Photo credits: John Moore
When you first saw this now anti-iconic photo (above and the close-up below), what was your first thought?
Well, this is a bit of a trick question, because your first reaction should NOT have been to think about this image first - rather you should have felt it first. This would indicate you have substantial Emotional Empathy.
So long as our emotional empathy is developed - when we see another person in pain - whether it be emotional pain or physical pain, we should "feel them" first. And we should naturally, and reflexively feel their pain - without thinking. We empathize. We experience similar emotions.
(In the next moment, if you have a developed sense of Compassionate Empathy - you would then think about what you could do to help - and then act upon it.)
When we're in such a state of emotional empathy, particularly initially - we will mirror the facial expressions of those with whom we're empathizing.
Although we can primarily visualize the right side of her face and only portions of her mid-line and left face, we can still clearly discern that this two-year-old's:
• Central forehead is contracted and elevated
• Her eyebrows are simultaneously depressed in all but the medial (inner) portions
• Her upper eyelids are open widely - while her lower eyelids are tightened
• Her nostrils are flared
• Her mid-face is significantly tightened
• Her neck muscles (platysma) is tightened
• Her lips are stretched thin as her mouth corners are being pulled laterally and down
• With a simultaneous exposing of her lower teeth during in a jaw drop
• Whilst crying and screaming
SUMMARY: It's no mystery to most people who view these images, that this little girl is in an emotional state of deep anguish and fear.
Yet there is still a mystery here - for why, upon looking at these and similar photos - does a substantial percentage of the general population still not experience any (or very little) emotional empathy? The answer is multifactorial. In a very basic sense, emotional empathy deficits can be divided up into genetic and environmental causes - both nature and nurture.
"If you only have 'empathy' for people who are in your group/tribe/same color skin/same religion/same country - you can stop deluding yourself. That's not empathy - it's just an extension of your ego."
Piper Anne Twain
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See also:
Body Language Analysis No. 4308: DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen's most Telling Expression
Body Language Analysis No. 4306: Donald Trump, a North Korean General, and a Salute
Body Language Analysis No. 4304: Donald Trump's and Kim Jong-un's Handshake in Singapore
Body Language Analysis No. 4302: G7 Leaders Surrounding Donald Trump
Body Language Analysis No. 4284: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Deadpool 2, and Alpha Up-Regulation
Body Language Analysis No. 4278: Jaws - "You're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat" - vs. A Real Shark Encounter on a Paddleboard
Body Language Analysis No. 4255: Roger Stone and Julian Assange
Body Language Analysis No. 4209: Emma Gonzalez, Florida HS Shooting, and Emotional Processing
Body Language Analysis No. 4159: Nikki Haley, Jerusalem, and the United Nations
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