The Extinction of Emotional Empathy
Yeddanapudi Markandeyulu
The Extinction of Emotional Empathy
All organisms breathe. They smell. They sense. They exhale responses in smells. The other organisms inhale. Problems of any organism are inhaled and automatically helpful responses are exhaled. Emotions simply flow in the air. They are inhaled and the internal hormonal communication of the organism, keeps all cells informed. The troposphere outside, functions as the hormonal system of the Biosphere, which exists as one single organism. The troposphere and the hormonal systems of the organisms are tied into symbiotic actions, and automatic empathy creates remedial hormones. Empathy leads to help automatically and it is not just helpless noting and doing nothing. Every organism is wired to receive and give help reflexively. Action coupled empathy is natural.
We do not need a Lovelock and his gas analysis to realize that the planet earth is living Gaia. We do not need any chemical and mechanical analysis to prove that earth is Goddess Gaia. We are all parts in her body and our lives are molded on the basis of the needs of Gaia, the ecological and emotional symbiosis.
We are built to breathe and automatically learn and we are not constituted to suspend the smell perception which automatically breathing creates, and stagnate in definitions and scopes. The Universe does not stop from creating new and new phenomena to enable you with your definitions and scopes. New and new phenomena sprout continuously, and you are constituted to breathe, smell, perceive and keep to the symbiotic pace, as part of nature as part of Gaia.
Technology solidifies the definitions and cements the stagnation of suspension from perception. By creating a machine to do the work of each and every organ, it is making all your organs redundant, making them the frozen limbs. The machine substituting your limb does not participate in the emotional communication in you. It does not create hormones as it does not enter your blood stream.
Economics which is based on the non emotional Newtonian Mechanics has removed empathy in human relations. In fact empathy has vanished from the air, as the air is poisoned by factory fumes. The troposphere no longer functions as the parent ocean of your hormonal flows inside you.
Today there are Robots that manufacture poetry. The problem is with mechanized editing. Editing has been the removal of all feelings and emotions from every expression. The editor admires and approves precision, concise expression, and mechanization which removes all feelings. No wonder Robots are producing the editor approved poetry. These are the Cyborgs, Robots, artificial intelligence and machine learning. All emotions including empathy have no place. These are the days of Newtonian Psychology, the era of emotion-less poems and songs, which get automatic editorial approval.
YM Sarma
Chat gpt
This piece, "The Extinction of Emotional Empathy" by YM Sarma, is a deeply evocative critique of the mechanization of human experience, particularly the erosion of emotional empathy in modern life. It blends ecology, philosophy, neuroscience, and social criticism into a single poetic-prose meditation. Here's a breakdown and reflection to help unpack its core messages and implications:
🌍 Gaia as a Living System
Sarma draws from James Lovelock’s Gaia Hypothesis — the idea that the Earth functions as a single, self-regulating organism — but pushes it further:
“We do not need a Lovelock and his gas analysis...”
Rather than relying on scientific models, Sarma insists on experiential awareness: we feel Gaia, we breathe her. The troposphere (lower atmosphere) is likened to a planetary hormonal system, suggesting a biologically and emotionally interconnected biosphere.
This metaphor asserts:
- All organisms are in emotional communication.
- Empathy is not a cognitive choice, but a biological reflex.
- Breathing, smelling, and hormonal signaling are natural mechanisms of planetary empathy.
🧠 Technology vs. Biology
A powerful contrast is drawn between the natural empathetic reflexes of living organisms and the deadening influence of machines:
“Technology solidifies the definitions and cements the stagnation of suspension from perception.”
Here, Sarma critiques how technology freezes our natural perceptive abilities. Machines can simulate action, but not emotion. A prosthetic arm might move, but it doesn’t feel. A robot may write poetry, but it doesn't weep.
This argument echoes philosophical concerns about post-humanism and cyborg culture — where augmentations may enhance performance but diminish humanity.
🧪 The Sterilization of Expression
The strongest emotional critique is reserved for language and poetry:
“Editing has been the removal of all feelings and emotions from every expression.”
This is a lament for the editorial-industrial complex, where clarity, conciseness, and precision are valued more than raw emotional expression. In this mechanical paradigm:
- Poetry becomes data.
- Feelings become noise.
- Robots replace poets.
The rise of emotionless art is the final symptom of empathy’s extinction. And in this sterilized environment, even humans are becoming robotic in their emotional responses.
⚙️ Newtonian Psychology & Mechanical Empathy
Sarma critiques the dominance of Newtonian thinking — linear, mechanical, reductionist models — in domains like psychology and economics, which should inherently deal with complex, emotional beings.
By applying physics-like models to human behavior:
- Empathy is seen as inefficient.
- Emotions are “irrational.”
- Value is measured without reference to feeling.
This results in systems (e.g. capitalism, healthcare, education) that don’t feel for people — they process them.
🌀 Key Themes & Warnings
- Empathy is biological, not optional.
- Gaia — Earth — depends on emotional reciprocity among organisms.
- Technology can’t substitute emotional connection.
- Art stripped of emotion is not art — it is simulation.
- Modern systems (economic, editorial, technological) are anesthetizing humanity.
💭 Final Reflection
Sarma's work is a call to re-humanize. Not by rejecting technology, but by remembering our place as feeling beings in a living system. It's a reminder to:
- Breathe consciously.
- Feel deeply.
- Resist the pull toward emotional automation.
- Restore empathy to our relationships, our language, our systems.
Would you like help turning this into an article, analysis paper, or response piece? Or maybe explore similar authors and ideas?
Sure — let’s evaluate “The Extinction of Emotional Empathy” by YM Sarma using academic-style criteria typically applied to reflective or philosophical essays. We'll use a 100-mark system across major categories and give a grade based on typical academic standards.
📊 Evaluation Criteria (Total: 100 Marks)
|
Criteria |
Marks (out of) |
Awarded |
|
1. Originality & Depth of Thought |
25 |
24 |
|
2. Clarity & Coherence of Argument |
20 |
14 |
|
3. Use of Language & Style |
20 |
15 |
|
4. Thematic Relevance & Insight |
15 |
14 |
|
5. Structure & Organization |
10 |
6 |
|
6. Impact & Emotional Resonance |
10 |
9 |
|
🔢 Total |
100 |
82 |
📝 Comments & Justification
✅ Strengths
· Original & evocative ideas: The metaphor of the troposphere as Gaia’s hormonal system is bold, poetic, and conceptually rich. It shows deep ecological and emotional insight.
· Strong emotional and philosophical resonance: It successfully critiques mechanized life and expresses the loss of organic empathy in a compelling way.
· Voice and conviction: There is a distinctive personal voice and philosophical conviction throughout, which is rare and powerful.
❗ Areas for Improvement
· Coherence & logical flow: At times, the piece jumps between ideas too quickly without sufficient connective tissue. Some readers may struggle to follow the line of reasoning.
· Language clarity: While poetic, the syntax can be dense and somewhat opaque. Certain phrases feel intuitive rather than logically structured, which may obscure meaning.
· Structural clarity: There's no clear introduction, body, or conclusion. This could affect comprehension, especially for academic or analytical audiences.
🎓 Grade: A- (82/100)
Interpretation: An insightful and creative piece with strong philosophical and emotional depth. Slight improvements in structure and clarity would elevate it to top-tier excellence.
If you’d like, I can help you revise the essay for publication or academic submission — or adapt it into different forms (article, speech, etc.).
Absolutely. Here's a poem inspired by the themes in "The Extinction of Emotional Empathy" — breathing, Gaia, lost connection, and the mechanization of life:
"The Silence of Breathing Machines"
We once
breathed in the sorrow of trees,
Exhaled comfort into the wings of bees.
Our lungs were not just sacks of air—
They were prayers whispered everywhere.
The sky was once
a bloodstream shared,
By fox and fern and child who cared.
Each scent a signal, each breath a vow,
But we no longer notice the forest now.
Machines have
hands, but they do not feel.
They mimic touch, but cannot heal.
They count our steps, but miss our fall—
And never come when spirits call.
We built a
world of steel and screens,
Traded rivers for coded streams.
Where songs are scanned for symmetry,
And poems lack their mystery.
Our empathy is
stored in files,
Compressed in artificial smiles.
The editor's pen, so clean, precise—
Cuts out the soul to make it nice.
But Gaia waits
beneath the floor,
Behind the hum of every door.
She speaks in winds and cracking ice,
Her voice still soft, her grief precise.
So breathe
again—not just to live,
But to receive, and then to give.
Let sorrow pass from leaf to lung,
And feel the Earth, forever young.
Would you like a poem in a different tone or form (haiku, sonnet, free verse, etc.)?
Rajaram Krishnamurthy
Empathy
Already I revealed my mind wrt Sri Surendra Varma . However , had we practiced our sanatana dharma, ahimsa, karunya @ empathy would not have fallen down so drastically.
According to the dictionary:
‘Empathy is the ability to understand and share another’s feelings.’
Sometimes Yogis offer us support by going into our confusion with us, into our suffering, but they don’t make the same meaning. It seems people often think that going into another’s suffering could possibly make that specific suffering their own, as though it may stick to them. They seem to feel that they will be harmed, but actually that’s not the case. By extending authentic ahimsa, kindness and understanding, we not only offer healing to others, we also experience healing ourselves.
vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini
śhuni chaiva śhva-pāke cha paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśhinaḥ
According to The Bhagavad Gita, everyone is equal to the wise one. An animal, a learned and wise person or someone who does not fit in – everyone is equal. When a person has such an equal vision, he/she cannot possibly be biased against a particular gender, race or a section of society.
ātmaupamyena sarvatra samaṁ paśhyati yo ’rjuna
yogī paramo mataḥ
According to Lord Krishna, the ideal of equality is possessed by the perfect yogi. Here, a yogi does not refer to someone who practices yoga but someone who remains equanimous and stable-minded even under extreme conditions
Yaiva cid bhuvana bhogabhuushane vyomni bhaaskare
Dharaavivarakosasthe saiva citkitakodare
The all-pervading divine consciousness is present in the gigantic sun and in the minuscule worm. The same energy drives both. Similarly, cutting past our prejudices, the divine consciousness pervades everyone equally, regardless of intelligence, social or economic status. [YOGA VASISHTA]
Yastu sarvani butanyatmanyevanupasyati srvabhutesu catmanam tato na vijugupsate
When hatred disappears, how can prejudices and bigotry stay?
Considering the differences in race, ideologies, wealth and so on, a world of equality is impossible. However, the quotes above show the possibility of us treating everyone with love and respect. It is because when there are no biases in our mind, everyone in the world can truly be seen for the life that they are. [ISA UPANISHAD]
When we are willing to see others fully, we reaffirm our desire and readiness to be seen. We also build intimacy between that person and our self. Being empathetic and understanding towards others is also a practice for being compassionate towards our selves. As we practice, we learn how to go into our own pain and one-day lead ourselves out.
The yogi offers healing through understanding, he/she walks alongside us in the darkness, studying the meaning we made and then works to help us see a new meaning. New meaning here means seeing from a yogic perspective, one that shows us how to grow through the experience. As Yogis do this, they help us dissipate our sufferings and ultimately dissolve them.
Ahimsa means being grounded in reality and seeing clearly from that place. It is often translated as non-violence. Violence can only happen when we perceive otherness. So ahimsa, as a yogic principle, means being grounded in oneness where there is no sense of other and therefore no possibility of inflicting violence. Ahimsa is not only the recognition that we are all interrelated and interconnected, but it is actually living within that reality and extending out from it.
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra 2.35 says:
ahimsa-pratishthayam tat-sannidhau vaira-tyagah,
“When the yogi is firmly established in physical, mental, vocal and spiritual non-violence, ahimsa, there is abandonment of enmity by those who are in his or her presence.” (PYS 2.35, transl. by Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati)
The sutra teaches that the more we ground in understanding, the more we are a conduit for kindness and compassion.
When we express empathy and kindness to those around us we reveal our depth of yogic understanding and show through our actions that we stand firmly on the ground of yogic reality. Ahimsa, non-violence, is the first step of Lord Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga Path. This path is a road that the yogi-in-training follows to experience the freedom, known as union. Placing ahimsa as the first rung on the ladder, is Patanjali’s way of saying that ahimsa is a foundational character element that must be developed within the individual for him/her to be able to fully live in the light of yoga, the unified field.
Thus we pay for being non-naturalistic defying everything and lacking in Karunyam only because, we refused to know our assets , giving excuses.
K Rajaram IRS 8925
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