Don't numb it, master it and let it lead under control. Empathy is an
incredible virtue, but it must be disciplined.
I don't know enough neuroscience to know what the "right dorsolateral
prefrontal cortex" is exactly but I know that you can over-ride/master
it with reason and discipline.
So I think there's something more to people allowing their better
nature to slip under stress than simple brain chemicals.
A colonel told me, that in the moment of most stress that's when the
men need you most of all, and need you to retain dignity,
self-sacrifice, and thinking about _them_ more than ever. When
everyone is shitting themselves we revert to "I'm alright Jack"
self-preservation mode. That's precisely the time when you need to dig
deep and let _reason_ take the lead. Compassion/altruism etc is a
personality structure, not a fleeting feeling, so it's encoded into
your rational decision making.
So a ton of training is about getting you to "snap out of yourself".
The body moves in fast time, but if the mind can still stay in slow,
measured mode, that's how the best comes out in some poeple under
adversity. Hardballs who have no love for humanity will jump on to the
tracks to save a kid from a subway train, because deep down they are
actually masters of the empathy they've carefully hidden.
I guess that tension between what you know you should do and what you
find yourself instinctively inclined to do - is conscience.
I don't know enough neuroscience to know what the "right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex" is exactly but I know that you can over-ride/master it with reason and discipline.
So I think there's something more to people allowing their better nature to slip under stress than simple brain chemicals.
A colonel told me, that in the moment of most stress that's when the men need you most of all, and need you to retain dignity, self-sacrifice, and thinking about _them_ more than ever. When everyone is shitting themselves we revert to "I'm alright Jack" self-preservation mode. That's precisely the time when you need to dig deep and let _reason_ take the lead. Compassion/altruism etc is a personality structure, not a fleeting feeling, so it's encoded into your rational decision making.
So a ton of training is about getting you to "snap out of yourself".
The body moves in fast time, but if the mind can still stay in slow, measured mode, that's how the best comes out in some poeple under adversity. Hardballs who have no love for humanity will jump on to the tracks to save a kid from a subway train, because deep down they are actually masters of the empathy they've carefully hidden.
I guess that tension between what you know you should do and what you find yourself instinctively inclined to do - is conscience.