State of Mind and Empathy - Essay Example

Module of Mind and Empathy Cognitive process such as thinking, perception, decision-making, problem-solving and judgment all happen in the brain and the state of mind of a person at that time significantly influences their outcome. Feelings expressed as empathy are controlled by the brain within the Central Nervous System (Coplan and Goldie, 177-8). Empathy is the ability to feel as another person by psychologically entering into their situations. In order to determine if empathy is a natural reflex or not and if it can be acquired, a simple experimental exercise has been done to explore the relationship between the state of mind and empathy.

One salient observation that comes out is the variability of empathy feelings with the current state of mind of a person. In the first activity, I noticed a scar on the face of a close friend and informed him as I watched him respond. The manner in which he detested made me feel empathetic to him. I felt like it was me going through the same experience. In activity two, a number of conversations were held with different groups discussing different topics. Those groups that were discussing life experiences related topics rather than social fun/leisure showed much more empathy than the others.

The state of the mind at that time was set by the topics discussed, which in turn, influenced emotional response. The interplay of the neurotransmitters and the brain accounts for this. Implications of the Activities Outcome In the first activity, I responded empathetically to my friend’s reactions because of the state in which I engaged my mind. I had personalized the feeling he was going through and I could feel it right within me experiencing the same thing. Noticing the scar meant that I directed my attention to fine details and my mind was, therefore, relaxed and keen.

This ardent attention made me experience exactly the same way the friend was feeling. The fact that the person was my close friend made me empathize even more because of the attached feelings we shared. This literally implies that if the mind is relaxed and in a calm state, it is likely to influence the feelings expressed toward people especially those we are closely attached (Lopez, 111-2) Consequently, in the second activity, the orientation of the mind at a particular time will affect the feelings expressed and reactions to events.

When one plunges the mind into discussions that significantly elicit their feelings in any way, they are likely to respond with feelings and vice versa. People who are talking about ‘flat-feeling’ topics will hardly respond emotionally to any given feeling-related situation. In the case of my groups, as demonstrated, those discussing topics about life experiences were emotionally involved much more deeply and any emotional trigger instantly brings responses such as empathy. To change one’s emotional responses, therefore, means changing their state of mind by involving them in unrelated topics (Lopez, 110-2).

CONCLUSION The outcome of the activities shows that empathy is a dependent of the state of mind and it is affected by environmental factors. If the neurotransmitters are triggered through discussions of eventful experiences, then empathy is achieved. This, therefore, means that empathy is a natural reflex influenced by sensory and perceptual processes as demonstrated even by the monkey experiments. The human mind is a control tower through which feelings, emotions and thoughts are generated and regulated.

Works Cited Coplan, Amy, & Peter Goldie. Empathy: Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print. Lopez, Shane J. The Encyclopedia of Positive Psychology. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, 2011.