Empathy

Here is the video about a billionaire who appears to have empathy – gets good around minute fifteen…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY7f1t9y9a0

First and foremost, empathy.

However, second comes energy and water processes — recreating these is what students need to learn to do rapidly (compete to do it more rapidly) each year…

Regarding empathy….  it goes with what we call being a T-shaped person with depth and breadth…

http://chiefexecutive.net/ideo-ceo-tim-brown-t-shaped-stars-the-backbone-of-ideoae%E2%84%A2s-collaborative-culture/

What’s a T-shaped person?
T-shaped people have two kinds of characteristics, hence the use of the letter “T” to describe them. The vertical stroke of the “T” is a depth of skill that allows them to contribute to the creative process. That can be from any number of different fields: an industrial designer, an architect, a social scientist, a business specialist or a mechanical engineer. The horizontal stroke of the “T” is the disposition for collaboration across disciplines. It is composed of two things. First, empathy. It’s important because it allows people to imagine the problem from another perspective- to stand in somebody else’s shoes. Second, they tend to get very enthusiastic about other people’s disciplines, to the point that they may actually start to practice them. Tshaped people have both depth and breadth in their skills. 

Empathy is not equal to sympathy.  Empathy is more like the vulcan mind meld – to feel what another feels.  If someone is enthusiastic, empathy allows you to be enthusiastic about the same thing.  Good mentors, work by transferring enthusiasm first to students who possess empathy.  Then “grit” and other qualities transfer by empathy.  Learning is mostly social, not cognitive.  Of course, it is both, but social gets overlooked.

Empathy can be taught: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33287727

Students can learn to “see one, do one, and teach one” — everyone should learn Python for example, and share teaching it with somone else… For example, see  http://stem-x.com/math-python/