Author Archives: spdunne

Shadows and Spaces

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For the first few weeks of this course, I could not understand why everyone loved the contemplative practices. It seemed utterly counterproductive to discuss systems theory while also emphasizing the awareness of our personal experiences. However, I realized that these two perspectives are what ultimately define what it means to be a human. I chose to represent my human “beingness”… Read more »

Believing in Empathy

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The opening of Jeremy Rifkin’s The Empathic Civilization stirs an existential question about free will and empathy. Rifkin state that “the empathic predisposition is embedded in our biology.” He continues to discuss the discovery of “empathy neurons” and how biologists argue that humans naturally seek empathic relationships with other animals. Furthermore, educators believe that empathic social interaction is necessary to… Read more »