Jeremy
Rifkin, released a new books tilted The Empathic
Civilization. He also posted an article on the Huffington Post about the
how empathy relates to the Earthquake in Haiti.
I just went to his talk in Sonoma, CA
on January 24th and video taped it. It's about 1 hour and 20 minutes
with Q and A. See below.
I had a few minutes to talk with
Jeremy while I was miking him for audio. He was quite interested in the empathy
documentary project and I'm contacting his staff to see how we can collaborate.
He also mentioned that HuffingtonPost will be doing a month of empathy
discussions based on his book. So keep an eye out for that.
I think this will be a
significant book in helping to generate a national dialog about empathy. The
book is huge with over 600 pages. It took him 4 and half years to put it
together and it covers a lot and pulls many threads together, from history,
philosophy, science, child education, etc. etc. The research is amazing. I just
started chapter seven and have nine more to go.
The
introduction and first chapter, about 40 pages of
the book is readable directly online on his website at
EmpathicCivilization.com. Following are some more links to
videos, radio interviews and articles.
‘The ability to recognize oneself in the other and the other in oneself is a
deeply democratizing experience. Empathy is the soul of democracy. It is an
acknowledgment that each life is unique, unalienable, and deserving of equal
consideration in the public square. The evolution of empathy and the evolution
of democracy have gone hand in hand throughout history. The more empathic the
culture, the more democratic its values and governing institutions. The less
empathic the culture, the more totalitarian its values and governing
institutions. While apparent, it's strange how little attention has been paid to
the inextricable relationship between empathic extension and democratic
expansion in the study of history and evolution of governance.”
Jeremy Rifkin
Videos The Jeremy Rifkin Book Tour - Video By Edwin Rutsch Empathic Civilization: The Race to
Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis
Video Taped at Praxis Peace Institute,
January, 24, 2010 in Sonoma, CA. (1 hr. 20 min.)
Jeremy Rifkin argues that a new
science of human nature is emerging that demonstrates that humans are not as
aggressive, materialistic, and self-interested as once believed. He says humans
are driven by empathy and cooperation.
00:13:32 their own. so if we are
wired or predisposes for empathy is it possible we could extend empathic
consciousness...
00:20:23 and become impact it. this
changes the range of empathy very genetically. hunter gatherer cultures...
00:21:09 Muslims and Muslims. the
extension of empathy and the process. and the 19th century when...
00:21:19 industrial revolution, print
technology had empathy extend itself? to the nation state. broader...
00:22:56 and at the far reaches we now
can extend our empathy to the globe. when the first video showed up...
00:23:09 bear and backup isolated on
the ice floe the empathy of the human race exhibited itself we can now...
00:56:27 and Jonathan was on c-span
this week extending empathy to animals will also help solve the problem...
00:58:03 at our core and impacting
creature. we do seek empathy with each other. that is the game plan. when...
Jeremy
Rifkin - The Empathic Civilisation
Bestselling author, political adviser and social and ethical prophet Jeremy
Rifkin investigates the evolution of empathy and the profound ways that it has
shaped our development and our society. @ Royal Society for the encouragement of
Arts
Michael
Krasny - KQED
Radio interview
January 25, 2010 "European adviser and author
Jeremy Rifkin challenges the notion that people are innately selfish and
materialistic. In his new book, "The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global
Consciousness in a World in Crisis," he alleges that our future rests on our
ability to function as an empathic society. We talk with Rifkin about his call
for a "third Industrial Revolution."
The Bob Edwards Show - XMradio
inteview
January 31, 2010 "Social thinker and author Jeremy Rifkin’s
book The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World
in Crisis looks at emerging scientific studies that show humans are not
naturally aggressive and self-interested, but fundamentally empathetic.
Rifkin’s book is a new interpretation of the history of civilization, focusing
on the development of human empathy through the present time. "
Interview
Outline
Story of WW1 -
Christmas peace
Philosophy:
Church - We
are born in sin
Enlightenment
- We are born tabla rasa, self interested, seek pleasure
Still the
dominate idea
Mirror neurons
discovered
biologically
wired to feel empathy
Homo
Empathicus - wired to be social
Historians look
at pathological/power and not the daily empathy
How do you
explain, greed, me decade, Bernie Madoff, etc.?
babies seek
connection, if empathy not met then other forces come in.
Oil is running
out, This industrial revolution is coming to an end.
Technology is
extending to a global empathy consciousness
red cross
-can't absorb being overloaded with others pain in war zone
individuality
needed for empathy - if overwhelmed can respond
Need to go to
Biosphere consciousness
Building the
3rd industrial revolution - distributed energy and communication
opposite of
drill baby drill
need a global
consciousness and extend empathy
Start a global
conversation about empathy.
Where to pursue happiness
About the nature of culture and how culture needs to be reclaimed from commerce
and it's reliance on selfishness and greed. A good explanation for why we need
to reclaim our culture and build a Culture of Empathy.
