Caring is Necessary for Understanding

You aren't particularly familiar with sanctimonious do-gooders are you? Those lovely folk who talk a good game about how we must all help all the suffering people and then walk right by the bleeding homeless person or the frail elderly person who has fallen and is unable to get up again on their own. Do-gooders are a fun lot of fakes...as long as the camera is rolling or the reporter is trailing along they do nice things all over the place. As soon as they are not being watched, boy howdy, they won't even lift a finger to help anyone.

So what it boils down to is emotion is only a part of it, and for some it is almost not a part at all. Technically it (emotion) is a part for the do-gooders since they are doing it in order to look good in the eyes of others, thus making themselves feel their self-righteous best.

coberst, I agree with you. But there is also such a thing as caring and yet not being able to show care. Like when someone you love is sick and away. And then there are people who will show empathy but with no sympathy inside them. They just make a show of caring. Anyway, I really loved the jist of your post. I never realized before that, 'if you grasp an understanding of something, its origins can lie in caring.'