begin with the end so if there is one
thing I hope you take away from my talk
today it is this in a world where
everyone thinks they are right it is
better to think you’re right and
empathize with the other person then
just think you are right now about a
year or so ago I found myself in a small
rural village on the other side of the
Atlantic shaking the hand of a boy whose
language I did not understand ever since
then I have been fascinated with how
very singular each and every one of our
lives really are we get one field of
vision two ears one body and depending
what you believe one life
all of us are living a distinct set of
experiences and circumstances which no
one else will ever lived the same extent
we ourselves are you are alone in your
universe thus it comes as no surprise
that we do not understand each other in
a world where we are unable to share the
same reality it is no wonder we clash
which is why we need empathy something
that allows us to share if not a reality
a circumstance something to bridge the
gap between our individual worlds
something to create understanding now
what if I told you that at this school
there exists a class with the sole
purpose of teaching empathy in this very
building in fact if the name of my
presentation hasn’t already given it
away I’m talking about acting acting
tells us two very important things about
empathy first that pure empathy is
possible and second that it can be
learned so how does acting prove the
existence of
the sea well when we act we are trying
to become someone else become another
person become a character to do this we
must understand and feel the emotions
and feelings of that character by very
definition what empathy is the ability
to understand and feel the emotions of
another well this is accomplished
depends on who you ask
acting is far from a new practice and
theorists such as Lee Strasberg Stella
Adler and Michael Chekov have been
trying to figure out the best way to
become someone else for years however
one thing that is commonly accepted in
the acting community is that you do not
have to have lived something to act it I
believe this is because by age eighteen
we have already experienced all of our
emotions even at the mildest of levels
certainly not every emotion to its full
capacity because up to this point our
external stimuli has differed but every
emotion is there living inside of us
when we act we are trying to use the
circumstances the made-up circumstances
of our characters existence as a
stimulus to induce a certain level of a
certain feeling within ourselves thus if
we are able to approach one another with
the same curiosity which with which
actors approach their characters we can
learn at the very basic level to act one
another and in doing so we can learn
empathy in fact I would go as far as to
say that every one of you has acted
someone before whether or not you have
ever been a student of theater or film
have you ever tried to stand in someone
else’s shoes or seen the world through
Constantin Stanislavski called this the
magic what if it is a tool actors use to
try and understand their characters it
begins by asking what would I do if I
were in my character’s circumstance and
expands into a series of other what-ifs
such as what if my character felt this
way instead of that way what if this
happens to my character so my challenge
to all of you is to act one another fall
into the habit of acting one another as
often and tensely as possible rehearse
empathy pick someone in your home school
or workplace and take a moment to
envision what they are seeing at that
moment use your knowledge of their
experiences to imagine what they are
feeling and feel it yourself you don’t
always have to get it right most of the
time you will not try acting a stranger
someone you see on the street you’ll
find that with little to no knowledge of
this person’s life your mind fills in
the gaps empathy is a habit which must
be rehearsed now a curious thing about
actors and our use of empathy is that we
do not always act the good guy
often we must act the antagonist the
villain we must empathize with the
lowest of the low the worst of the worst
this is accomplished by stimulating the
emotions we are least proud of greed
hatred jealousy apathy if you would I
invite you all to close your eyes
I want you to think of the worst person
you can imagine someone so awful we can
hardly consider him or her human someone
so terrible makes you sick to think of
them now become them allow their field
of vision to overtake your own become
overwhelmed by their sensory intake use
an abstraction of their experiences to
stimulate the worst attributes of
yourself now mix in a little insanity
now stop open your eyes it’s unpleasant
isn’t it but that is an extreme exercise
to prove a not so extreme point you see
empathy is not endorsement and it is
certainly not praise if we are to
successfully practice empathy this is a
distinction we must make we need the
ability to understand while retaining
the ability to pass judgment this is
because conflicts do not often arise
between people who easily relate to one
another
empathizing with emotions we completely
understand is too simple too easy
we must empathize with those who we are
not like in doing so we learn the skill
of empathy while maintaining our
individual personal beliefs and ideals
much like a character carrying out
actions he or she does not agree with
while in character acting tells us that
empathy does not have to have an effect
on our personal beliefs or actions or
ideals because of this caveat
I do not believe that empathy can save
the world just because we are able to
understand one another does not mean
that we will all agree but I do believe
that by rehearsing empathy those
individual singular lives and worlds we
each inhabit can begin to have
microscopic overlaps and that could make
all the difference
thank you [Applause]