…empathy is more than just a cognitive or imaginative ability. It’s also the ability to feel what other people are experiencing. Here we could think in terms of “shallow” and “deep” empathy. Shallow empathy is when we guess or read other people’s feelings, whereas deep empathy is when we actually sense their feelings.
—Steve Taylor, DisConnected: The Roots of Human Cruelty and How Connection Can Heal the World
#empathy

Deep empathy is the ability to enter the “mind space” of another person. The separateness between you and them fades away. In a sense, your identity merges with theirs, which enables you to feel what they are experiencing. In other words, deep empathy is an experience of connection.
—Steve Taylor, DisConnected: The Roots of Human Cruelty and How Connection Can Heal the World
#empathy