Empathy Day 2023

 

Title: 'Wild Chimp Laughter' Sculpture by Gillie and Marc 2022

Title: 'Wild Chimp Imitation' by Gillie and Marc 2022

Happy Empathy Day 2023! 🥳🎊🎉🎊

If people developed their innate capacity for empathy towards each other, as well as towards animals and nature, including the environment generally, land and sea, then, and only then, will there be peace on earth, free from persecution, torture, hatred, bias and prejudice (including no LGBT+ conversion therapy and no political conversion [for instance pressuring liberal people to become conservative]; no forced/coercive religious conversion or a watchtower-style monitoring and ad-hoc attempts to force people to lead an extremely religious life). All this goes against freedom democracy, civil liberties and rights. 

Religion cannot and must not be exempt from this. Besides, religion should already have such ethical principles available to them within their religion. If not, it's not religion, it's something other than with an ulterior motive. 

My theory of empathy (within ethics, epistemology, politics and aesthetics in particular) is within a secular, humanistic, freethinking framework but religious people should have the resources within their religious ethics to understand it and cross apply it to themselves. 

These two public statues discuss the capacity for empathy in chimpanzees. They are part of a trail of 10 such statues around Kingston-Upon-Thames, which also form the basis for a general public discussion, including on social media, using the hashtags: #ChimpsAreFamily #LoveTheLast. 

The plaque for 'Wild Chimp Laughter' by Gillie and Marc 2022 (see top photo) reads: 

'Asher and Issac Males age 5 and 7 

Chimpanzees are capable of empathy and can even laugh. This has disproved a quote by Aristotle that "only the human animal laughs". It is important to understand these diverse emotions in other animals to know that it is not just us who feel and display emotions.' 

The second statue, titled 'Wild Chimp Imitation', also by Gillie and Marc 2022, has a plaque on which is written:

'Anya and Hugo Female and male age 14 and 4

Like us, chimps learn through imitation. They will observe the members of their communities, particularly their mother, to learn the necessary skills needed for their survival. They will also imitate emotions, showing a high level of empathy.'