Daydreaming's dark side + Men around the world really do lack empathy

[C C]

Daydreaming’s dark side: the compulsive, complex fantasy disorder that dominates some people’s daily lives
https://theconversation.com/daydreamings...ves-195767

INTRO: Despite what we’re often taught to believe, daydreaming can be immensely useful. Not only can it be a source of pleasure and a way to relieve boredom, research shows that our ability to mentally escape the present can also boost creativity, problem-solving and planning, and provide an antidote to loneliness.

Daydreaming, when defined as thoughts that aren’t tied to what you’re currently doing, occupies a good chunk of our waking lives – an average of around 30% of the time if you randomly probe people. It’s part of our everyday conscious experience. You might even think of it as our default mode which we return to, especially when doing things that don’t require a lot of brain power, such as mundane tasks like hanging out washing.

But it’s estimated 2.5% of adults experience a type of excessive daydreaming which is defined as the disorder “maladaptive daydreaming”. So-called maladaptive daydreamers compulsively engage in vivid fantasies and daydreaming plots so excessively that it interferes with their ability to function in daily life... (MORE - details)

---

Men around the world really do lack empathy
https://robertroybritt.medium.com/men-ar...c714d16bd8

INTRO: Empathy is not my strong suit. My ability to read the emotions of others and see things from their perspective is modest at best. Sure, I cry during sappy movies and dog food commercials, but in real life I often avoid getting overly entangled in other people’s feelings.

My lack of empathy was confirmed by taking an online Brain Type survey created by scientists at the University of Cambridge (more on this below). I’m not devoid of empathy nor even super low, the survey revealed, just below average. It also revealed I have a very strong tendency to systematize things, seeking to identify patterns and analyze or construct systems, be they in nature or created by technology.

When I reported these results to my wife, she merely nodded and laughed, an unspoken duh!

I’m not the only guy running low on empathy, you might’ve guessed.

Women are, on average, better than men at empathy, defined as “the ability to understand another person’s thoughts and feelings and to respond to these with an appropriate emotion,” according to a new analysis of 305,726 people in 57 countries.
Not surprising, but…

The broad finding—based on an empathy-measuring method called the Eyes Test, which asks participants to describe another person’s feelings based on photos of their eyes only — is not exactly a surprise. Other studies have found women tend to be more empathetic than men. But the new analysis finds this tendency holds true across the age spectrum and in many cultures and languages... (MORE - missing details)

PAPER: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/344667

BRAIN TYPE SURVEY: https://yourbraintype.com/

[Zinjanthropos]

Probably the most empathy you’ll see from a man occurs after witnessing another man getting hit in the groin, complete with noises and actions imitating the unfortunate victim.

[confused2]

I think standards of fluffiness may have changed over the years. By the standards of my age I'd say I was unusually high on the fluffy scale but on the nufluffy scale I'm quite low, very low, zero.

[Magical Realist]

Daydreaming, when defined as thoughts that aren’t tied to what you’re currently doing, occupies a good chunk of our waking lives – an average of around 30% of the time if you randomly probe people. It’s part of our everyday conscious experience. You might even think of it as our default mode which we return to, especially when doing things that don’t require a lot of brain power, such as mundane tasks like hanging out washing.

I notice I daydream alot when I'm driving. Often times I go off into some revery and then suddenly awake to the immediate situation of being on the road and wonder how I drove without being conscious of it. Driving must be one of those activities that can be performed on "autopilot" like typing or knitting.

[Leigha]

Men around the world really do lack empathy
https://robertroybritt.medium.com/men-ar...c714d16bd8

INTRO: Empathy is not my strong suit. My ability to read the emotions of others and see things from their perspective is modest at best. Sure, I cry during sappy movies and dog food commercials, but in real life I often avoid getting overly entangled in other people’s feelings.

My lack of empathy was confirmed by taking an online Brain Type survey created by scientists at the University of Cambridge (more on this below). I’m not devoid of empathy nor even super low, the survey revealed, just below average. It also revealed I have a very strong tendency to systematize things, seeking to identify patterns and analyze or construct systems, be they in nature or created by technology.

When I reported these results to my wife, she merely nodded and laughed, an unspoken duh!

I’m not the only guy running low on empathy, you might’ve guessed.

Women are, on average, better than men at empathy, defined as “the ability to understand another person’s thoughts and feelings and to respond to these with an appropriate emotion,” according to a new analysis of 305,726 people in 57 countries.
Not surprising, but…

The broad finding—based on an empathy-measuring method called the Eyes Test, which asks participants to describe another person’s feelings based on photos of their eyes only — is not exactly a surprise. Other studies have found women tend to be more empathetic than men. But the new analysis finds this tendency holds true across the age spectrum and in many cultures and languages... (MORE - missing details)

PAPER: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/344667

BRAIN TYPE SURVEY: https://yourbraintype.com/

I think most men have been taught to control their emotions from the time they're children, whereas women are encouraged at a young age to show their emotions. Or at the very least, we're not thought of in any particular way, negative or otherwise, if we as women, express an outpouring of empathy and emotions for others.

It makes me wonder though if all of us have varying levels of empathy for other people. Like, learning about poverty in third world countries may move someone to donating to various charities or becoming a missionary, while others may not be all that empathetic. Some people may care about different social justice issues, while others, those issues barely phase them.

It could be that the saying is true...''we don't see other people as they are, we see them as we are.'' Much of our empathy and compassion for one cause or another, one person or another, may stem from our own experiences and how the causes relate to those experiences.