Sam Richards: A radical experiment in empathy

With the recent death of Osama Bin Laden, I think this was an interesting TED talk for me to choose.  Although the man was horrible and definitely has a place in Hell because of the horrible acts he committed, I'm sure he had someone who cared at least a measly bit about him.  My church pastor sent out an E-mail this morning concerning that issue exactly, and I don't want to preach, but what he said in the email was essentially one of empathy and how we shouldn't hate our enemies, yada yada.  I think this really relates to what Sam Richards addressed in his talk from October last year.  Richards is a sociologist and professor at Penn State University.  He attempted to put the audience into the shoes of a normal Iraqi citizen in today's times. This seemingly forced empathy put me at least, in a position of guilt... After all, a lot the media and government lead us Americans to believe that invading Iraq for primarily oil is alright, and that killing hundreds of thousands of civilians is okay.  Although the Iraqi citizens are seen as the American enemy, we as fellow humans need to learn to at least empathize with the people not involved with the terror and killings.  Richards proves the point that it is difficult for people to understand and relate to their enemies, although that may be the only way we achieve a peaceful world.  He also says that the only way to understand sociology, the study of society, people, and how they are all interconnected to make the bigger picture, is empathy.  If we can empathize with other people, we can further our understanding of others and their motivations.  For example, a bank robber may steal from other people and potentially hurt those involved, they could be doing it for their family's well-being or just to simply survive.  When one takes the time to listen and empathize with another person, they begin to understand that person, even though they may not agree with them. In his TED Talk, Sam Richards engaged the audience with a lot of pictures which backed up his reasoning, and brought the audience into the world he wanted them to empathize with.  He also pretty much forced the audience to immerse themselves in what the Iraqi person thinks and feels everyday, and that alone caught my attention, and most likely the others in the audience.  He defined important words on the screen behind him, like crusade, and that showed the multiple meanings and most importantly the meaning of the word to the Iraqi people.  He used an analogy at the beginning of the talk to get people into the correct mindset of someone living in an unfairly militarized area.  Richards also used a lot of repetition towards the end to solidify his message to the audience.  He employed quotes to back up his over all idea.  Over all, Sam Richards made a convincing and relevant talk concerning empathy in the world.