Blog Post 1: Lecture Reflection- Empathy
During the two weeks of lectures taking place I observed many, however only one truly struck a chord with me; a lecture on Empathy. One has always viewed empathy as a basic human response, but it took Lorraine Gamman to strip down the term to the core for me to truly understand the layers involved in such a feeling. The key to success in any lecture is an invested speaker, a speaker who is so obviously devoted to the topic they are discussing, Gamman was entirely that. Lorraine Gamman is the Professor of design at Central Saint Martin’s and most notably, the founder of Design against Crime Research Centre (DACRC). It was clear that Gamman’s knowledge into Empathy was beyond extensive, explaining the arts of Active Listening and User Centered Design. The lecture was based around empathy and understanding people, yet this all seemed futile when Gamman proceeded to explain how these expressions could be manipulated for the profit of others.
In the latter part of the lecture Gamman focused on Empathy deficit, she addressed an argument stating that ‘People are only empathetic when there is a profit to be made’. Personally, I found this hard to disagree with; especially when Gamman explained how she had previously listened to Professional thief ‘Shirley Pitts’ for 10 years, only to say how the experience prompted her to start DACRC. Can empathy really be without some sort of gain? Whether it be personal satisfaction or selling products empathy seems to be more tactical than emotional, especially in the design world. A reference was made to ‘The Empathy Instinct’ Bazalgotte (2012) in which Bazalgotte claimed that ‘empathy is partial’ and ‘not simply a good thing’. I found myself agreeing with this wholeheartedly and mentally adding the book to my reading list. Perhaps there is an empathy deficit, but human nature is to be influenced by other emotions and environmental factors.
I left the lecture even more curious about empathy than I had been previous. Gamman has given a basic human expression a whole new magnitude of power to me, how one’s own empathy can be twisted against them is utterly enthralling yet complex. I went home eager to enrich this new information I had been given. Still the lingering thought I was left pondering over was, is it really empathy or tactical manipulation?
Reference’s
Lorraine Gamman (2020) ‘ Empathy’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 19 February.
Bazalgotte. P. (2012) The Empathy Instinct: How to create a more civil society. London. John Murray Publishers.