The Failure of Empathy
American G.I., Alyssa Peterson, who committed suicide after refusing to torture Iraqi prisoners.
"The official probe of her death would later note that earlier she had been "reprimanded" for showing "empathy" for the prisoners. One of the most moving parts of the report, in fact, is this: "She said that she did not know how to be two people; she ... could not be one person in the cage and another outside the wire.""
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How could showing empathy be a reason for reprimand? Reminds me of a comment about my med student attempts to explain to elderly women who had had extensive cancer surgeries how they were now connected. The oncologists thought I should just go home.