07.476
It's in the forefront[br]of your mind, always.

0:08:08.000,0:08:10.015
You say, "How is that possible?"

0:08:10.324,0:08:11.324
Come on.

0:08:14.207,0:08:16.628
And this man, he's everyman --

0:08:17.700,0:08:19.751
your grandfather, your uncle,

0:08:19.775,0:08:21.838
your father, your son, your neighbor,

0:08:21.862,0:08:23.507
your professor, your student.

0:08:24.092,0:08:26.971
Once a life of happiness and joy

0:08:27.295,0:08:29.312
and suddenly, pain and sorrow.

0:08:31.400,0:08:37.614
Everyone in your country[br]has been touched by the violence,

0:08:37.638,0:08:40.722
the bloodshed, the pain,[br]the horror -- everybody.

0:08:40.746,0:08:45.920
Not a single person in your country[br]has not been touched.

0:08:46.424,0:08:47.976
But there's something else.

0:08:48.000,0:08:51.976
There's something else about these people,[br]these Americans who are there.

0:08:52.000,0:08:54.201
There's something else[br]about them that you see

0:08:54.225,0:08:55.799
that they don't see themselves.

0:08:55.823,0:08:58.310
And what do you see? They're Christians!

0:08:58.599,0:09:00.067
They're Christians.

0:09:00.091,0:09:03.592
They worship the Christian God,[br]they have crosses, they carry Bibles.

0:09:03.616,0:09:05.774
Their Bibles have a little insignia

0:09:05.798,0:09:08.573
that says "US Army" on them.

0:09:09.600,0:09:12.696
And their leaders, their leaders:

0:09:13.100,0:09:17.393
before they send their sons and daughters[br]off to war in your country --

0:09:17.417,0:09:18.755
and you know the reason --

0:09:18.779,0:09:20.346
before they send them off,

0:09:20.370,0:09:23.672
they go to a Christian church,[br]and they pray to their Christian God,

0:09:23.696,0:09:26.480
and they ask for protection[br]and guidance from that god.

0:09:26.504,0:09:27.681
Why?

0:09:27.705,0:09:31.758
Well, obviously,[br]when people die in the war,

0:09:31.782,0:09:36.361
they are Muslims, they are Iraqis --[br]they're not Americans.

0:09:36.385,0:09:39.205
You don't want Americans to die --[br]"Protect Our Troops."

0:09:39.229,0:09:41.560
And you feel something about that --

0:09:41.584,0:09:42.787
of course you do.

0:09:42.811,0:09:44.738
And they do wonderful things,

0:09:45.173,0:09:46.863
beautiful humanitarian things.

0:09:46.887,0:09:50.196
But these humanitarians,[br]I mean these people, they're there -

0:09:50.862,0:09:52.676
You read about it, you hear about it.

0:09:52.700,0:09:54.918
They're there to build schools[br]and help people.

0:09:54.942,0:09:56.311
That's what they want to do.

0:09:56.335,0:09:59.103
They do wonderful things,[br]but they also do the bad things,

0:09:59.127,0:10:00.762
and you can't tell the difference.

0:10:00.786,0:10:04.045
And this guy, you get a guy[br]like Lt. Gen. William Boykin.

0:10:04.277,0:10:07.373
Here's a guy who says[br]that your god is a false god.

0:10:07.398,0:10:09.476
Your god's an idol;[br]his god is the true god.

0:10:09.500,0:10:12.596
The solution to the problem[br]in the Middle East, according to him,

0:10:12.620,0:10:14.554
is to convert you all to Christianity --

0:10:14.578,0:10:16.034
just get rid of your religion.

0:10:16.600,0:10:19.311
And you know that.[br]Americans don't read about this guy.

0:10:19.335,0:10:21.576
They don't know anything[br]about him, but you do.

0:10:21.600,0:10:23.791
You pass it around.[br]You pass his words around.

0:10:23.815,0:10:26.387
I mean, this is serious. You're afraid.

0:10:26.411,0:10:29.651
He was one of the leading commanders[br]in the second invasion of Iraq.

0:10:29.675,0:10:32.389
And you're thinking,[br]"My God, if this guy is saying that,

0:10:32.413,0:10:34.520
then all the soldiers[br]must be saying that."

0:10:35.012,0:10:36.497
And this word here --

0:10:36.521,0:10:38.434
George Bush called this war a crusade.

0:10:38.458,0:10:40.936
Man, the Americans,[br]they're just like, "Ah, crusade.

0:10:40.960,0:10:42.906
Whatever. I don't know what that means."

0:10:42.930,0:10:45.955
You know what it means --[br]it's a holy war against Muslims.

0:10:45.979,0:10:49.808
Look, invade, subdue them,[br]take their resources.

0:10:49.832,0:10:51.809
If they won't submit, kill them.

0:10:52.405,0:10:53.756
That's what this is about.

0:10:53.780,0:10:57.408
And you're thinking, "My God,[br]these Christians are coming to kill us."

0:10:57.432,0:10:58.876
This is frightening.

0:10:58.900,0:11:01.654
You feel frightened.[br]Of course you feel frightened.

0:11:02.804,0:11:04.804
Of course you feel frightened.

0:11:08.291,0:11:10.491
Why wouldn't you feel frightened.

0:11:10.678,0:11:13.375
And this man, Terry Jones:

0:11:13.399,0:11:16.146
I mean here's a guy[br]who wants to burn Qurans, right?

0:11:16.170,0:11:18.823
And the Americans:[br]"Ah, he's a knucklehead.

0:11:18.847,0:11:22.476
He's a former hotel manager; he's got[br]three dozen members of his church ..."

0:11:22.500,0:11:23.667
They laugh him off.

0:11:23.691,0:11:26.877
You don't laugh him off,[br]because in the context of everything else,

0:11:26.901,0:11:28.052
all the pieces fit.

0:11:28.076,0:11:29.960
Of course this is how Americans think.

0:11:29.984,0:11:32.987
So people all over the Middle East,[br]not just in your country,

0:11:33.011,0:11:34.167
are protesting.

0:11:34.191,0:11:36.122
"He wants to burn Qurans, our holy book.

0:11:36.146,0:11:38.274
These Christians --[br]who are these Christians?

0:11:38.298,0:11:41.713
They're so evil, they're so mean --[br]this is what they're about?"

0:11:41.737,0:11:44.352
This is what you're thinking[br]as an Arab Muslim,

0:11:44.376,0:11:45.785
as an Iraqi.

0:11:45.809,0:11:47.786
Of course you're going to think this.

0:11:47.811,0:11:49.545
How can you not think this?

0:11:49.610,0:11:53.534
And then your cousin says,[br]"Hey coz, check out this website.

0:11:53.558,0:11:56.131
You've got to see this -- Bible Boot Camp.

0:11:56.156,0:11:57.434
These Christians are nuts!

0:11:57.458,0:12:00.325
They're training their little kids[br]to be soldiers for Jesus.

0:12:00.749,0:12:03.334
They take little kids[br]and run them through these things

0:12:03.358,0:12:05.660
till they teach them[br]how to say, 'Sir! Yes, sir!'

0:12:05.684,0:12:08.796
and things like 'grenade toss'[br]and 'weapons care and maintenance.'

0:12:08.820,0:12:11.852
And go to the website --[br]it says 'US Army' right on it.

0:12:11.876,0:12:13.786
I mean, these Christians, they're nuts.

0:12:13.810,0:12:15.820
How can they do this[br]to their little kids?"

0:12:15.844,0:12:17.375
And you're reading this website.

0:12:17.399,0:12:20.220
And of course, Christians[br]in the United States, or anybody,

0:12:20.244,0:12:23.125
says, "This is some little church[br]in the middle of nowhere."

0:12:23.149,0:12:24.300
You don't know that.

0:12:24.324,0:12:26.733
For you, this is like, all Christians.

0:12:26.757,0:12:29.059
It's all over the Web: "Bible Boot Camp."

0:12:29.083,0:12:30.412
And look at this.

0:12:30.657,0:12:32.052
They even teach their kids --

0:12:32.076,0:12:34.889
they train them in the same way[br]the US Marines train.

0:12:35.307,0:12:36.774
Isn't that interesting.

0:12:36.798,0:12:39.076
And it scares you, and it frightens you.

0:12:39.100,0:12:41.076
So these guys, you see them.

0:12:41.100,0:12:44.284
You see, I, Sam Richards --[br]I know who these guys are.

0:12:44.308,0:12:47.241
They're my students, my friends;[br]I know what they're thinking.

0:12:47.265,0:12:48.473
You don't know.

0:12:48.497,0:12:51.042
When you see them, they're something else.

0:12:52.426,0:12:53.700
They're something else.

0:12:54.130,0:12:55.866
That's what they are to you.

0:12:56.908,0:12:59.375
We don't see it that way[br]in the United States,

0:12:59.399,0:13:00.835
but you see it that way.

0:13:04.700,0:13:05.867
So here.

0:13:06.501,0:13:08.533
Of course, you've got it wrong.

0:13:08.557,0:13:11.040
You're generalizing. It's wrong.

0:13:11.064,0:13:13.351
You don't understand the Americans.

0:13:13.375,0:13:15.055
It's not a Christian invasion.

0:13:15.079,0:13:18.052
We're not just there for oil;[br]we're there for lots of reasons.

0:13:18.076,0:13:20.089
You have it wrong. You've missed it.

0:13:20.113,0:13:22.890
And of course, most of you[br]don't support the insurgency;

0:13:22.914,0:13:24.672
you don't support killing Americans;

0:13:24.696,0:13:26.676
you don't support the terrorists.

0:13:26.700,0:13:28.676
Of course you don't. Very few people do.

0:13:28.700,0:13:30.964
But -- some of you do.

0:13:31.972,0:13:33.394
And this is a perspective.

0:13:33.781,0:13:36.513
OK. So now, here's what we're going to do.

0:13:36.537,0:13:40.498
Step outside of your shoes[br]that you're in right now,

0:13:40.522,0:13:42.312
and step back into your normal shoes.

0:13:42.336,0:13:44.311
So everyone's back in the room. OK?

0:13:45.265,0:13:47.166
Now here comes the radical experiment.

0:13:47.190,0:13:48.547
So we're all back home.

0:13:51.116,0:13:53.208
This photo: this woman --

0:13:53.232,0:13:55.105
man, I feel her.

0:13:55.129,0:13:56.702
I feel her.

0:13:56.726,0:13:58.206
She's my sister,

0:13:58.230,0:14:01.414
my wife, my cousin, my neighbor.

0:14:01.438,0:14:02.834
She's anybody to me.

0:14:02.858,0:14:05.565
These guys standing there,[br]everybody in the photo --

0:14:05.589,0:14:07.306
I feel this photo, man.

0:14:08.732,0:14:10.367
So here's what I want you to do.

0:14:10.391,0:14:13.443
Let's go back to my first[br]example, of the Chinese.

0:14:14.400,0:14:16.222
I want you to go there.

0:14:16.246,0:14:19.476
It's all about coal, and the Chinese[br]are here in the United States.

0:14:19.500,0:14:21.246
What I want you to do is picture her

0:14:21.270,0:14:24.198
as a Chinese woman[br]receiving a Chinese flag

0:14:24.222,0:14:28.891
because her loved one has died[br]in America in the coal uprising.

0:14:29.512,0:14:31.141
And the soldiers are Chinese,

0:14:31.165,0:14:33.040
and everybody else is Chinese.

0:14:33.520,0:14:36.520
As an American, how do you feel[br]about this picture?

0:14:38.830,0:14:40.726
What do you think about that scene?

0:14:43.600,0:14:46.122
OK, try this. Bring it back.

0:14:46.146,0:14:47.576
This is the scene here.

0:14:47.600,0:14:49.466
It's an American, American soldiers,

0:14:49.490,0:14:52.545
American woman who lost[br]her loved one in the Middle East,

0:14:52.569,0:14:54.772
in Iraq or Afghanistan.

0:14:54.796,0:14:56.772
Now, put yourself in the shoes,

0:14:56.796,0:15:00.651
go back to the shoes[br]of an Arab Muslim living in Iraq.

0:15:02.905,0:15:07.703
What are you feeling and thinking[br]about this photo,

0:15:07.727,0:15:09.540
about this woman?

0:15:17.901,0:15:19.576
OK,

0:15:19.600,0:15:21.576
now follow me on this,

0:15:21.600,0:15:23.731
because I'm taking a big risk here.

0:15:23.755,0:15:26.494
And so I'm going to invite you[br]to take a risk with me.

0:15:27.040,0:15:28.040
Okay?

0:15:31.318,0:15:33.295
These gentlemen here, they're insurgents.

0:15:33.319,0:15:37.328
They were caught by the American soldiers,[br]trying to kill Americans.

0:15:37.352,0:15:40.762
And maybe they succeeded.[br]Maybe they succeeded.

0:15:42.086,0:15:46.460
Put yourself in the shoes[br]of the Americans who caught them.

0:15:47.207,0:15:49.287
Can you feel the rage?

0:15:49.311,0:15:51.693
Can you feel that you just want[br]to take these guys

0:15:51.717,0:15:53.167
and wring their necks?

0:15:53.191,0:15:54.441
Can you go there?

0:15:55.335,0:15:57.010
It shouldn't be that difficult.

0:15:57.389,0:16:00.081
You just -- oh, man.

0:16:02.474,0:16:07.645
Now, put yourself in their shoes.

0:16:11.671,0:16:13.648
Are they brutal killers

0:16:13.672,0:16:15.625
or patriotic defenders?

0:16:17.601,0:16:18.754
Which one?

0:16:19.391,0:16:22.576
Can you feel their anger,

0:16:22.600,0:16:24.031
their fear,

0:16:24.055,0:16:26.031
their rage

0:16:26.724,0:16:28.921
at what has happened in their country?

0:16:28.945,0:16:33.348
Can you imagine that maybe[br]one of them, in the morning,

0:16:33.372,0:16:36.504
bent down to their child[br]and hugged their child

0:16:36.528,0:16:40.505
and said, "Dear, I'll be back later.

0:16:40.529,0:16:43.858
I'm going out to defend[br]your freedom, your lives.

0:16:43.882,0:16:46.355
I'm going out to look out for us,

0:16:47.369,0:16:48.893
the future of our country."

0:16:49.980,0:16:51.277
Can you imagine that?

0:16:51.301,0:16:52.804
Can you imagine saying that?

0:16:54.028,0:16:55.444
Can you go there?

0:16:58.600,0:17:00.335
What do you think they're feeling?

0:17:08.623,0:17:10.028
You see, that's empathy.

0:17:11.281,0:17:12.726
It's also understanding.

0:17:12.750,0:17:14.377
[understand]

0:17:14.402,0:17:15.710
Now, you might ask,

0:17:15.733,0:17:19.001
"OK, Sam, so why do you[br]do this sort of thing?

0:17:19.025,0:17:21.385
Why would you use[br]this example of all examples?"

0:17:21.409,0:17:24.076
And I say, because.

0:17:25.800,0:17:27.601
You're allowed to hate these people.

0:17:27.625,0:17:32.776
You're allowed to just hate them[br]with every fiber of your being.

0:17:32.800,0:17:36.577
And if I can get you[br]to step into their shoes

0:17:36.601,0:17:40.158
and walk an inch -- one tiny inch --

0:17:40.980,0:17:43.694
then imagine the kind[br]of sociological analysis

0:17:43.718,0:17:47.336
that you can do in all other[br]aspects of your life.

0:17:48.368,0:17:49.776
You can walk a mile

0:17:49.800,0:17:54.871
when it comes to understanding why[br]that person's driving 40 miles per hour

0:17:54.895,0:17:56.292
in the passing lane;

0:17:57.093,0:17:58.764
or your teenage son;

0:17:59.474,0:18:03.117
or your neighbor who annoys you[br]by cutting his lawn on Sunday mornings.

0:18:03.141,0:18:05.997
Whatever it is, you can go so far.

0:18:06.601,0:18:08.696
And this is what I tell my students:

0:18:08.720,0:18:12.212
step outside of your tiny, little world.

0:18:12.236,0:18:16.748
Step inside of the tiny,[br]little world of somebody else.

0:18:16.989,0:18:18.430
And then do it again

0:18:18.454,0:18:20.153
and do it again and do it again.

0:18:20.177,0:18:22.286
And suddenly, all these tiny,[br]little worlds,

0:18:22.310,0:18:24.562
they come together in this complex web.

0:18:24.586,0:18:27.656
And they build a big, complex world.

0:18:27.680,0:18:30.059
And suddenly, without realizing it,

0:18:30.083,0:18:32.260
you're seeing the world differently.

0:18:32.284,0:18:34.047
Everything has changed.

0:18:34.071,0:18:35.814
Everything in your life has changed.

0:18:36.921,0:18:39.994
And that's, of course, what this is about.

0:18:40.018,0:18:43.140
Attend to other lives,

0:18:43.164,0:18:44.522
other visions.

0:18:44.546,0:18:46.971
Listen to other people,

0:18:47.011,0:18:48.856
enlighten ourselves.

0:18:48.915,0:18:51.048
Abd so, what I will say here is,

0:18:53.909,0:18:57.536
I'm not saying that I support[br]the terrorists in Iraq.

0:18:58.179,0:19:01.410
But as a sociologist, what I am saying is:

0:19:02.100,0:19:04.849
I understand.

0:19:06.100,0:19:10.328
And now perhaps -- perhaps -- you do, too.

0:19:10.352,0:19:11.504
Thank you.

0:19:11.528,0:19:14.896
(Applause)