ABSTRACT
Empathy is the act of taking other people's stories seriously. Our morality is grounded in the ability to empathize with others. Empathy is powerful. The act of empathizing with others alters perspective. Empathy instigated through stories has the potential to make strong, visceral impressions, which in turn can transform attitudes, which then can alter behavior. People's minds can be deeply affected through the alchemy of emotion plus empathy in the heat of a story. Audiences rarely feel empathy for a character by watching the actor feel that emotion. The actor does not get drunk to show drunkenness. The misguided notion that the actor and the audience feel the same sensations at the same time leads to a solipsistic approach to acting by the actor and easy dismissal of the actor by the audience. Feeling and empathy is a byproduct of a precise arrangement of circumstances. Empathy requires an investment of time, of single-minded concentration and of imagination.
