1. Bloom highlights in his writing that although empathy is seen as a really good and helpful trait that everyone should have, it can also be a very bad thing too. Bloom believes that if people empathize too hard or try to relate too much to someone then they’re actually making things worse and are overlooking the real issues.

Also in his writing he mentions how “Empathy can lead us to prioritize feelings over facts,” meaning that if we are listening to someones struggles we may tend to show too much emotion or feel too bad. At first it doesn’t sound like a bad thing, but doing this can actually mislead our understanding of ones true feelings and points.

2. I don’t agree with bloom on this because I feel like you can never really show too much empathy. I feel that even though you may not always know what someone is going through you should always try your best to show you care and try and understand what they’re going through.

3. He challeged my initial understanding by making it seem like empathy actually causes more damage in the end. I don’t feel this is true because even thought you can’t “solve” someone else problems you can still show support which is always important to people.

4. The quote I chose was “Empathy is a spotlight with a narrow focus; it shines brightly on those we love and gets dim for those who are different or strange.” I chose this quote because it kind of shook me in a way. I feel that yes, we may understand and relate more to someone we are close too, but. I don’t believe that we can’t show just as much empathy to someone else too. To me, empathy isn’t just about relating or fixing someones issues. Its about emotionally connecting with someone and giving your all to show you care and you are a support system for them