“Opinions” arrive quickly, like weather moving across the mind. They “form without effort,” often without reflection, and rarely with the weight of understanding behind them. An opinion can spring from the emotion or echo of someone else’s certainty. That is “why opinions form without efforts.” They require no journeys into ourselves, or from another person.
Empathy moves differently. It asks us to pause; to imagine a life beyond our own; to listen without the shield of judgement. It requires humility, curiosity, and the willingness to be changed by what we learn. Empathy is not a reflux. It is a deliberate act of entering into another person’s experience. This is why empathy requires imagination. It stretches us beyond the borders of our own certainty.
But, in today’s world, the speed and ease of opinions have begun to shrink our capacity to imagination and our ability to establish exceptional decision making. When quick certainty is required, curiosity becomes unnecessary. When reaction replaces reflection, empathy becomes inconvenient. We scroll online, declare, and become unkind. Yet, rarely do we wonder, question, or feel. And in that shift, something essential is lost: Our ability to explore the inner landscapes of others, and the quiet willingness to experience the merit of truth beyond our own.
Bud Megargee is a former senior behavioral healthcare executive; a Washington, DC., healthcare lobbyist; and an independently published, best-selling and award-winning author. He began writing after exploring Eastern philosophy and alternative medicine techniques in the professional treatment of emotional challenges at a Taiwanese Buddhist monastery.