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Simon Baron-Cohen Quotes

Empathy is like a universal solvent. Any problem immersed in empathy becomes soluble.

Empathy is like a universal solvent. Any problem immersed in empathy becomes soluble.

Simon Baron-Cohen
Empathy, Problem, Universal

The female brain is predominantly hard-wired for empathy. The male brain is predominantly hard-wired for understanding and building systems.

Simon Baron-Cohen
Empathy, Understanding, Brain
Simon Baron-Cohen (2010). “The Essential Difference: Male and Female Brains and the Truth about Autism (Large Print 16pt)”, p.1, ReadHowYouWant.com

Empathy occurs when we suspend our single-minded focus of attention and instead adopt a double-minded foucus of attention. When our attention lapses into single focus, empathy has been turned off. When we shift our attention to dual focus empathy has been turned on. Empathy is our ability to identify what someone else is thinking or feeling and to respond to there thought or feelings with an approriate emotion. Empathy makes the other person feel valued, enabling them to feel that their thoughts and feelings have been heard.

Simon Baron-Cohen
Thinking, Double Minded, Focus

If we treat another person as essentially bad, we dehumanize him or her. If we take the view that every human being has some good in them, even if it is only 0.1 percent of their makeup, then by focusing on their good part, we humanize them. By acknowledging and attending to and rewarding their good part, we allow it to grow, like a small flower in a desert.

Simon Baron-Cohen
Flower, Makeup, Views

Empathy is like a universal solvent. Any problem immersed in empathy becomes soluble. It is effective as a way of anticipating and resolving interpersonal problems, whether this is a marital conflict, an international conflict, a problem at work, difficulties in a friendship, political deadlocks, a family dispute, or a problem with a neighbor.

Simon Baron-Cohen
Empathy, Political, Way
Simon Baron-Cohen (2013). “The Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty”, p.186, Basic Books

Empathy cannot by definition oppress anyone.

Simon Baron-Cohen
Empathy, Definitions
Simon Baron-Cohen (2013). “The Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty”, p.186, Basic Books

Parents who discipline their child by discussing the consequences of their actions produce children who have better moral development , compared to children whose parents use authoritarian methods and punishment.

Simon Baron-Cohen
Children, Moral Development, Punishment
Simon Baron-Cohen (2013). “The Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty”, p.75, Basic Books

What worries me is that the debate about gender differences still seems to polarize nature vs. nurture, with some in the social sciences and humanities wanting to assert that biology plays no role at all, apparently unaware of the scientific evidence to the contrary

Simon Baron-Cohen
Play, Differences, Worry

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