Sounds like you are an introvert, and perhaps yes %%u2018lacking empathy%%u2019, but you do have feelings (as you feel horrible and disconnected). Isn%%u2019t your %%u2018lack of feelings%%u2019 more accurately described as %%u2018not feeling the way you believe you should feel%%u2019? For instance; when you %%u2018felt nothing%%u2019 about your grandmother%%u2019s cancer didn%%u2019t you really feel like you had no emotional connection to your grandmother and you felt no more or less than you would over hearing about any stranger having cancer?
First establish if you really have no empathy at all; for instance; would you feel bad if you ran over a kitten with your car? You very likely have empathy an feelings and just need to feel a connection to someone to have empathy for them (it doesn%%u2019t sound like you and your parents are very close and therefore your apparent lack of empathy doesn%%u2019t sound to surprising to me).
Next decide if you want to have it. There are advantages to being a heartless bastard and there are (perhaps more) advantages to having empathy. I think the smoother course of action is to develop your empathy; but that is really up to you.
If you chose to develop your empathy one course of action might be to volunteer at your local soup kitchen or some other similar interaction with people that are in some way disadvantaged to yourself. Helping others in need will make you feel good about yourself and there for help you develop a vested interest in the feelings of others. You can also echo back others emotions and ask questions. %%u201COh Grandma has cancer? How does that make you feel?%%u201D
The path of the un-empathetic is hard, lonely and not very rewarding unless you become the CEO of a company.
I feel emotionless towards other's emotions. What's the problem?
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Sounds like you are an introvert, and perhaps yes %%u2018lacking empathy%%u2019, but you do have feelings (as you feel horrible and disconnected). Isn%%u2019t your %%u2018lack of feelings%%u2019 more accurately described as %%u2018not feeling the way you believe you should feel%%u2019? For instance; when you %%u2018felt nothing%%u2019 about your grandmother%%u2019s cancer didn%%u2019t you really feel like you had no emotional connection to your grandmother and you felt no more or less than you would over hearing about any stranger having cancer?
First establish if you really have no empathy at all; for instance; would you feel bad if you ran over a kitten with your car? You very likely have empathy an feelings and just need to feel a connection to someone to have empathy for them (it doesn%%u2019t sound like you and your parents are very close and therefore your apparent lack of empathy doesn%%u2019t sound to surprising to me).
Next decide if you want to have it. There are advantages to being a heartless bastard and there are (perhaps more) advantages to having empathy. I think the smoother course of action is to develop your empathy; but that is really up to you.
If you chose to develop your empathy one course of action might be to volunteer at your local soup kitchen or some other similar interaction with people that are in some way disadvantaged to yourself. Helping others in need will make you feel good about yourself and there for help you develop a vested interest in the feelings of others. You can also echo back others emotions and ask questions. %%u201COh Grandma has cancer? How does that make you feel?%%u201D
The path of the un-empathetic is hard, lonely and not very rewarding unless you become the CEO of a company.