The Empathy Gap: Building Bridges to the Good Life and the Good Society

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Overview

Drawing on his sweeping and innovative research, philosopher and cognitive scientist J. D. Trout recruits the latest findings in psychology, behavioral economics, and neuroscience to answer the question: How can we make better personal decisions and design social policies that improve the lives of everyone?

We are touched when faced with the hardships of others, whether caused by unemployment, poor schools, crime, poverty, poor health, or the financial insecurity of credit and mortgage debt. Some people are strapped because they chose poorly. But millions of ordinary citizens, the author explains, have only bad options in the first place or are ambushed ...

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More About This Book

Overview

Drawing on his sweeping and innovative research, philosopher and cognitive scientist J. D. Trout recruits the latest findings in psychology, behavioral economics, and neuroscience to answer the question: How can we make better personal decisions and design social policies that improve the lives of everyone?

We are touched when faced with the hardships of others, whether caused by unemployment, poor schools, crime, poverty, poor health, or the financial insecurity of credit and mortgage debt. Some people are strapped because they chose poorly. But millions of ordinary citizens, the author explains, have only bad options in the first place or are ambushed by unconscious cognitive bias. We may want society to insulate people from the damages of bad fortune and yet we don’t act. Our empathic wiring evolved to care for our families and close neighbors, less for strangers with unfamiliar customs or for future selves we can only dimly imagine. And so we are left with an empathy gap between people separated by culture, personality, current mood, geography, and time.

Trout travels the leading edge of scientific research on empathy, free will, and decision making, to show how the same science of judgment that improves our decision making can create concrete, realistic, and often money-saving policies to improve human well-being. Decent people can vault the empathy gap, reinforcing cherished American ideals like equality, access to health care, decent education for all, and effective opportunity. Individuals and governments alike can learn to practice this intelligent and responsible empathy.

Editorial Reviews

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In our selfish world, the empathy gap alluded to in J. D. Trout's book sometimes looks more like a gaping chasm. As good Americans, we understandably cherish free will, individualism, and laissez-faire economics, but often the choices we make do more harm than good. Social psychologist Trout believes that there are good reasons to believe that government can and should bridge the empathy gap. Citing examples such as vaccination, food safety laws, and estate taxes, he argues that in numerous instances, society can act more effectively than any "invisible hand."
Publishers Weekly

In this dramatic challenge to cherished American concepts like individualism, free will and laissez-faire economics, Trout (Epistemology and the Psychology of Human Judgment) presents "an alternative story grounded not in the abstractions of political theory or economics, but in the moisture and grit of human psychology." Studies by cognitive scientists and psychologists reveal an "empathy gap," where individuals repeatedly make biased and selfish choices despite their best attempts to the contrary. The author posits that government can bridge the gap and cites vaccination, estate tax, helmet laws and food safety as issues that government has successfully handled for the greater good. For fighting poverty: "the best hope... is amending the Constitution to guarantee an above-poverty income to all citizens." Trout recognizes that government may not always make the right choices, but suggests that if it depended more on automated processes and the advice of social scientists, it might recover the trust that it has lost. For some, Trout's book will seem a panacea for a selfish world, but others may question whether it is really possible to prevent the same biases that affect individual decisions from affecting larger, governmental entities. (Feb.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
More Reviews (1) Fewer Reviews
Library Journal
Relying on the latest findings in psychology, behavioral economics, and neuroscience, cognitive scientist Trout (www.jdtrout.com) makes the case that armed with a greater understanding of the science of empathy, policymakers and individuals would be better equipped to make choices on their own and society's behalf. The author himself narrates in a clear and moderate voice. While Trout's concepts are intriguing, this is not a light read and is best suited for individuals interested in psychology and public policy. [Audio clip available through brillianceaudio.com; the Viking hc was "recommended for public library collections," LJ 2/1/09.—Ed.—J. Sara Paulk, Fitzgerald-Ben Hill Cty. Lib., Fitzgerald, GA

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780670020447
  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
  • Publication date: 2/5/2009
  • Pages: 320
  • Product dimensions: 6.20 (w) x 9.10 (h) x 1.30 (d)

Meet the Author

J. D. Trout is professor of philosophy and adjunct professor of the Parmly Sensory Sciences Institute at Loyola University in Chicago. He has held fellowships from the National Science Foundation, Mellon Foundation, and National Endowment for the Humanities. His previous books include Epistemology and the Psychology of Human Judgment and Measuring the Intentional World.

Table of Contents

Introduction Decency to Spare 1

Ch. 1 Bridging the Empathy Gap 21

Ch. 2 The Trappings of Freedom 56

Ch. 3 Can We Rebuild This Mind? A Tool Kit for Spotting Biases 86

Ch. 4 Outside the Mind 123

Ch. 5 Stat versus Gut 151

Ch. 6 The New Republic 176

Conclusion: Empathy's Future and a New American Demos 223

Acknowledgments 235

Notes 239

Bibliography 259

Index 285

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