article |
Cognitive Scientific Analysis on Lack of Empathy in Korean Society |
There has been super-abuses for the last decade in Korean society. These are ①Four Rivers Project, ②Enforcement of Nuclear Power Plant, ③Booming Household Debt, ④Collapse of the public, and ⑤Sewol Ferry tragedy. I named them “Five Major Social Catastrophes in Korea”, Which is abbreviated as “Five Catastrophes”. The main purpose of this study is to elucidate the social cognitive causes of “Five Catastrophes”. So I will describe that the Five Catastrophes are resulted from separatism, disregarding for life, secrecy, and political deceitfulness, which has been exposed under autocratic Korean authority. Next I will argue that these autocratic phenomena are typical figures of the lack of empathy. I, therefore, demonstrate that the syndrome of Five Catastrophes are deeply related with the symptoms of the lack of empathy. In order to justify my demonstration, neuroscientific microanalysis and macroapproach will be applied. I present the theory of mind(ToM) and mirror-neuron system(MNS) as a neuroscientific analysis and Social Psychologist, Jonathan Haidt’s theory of five foundations of Morality as a social approach. Finally, I suggest a theoretical alternative to extend and share the public empathy in Korean society. Baron-Cohen, S. “Precursors to a theory of mind: Understanding attention in others” in A. Whiten (Ed.), Natural theories of mind: Evolution, development and simulation of everyday mindreading. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991: 233-251 Bavelas, M., Black, A., Lemery CR. and Mullett, J. “I show you how you feel”, Journal of personality and Social psychology 50(1996) 322-329 Blair, James. “Dissociable systems for empathy”, in Novatis Foundation Symposium(eds.) Empathy and Fairness, John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 2007, 134-144 Chartrand TL. and Bargh JA. “The chameleon effect: The perception-behavior link and social interaction”, Journal of personality and Social psychology 76(1999), 893-910 Damasio, A. Descartes’ error: Emotion, reason, and the human brain. New York: Putnam. 1994 Danziger, N., Prkachin, K. M., &Willer, J. C. “Is pain the price of empathy? The perception of others’ pain in patients with congenital insensitivity to pain”, Brain, 129(2006): 2494–2507. De Vignemont, F. and Singer, T. “Empathic brain: How, when and why?” Trends in Cognitive Sciences,10(2006), 35–41. De Vignemont, F., and Singer, T. “Empathic brain: How, when and why?”, Trends in Cognitive Sciences,10 (2006). 35–41. Decety, J. and Jackson, P. L., “The functional architecture of human empathy” Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Reviews, 3(2004), 71–100. Decety, J., and Jackson, P. L. “The functional architecture of human empathy”. Behavioral andCognitive Neuroscience Reviews, 3(2004), 71–100. Eisenberg. and Fabes, A. “prosocial development” in W. Damon and N. Eisenberg(eds.) Handbook of Child Psychology, Wiley, 1998. 701-778 Gallese,V., Keysers,C. and Rizzolatti,G. “A Unifying view of the basis of social cognition, Trends in cognitive Science 8(2004) 396-403 Haidt, Jonathan, The Righteous Mind, Pantheon Books, 2012 Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J. and Rapson, RL., Emotional Contagion, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1994 Hoffman, ML. Empathy and moral development. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2000 Iacoboni, Marco / Molnar-Szakacs, Istvan / Gallese, Vittorio / Buccino, Giovanni / Mazziotta, John C. / Rizzolatti, Giacomo “Grasping the Intentions of Others with One’s Own Mirror Neuron System”. PLoS Biology 3(2005):79 Iacoboni, M. and Dapretto, M. “the mirror neuron system and the consequences of its dysfunction”, Nature Reviews Neuroscience 7(2006), 942-951 Ito, TA. and Willadsen-Jensen,E. and Correll, J. “Social Neuroscience and Social Perception: New Perspectives on Categorization, Prejudice, and Stereotyping” in Harmon-Jones, E. and Winkielman,P. (ed.) Social Neuroscience, Integrating Biological and Psychological Explanations of Social Behavior. The Guilford Press, 2007; 361-421 Korkmaz, B. “Theory of mind and neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood”. Pediatr. Res. 69 (2011): 101–108 Lazarus, R.S. Emotion and Adaptation, Oxford Univ. Press, 1991 Meltzoff, A. N., and Decety, J. “What imitation tells us about social cognition: A rapprochementbetween developmental psychology and cognitive neuroscience”, Philosophical Transactions of the RoyalSociety, London, B, 358(2003): 491–500. Pfeifer, JH and Dapretto,M. “Mirror, Mirror, in My Mind”: Empathy, Interpersonal Competence, and the Mirror Neuron System in Jean Decety and William Ickes(ed.) The Social Neuroscience of Empathy, The MIT Press, 2009 Premack, D. G.; Woodruff, G., “Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind?”. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 1-4(1978): 515–526. Rizzolatti, G. and Craighero, L. “The Mirror-Neuron System”. Annual Review of Neuroscience 27-1(2004): 169–92. Sagi, A. and Hoffman, ML. “Empathic distress in the newborn” Developmental Psychology 12(1976):175-176 Sanders, Mark, Complicities, Duke Univ. Press, 2002 Singer, Tania, “The neuronal Basis of Emoathy and Fairness”in Novatis Foundation Symposium(eds.) Empathy and Fairness, John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 2007; 20-39 Wundt, W. Outlines of psychology. Wilhelm Engelmann, 1907/1896 |