I'm 22 years old - One thing I learned was that 40% of kids, 90% of teenagers, and about as many adults just ''Have. No. Empathy.'' '''Period'''. That's why the tropes KidsAreCruel, TeensAreMonsters, and {{GIFT}} are so prevalent and why people were entering so much stuff for HumansAreBastards before the TroperTales page was removed. It just confuses me and strikes me a bit as odd. I see people who would have absolutely no problem with stepping over their fellow peers' corpses to get a better parking spot, whereas they'd pass howling judgment on you if you do the same. It always seemed odd, I'd see people cry about the deaths of fictional characters yet beat the living shit out of someone who happens to be a real flesh and blood human being with no regard for as to how ''they'' felt.

I kinda disagree with the beginning of the last comment, because ''I'', as one, suffer from a strange LackOfEmpathy : I understand other people's emotions and feelings better than most people, but I cannot feel most of them, most of the time (there ''are'' exceptions, rarely...) And I am not neither cruel, a monster or a bastard (not more than most humans, that is), being quite benevolent and helping people for the sake of it. And if seeing someone's corpse on a parking spot wouldn't disturb me, I would do anything to prevent this person from being killed at the first place.

I don't agree with the first troper. The statistics are wrong. Well, sarcasm aside, people don't have empathy for every single person they meet; there are lots of people that have no problem insulting people on the internet or beating someone up whom they think deserves it, yet they would never beat a person for whom they feel empathy, like their parents. Also, violence can arise from empathy; if you can "feel" with a person that has been wronged, you'll be more willing to punish the wrongdoer.

Ah, but if they see themselves as wronged, and punish the wrongdoer for the crime of merely ''existing'', what does ''that'' say about them? Especially if said punishment is beating a kid to the point where they need ''reconstructive surgery'', and said crime was "Wearing an ''InvaderZim'' T-shirt to school"?

Then said person failed to acknowledge that ''InvaderZim'' is one of the single greatest things to ever exist in the history of entertainment. AndThatsTerrible.

Actually, I sort of do, sort of don't agree: imho, everyone has at least some level of psychopathy in them. Some people have more than others (Charlie Manson, anyone?), except not everyone is ''aware'' of their psychopathy. I, personally, am aware that I am at least 20% psycho and it ''fucking terrifies me.'' But see, that's the thing--it's like a ratio of "psycho" to "how much being psycho scares you" because being scared is an ''emotion.''

Being ''aware'' of one's psychosis and trying to reconcile it is also related to the core "empathy" part. For one, I have to constantly wonder if I'm talking about myself too much (like I probably am now!), if I'm taking the other person I'm conversing with's emotions on a subject into account, and things like that. It's also ''clinical,'' like you're an outsider and ''aware'' you're an outsider, so you have to choose between "do I consciously act akin to a psychopath mimicking human emotions? Or just say 'fuck it' and go with my more horrible side?" (I try to do the former, really. It's probably why have strange friends, am so bossy, and they put up with it--I'm just ''off.'')

Can I just play the world's tiniest violin for everyone who posted above this line? Thank you.

This troper neither has nor recieves empathy... nor does he take himself seriously.

This troper is a diagnosed sociopath, and I am trying to get some help so I don't end up...well, like some of the tropes page examples.

I'm kind of weird in that I don't ''realize'' that I have hurt or wronged someone, usually, but in the few cases when I pick it up I beat myself up over it for years afterwards. I know it says in the trope page that that seems to be characteristically autistic but as far as I know I don't display any other typically autistic behaviors...

Everybody called This Troper this trope, but in fact I'm just AboveGoodAndEvil and do have some empathy..... suicides.

Suicides?

He's just mad he lost that many more toys to amuse himself with.

This troper is a very nice guy who shudders at the thought of hurting anything bigger than a spider . . . but has to try hard to feel most emotions (Humor is an exception, being after all my main method for dealing with life, and RAGEEEEEE!!!! occurs occasionally) and can't remember feeling more than a twinge of, say, sadness, at his great-grandfather's funeral.

This troper has been diagnosed as many things. The only thing that ever remained constant was the Lack Of Empathy. When I was younger, they would also say "Cannot read emotions." but not being able to ''read'' emotions and not being able to ''share'' emotions are two totally different things, showing that doctors know jack squat about the people they study. I can tell when someone is sad if they're sad. I just can't be, "Oh my god, your grandpa just died? That's..that's... Waaaaaaaaaahh!!" and then cry on their shoulder just as hard as they are, I literally ''cannot''. As part of therapy, I am being therapied to be able to do that, but it feels unnatural. It's ''acting''. Which is another reason doctors know jack squat about the people they study. Since this therapy junk has been going on since the second grade, and the only thing I've "broken through" with is being able to make a concerned face and maybe produce some fake tears for them, I doubt it's valid. Anyway, I've been painted as kind of narcissistic since I don't cry or laugh or scream for anybody except myself, even though that's not the case. Lately they've been saying that it's not that I don't ''feel'' empathy, it's that I can't ''express'' empathy, but I think that it would be more realistically half not feeling it and half having trouble expressing what I do feel. Either way, I'd rather be slapped for my apathy than feel like a liar for pretending to care. And while slapping me, they would get something off of their chest, and that would be a good thing for them, wouldn't it?

This troper thinks that you have been misdiagnosed due to a bad therapist. A better one would have actually talked to you about the problem at the beginning and have gone from there.

This troper remembers one particular time in high school being called out for seemingly not having any empathy. A girl in his class - not long after being expelled - was killed in a car crash, and the entire high school (not very big) was brought together for an assembly, for which this troper was decidedly indifferent. When someone noticed and called him on it later, his response was something to the effect of, "Well, of course my insides aren't having a party, but...what the hell do you want me to do? Be (name of dead girl's best friend, who broke down and staggered out of the auditorium crying in the middle of the assembly, which was admittedly a bit difficult for anyone with a soul to watch)? I can't do that. We weren't friends. She fucking hated me, actually."

Two of my friends spring to mind, and until fairly recently myself as well. To wit... in high school, a girl died in a car crash. A girl we all knew. Not well, but we knew her. Small school. She had been friendly with us, we weren't receptive, she kept trying, et cetera. Rather annoying, really. We may have been the only ones at the school who didn't even bother to feign sympathy. I suspect all three of us were glad she died, though I can only speak for myself and the worse of the other two. I've gotten better about empathy. I can still detach myself from a situation with little effort, but at least my default position is to care. The others... not so much. They went a different route.

On the same note, my sister's ex-boyfriend committed suicide while in the Army. I was invited to the funeral by my weepy-eyed mother. "I don't think that would be appropriate." I looked, presumably, like I was holding in my sorrow. In truth? I was, and am, glad he did it. He was a dick. I was not his friend, he was not mine. I refused to go to his funeral out of respect for the people with whom he was on good terms with, because I didn't give a shit that he died.

Finally, on a slightly more sympathetic note, I want my grandmother to die. Not because of any reasons you might expect from a complete monster. True she's annoying because her hearing loss means people have to shout to talk to her, but she's one of the few members of my family I like and respect. Yes I'm tired of her making me late for work because my mom has to herd her into the car, but the people I work for understand. These are not my reasons. Those have to do with the fact that she has very late-stage Alzheimer's disease, and has little to no short term memory left at all. Nothing she experiences stays in her head for more than five minutes. Life to her is a constant feeling of "Why aren't I at (my aunt who takes care of her most of the time)'s house? Did I say goodbye? I don't remember it getting to be this late." And so on, and so forth. Living like that cannot be pleasant, especially when everyone around you makes you feel useless.