It states that making a connection by showing the target empathy is a great way to get past defenses and obtain more credible information than torture — and it said this long before CIA idiots decided that waterboarding was the way to go.
davew On Thu, Jan 7, 2021, at 1:21 PM, [email protected] wrote: > I wonder what the cia handbook says about empathy during interrogation. > > n > > Nicholas Thompson > Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology > Clark University > [email protected] > https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/ > > > > *From:* Friam <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *Marcus Daniels > *Sent:* Thursday, January 7, 2021 1:41 PM > *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[email protected]> > *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] the power of metaphor. > > If the CIA builds up a dossier on the foibles of a foreign leader and > possible ways to manipulate that leader, I would not call that empathy. Can > one get in the skin of another without feeling their pain or validating it? > I think one certainly can, and that it can be better to do that in many > situations. > > *From:* Friam <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of > *[email protected] > *Sent:* Thursday, January 7, 2021 11:29 AM > *To:* 'The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group' <[email protected]> > *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] the power of metaphor. > > Does seeing imply visual vulnerability? Hearing imply auditory > vulnerability? Well, I suppose. Any time we make ourselves open to > information, I suppose we are in some sense vulnerable. But aren’t we also > impowered? Feelings only make one vulnerable if one fails to process them. > > N > > Nicholas Thompson > Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology > Clark University > [email protected] > https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/ > > > > *From:* Friam <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *Marcus Daniels > *Sent:* Thursday, January 7, 2021 12:03 PM > *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[email protected]> > *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] the power of metaphor. > > A problem with empathy is that it typically understood to be a “feeling”. > Feeling means offering vulnerability. The class of people we are > discussing should not be offered that. They should be shown, in a calm and > steady manner, to a bland government bus after the empathy value is firmly in > the off position. > > *From:* Friam <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of > *[email protected] > *Sent:* Thursday, January 7, 2021 9:51 AM > *To:* 'The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group' <[email protected]> > *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] the power of metaphor. > > Well, I hate to shortcut a perfectly good argument, but I think, now, we > agree. If you concede that empathy is a form of perception whose value as > information cannot be denied, I can readily agree that so focusing on one’s > empathy as to avoid all other sources of information is dangerous and stupid > *and cloying. * > > Nick > > Nicholas Thompson > Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology > Clark University > [email protected] > https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/ > > > > *From:* Friam <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *Marcus Daniels > *Sent:* Thursday, January 7, 2021 11:39 AM > *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[email protected]> > *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] the power of metaphor. > > Sure, I use my eyes and visual cortex to judge the speed of an oncoming car. > But I shouldn’t model that last fractions of a second before impact in > luxurious detail. That’s suicidal. I should step on the brakes or the gas > to avoid the collision. That’s what all this empathy talk strikes me as – > giving dangerous people so many mental cycles that they do collide into you. > Wringing ones hands before victimization is complete. No, take the mental > cycles and develop some tactics and strategy for preventing these people from > being dangerous. > > I only mention Ted Cruz because he seems a slightly interesting person, in a > sort of satanic way. Most of the others are mad dogs as far as I am > concerned. > > *From:* Friam <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of > *[email protected] > *Sent:* Thursday, January 7, 2021 9:30 AM > *To:* 'The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group' <[email protected]> > *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] the power of metaphor. > > Marcus, > > You could not have written what you wrote here, with it’s searing > pointedness, without empathy. Empathy is not an ideology; is an organ of > perception. > > n > > Nicholas Thompson > Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology > Clark University > [email protected] > https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/ > > > > *From:* Friam <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *Marcus Daniels > *Sent:* Thursday, January 7, 2021 11:05 AM > *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[email protected]> > *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] the power of metaphor. > > The prior reflections by Glen on young adulthood makes me wonder about Ted’s. > Was there a particular point at which he decided to be a public person and > that he realized he could find an angle in any situation? Did he anticipate > what his life would become, or did he just fall into it? Sometimes it seems > like he doesn’t even enjoy it. It seems there is no objective distance he > gets from his nihilism. There’s just always the next thing he has to do. > > *From:* Friam <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of > *[email protected] > *Sent:* Thursday, January 7, 2021 8:53 AM > *To:* 'The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group' <[email protected]> > *Subject:* [FRIAM] the power of metaphor. > > Bret Stephens, a NYT columnist, described Ted Cruz as “a serpent covered in > Vaseline” . Will I ever get that image out of my head? > > Nick > > Nicholas Thompson > Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology > Clark University > [email protected] > https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/ > > > > - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam > un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ >
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