Because all it really did was underscore what we all already know: We are empathetic, social animals and we're affected by what we observe and experience -- directly or indirectly.
(He once told me how much he adored Colette, who, even if she was famed for her empathetic communion with animals, never hesitated to swat an insect whose buzzing disturbed her concentration).
De Waal's holistic and empathetic approach to animals contrasts starkly with the arid dead end of BF Skinner's behaviourism, which dominated studies of animal behaviour in the second half of the 20th century and banished all talk of feelings or mind, looking instead at learned behavioural responses.
Born Timothy Zell in St . Louisin 1942, he early on felt a deep, spiritual-mystical connection to nature, including an empathetic attunement to animals.
They might be visiting hospitals or hospices, nursing homes or homeless shelters, libraries or homes to see someone who is housebound -- anywhere that people could use the kind of pick-me-up bestowed by a calm, empathetic, 2.5-foot tall, stuffed animal-like creature, whose very existence makes the world a happier place.
So why can you feel empathetic towards strangers, acquaintances,and animals, but not with your own inner circle?
Children in families with pets may have an easier time with social interactions and tend to be more empathetic toward humans and other animals.
Massive beyond reason, Brobdingnagian, my field guide, tells me that these amphibious giants are second only in weight to the elephant; cranky, ornery, extremely dangerous, shockingly fast, and now I'm told empathetic to other non predatory animals (or at least so at times).
The care approach to animal ethics consists of an empathetic way of understanding the plight of individual animals in patriarchal and capitalistic institutions.
In this first episode, Hugh and his band of incredibly photogenic scientists are looking at animal intelligence; meeting empathetic elephants, streetwise racoons and a rat that sniffs out land mines.
