I think Obama is right when he says that America is based on people caring about each other and working together for a better future -- empathy, responsibility (both personal and social), and aspiration.
Analyzing decades of animal-cognition research, he shows that, with the exception of full-fledged language, animals have been shown to exhibit many of the key behaviors that were thought to distinguish humans from animals: the ability to consider the past and the future, to demonstrate empathy and self-awareness, and to anticipate the motives of others.
Still, this may have been the result of a top down decision and does not necessarily imply a collaborative reflective process and hence may not have given rise to the change in mindset of the whole staff that should form the base for future improvements in empathy along with communication and information skills and which may only be measurable by applying another patient evaluation.
In addition, the use of peer role playing has appeared to create an appreciation for empathy in future doctors as they are given the opportunity to stand in the shoes of their future patients [ 14, 15, 18].
Those in the healthtech world probably do not interact with the safety net population in a meaningful way on a regular basis, so the empathy and future envisioning required to design for them takes some work to develop.
Let us work to ensure that it is a future expressed by global empathy, compassion, and understanding, and not by increasing distrust and conflict.
Previous studies found an association between the choice of medical students' future specialization and their empathy level scores [ 4, 22, 26, 27].
Science suggests that empathy for your future self could play a key role in how you live in the present moment.
McKibben suggests a divestment strategy kicked off by students outraged either by the threats to their own future or by the same empathy that drove their reaction to apartheid.
This post is adapted from Part IV of his essay Reversed on Appeal: The Uncertain Future of President Obama's "Empathy Standard," which was recently published by the Yale Law Journal Online.
