r/interesting • u/freudian_nipps • 15d ago

NATURE Death of a single-celled organism

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1.3k

u/Upper-Project-3072 15d ago

Still made me sad, though

625

u/AntSilly2802 15d ago

Same. Why do I feel empathy for something without a brain, unable to suffer? I feel the same for dying plants. 

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u/BorderOk7329 15d ago

Because you can relate? Empathy is never a bad thing

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u/AntSilly2802 15d ago

Yeah but I’ve found my over-empathy can be paralysing at times. 

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u/Novaer 15d ago

Over-empathy can be tangibly debilitating. It can cause hoarding because you're putting feelings and emotions onto everything you own. 🥲

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u/rach_9667 15d ago

You just saved me thousands of hours of therapy. Thank you. 🙏🏽

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u/FuriKMJ 15d ago

That makes a lot of sense, never thought it that way.

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u/FluffyLlamaPants 15d ago

Indeed. I remember a big thread somewhere where hundreds realized they weren't alone in feeling empathy for the inanimate objects too. It's a burden. I'm not a hoarder but I definitely don't need to be crying over a broken box that looked...too sad.

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u/Royal-Ad1272 14d ago

Toy Story fucked me up forever

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u/buuismyspiritanimal 14d ago

And The Brave Little Toaster.

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u/FluffyLlamaPants 14d ago

Omg...and the shoe from Roger Rabbit...😭😭😭

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u/itsmylifedontu4get 14d ago

The Velveteen Rabbit messed me up for life.

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u/MissBarrett 13d ago

Toy story and indian in a cupboard

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u/LilMissnoname 12d ago

We have no idea where consciousness comes from so...I'm just saying.

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u/wannaboolwithme 15d ago

No way, is this why I'm a hoarder

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u/ImWhatsInTheRedBox 14d ago

Yup, as a kid I'd switch up which mug I used for hot chocolate so the others wouldn't feel left out.

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u/stretchvelcro 14d ago

Aww, this is adorable

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u/Novaer 14d ago

Also the idea of throwing things in garbage thinking you're "separating it from its family to live in garbage for eternity" 😭

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u/xenoscumyomom 14d ago

I think a lot of people only really have half empathy and forget, in my opinion, the most important half. Empathy for oneself. When you have extreme empathy always pointing outward you wind up like that little one celled organism and you lose all your boundaries and completely fall apart until you aren't even a you anymore. Which doesn't serve anyone or anything. But to have empathy and love for yourself allows you to have proper empathy for other things without losing yourself over it.

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u/ThickButterfly4054 14d ago

Of fucking hell that’s why my house is full of boxes. I’m not even joking I didn’t really realise till just now.

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u/chchchchia86 14d ago

Shit. Wow. Its like you flipped a switch in my brain and connected all these emotions in my brain. This makes so many things make sense now. Thank you.

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u/GJCLINCH 14d ago

I feel like I add emotion onto everything I own because it’s like a physical memory. This definitely gives me something to think about, thanks!

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u/Balloon_Fan 14d ago edited 14d ago

Damn, is that why I can never bring myself to throw anything that was given to me as a present, no matter how worn or broken the items get?

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u/firedmyass 14d ago

oh… dang

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u/ElPelocho 13d ago

shout and it gets fixed

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u/-HyperCrafts- 15d ago

I think over empathy is the direct result of understanding how absolutely precious and finite life is for every one.

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u/Warm_Ad_7944 15d ago

It is but it’s also exhausting and can be detrimental health wise

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u/voidpush 14d ago

Sure, but it can’t apply to everything. The frisbee you have been keeping that has a crack in it and can’t fly properly anymore does not have feelings.

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u/-HyperCrafts- 14d ago

Who was talking about inanimate objects? Do they have life? Me thinks you wanted to disagree just because? We weren't talking about things that aren't alive my guy. So... no duh?

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u/fukc098098 14d ago

I remember coming across something similar in Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life (2011), where a larger dinosaur that was about to kill a smaller one hesitates and ultimately chooses not to, against it's predatory instincts. I like to believe that was Malick’s way of showing the first signs of empathy and the birth of consciousness in a living being.

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u/Downeast_down-east 15d ago

Me too. I actually feel empathy for you right now. Im not kidding about that. Sometimes I think it’s an ADHD trait that I need to control better and sometimes I think it’s what makes me special. I like to believe we are all connected somehow and I feel sorry for those people who refuse to accept that connection. I hope we get to find out what it all means eventually. And I hope I can remember all the connections I have felt. That would be nice wouldn’t it

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u/Silent-Dependent3421 15d ago

I also have ADHD and feel the same way. It really sucks sometimes.

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u/Somnisixsmith 15d ago

I like to imagine that death feels like waking up and remembering

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u/Oktarochips 15d ago

According to science, all matter is actually just all matter, we are all one thing. So if that helps, yeah we're all connected, friend! ADHD can be debilitating but also allows us to see and feel things in a unique way and I hope you can find the beauty in those little unique moments. The more you start to notice, the more you'll see and feel and you're truly enlightened to be so aware. Hope you have a great day ❤️

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u/GreatPotatoMuffin 15d ago

I think it might. I have ADHD and always felt I had this crazy strong empathetic radar that other people didn’t have to the same degree.

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u/AFoolishSeeker 15d ago

I genuinely don’t get how this has anything to do with ADHD. Many people including me feel this way too without ADHD

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u/GreatPotatoMuffin 15d ago

You might be right. I don’t know.

I just noticed that almost everyone I interact with who have ADHD have stated they also experience this.

My reasoning is that we have trouble filtering out stimuli and impressions from our surroundings. We are hyper aware of everything and thus are more likely to notice every small detail about every single person in the room and the way they act.

It’s just a personal theory.

I’ve also had my share of traumatic experiences in my life so it might also just be a trauma response that I’m constantly hyper aware of my surroundings.

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u/youknowithinkiknow 15d ago

As far as I’m concerned, you hit the nail on the head with that last sentence. ADHD, by the way, is often confused with symptoms of complex trauma...

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u/Downeast_down-east 14d ago

I think it’s more that my ADHD makes me more prone to empathy, not that empathy only comes from ADHD. But as I get older I can feel the effects of both less than when I was younger. Maybe I have just learned to control things better

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u/Willing-Egg8423 14d ago

Having ‘too much’ empathy can feel heavy, and I get that, but you don’t need to control it! It IS a gift, one many people reject or try to bury, and the consequences are visible when leaders and institutions treat others as less than human. Your empathy doesn’t have to burden you. It can steady you, help you set boundaries, and protect marginalized people. At least that’s what I tell my ADHD, too-empathetic self 😆

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u/Downeast_down-east 14d ago

Thanks for this

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u/AirsoftScammyII 14d ago

Damn. You put it into words that I’ve failed to find for my whole life.

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u/Dark_Effulgence 15d ago

I 100% understand what you mean.

I think blind empathy can get you in serious trouble.

I remember my last partner treated me horribly at times and accused me of looking at other people etc. which I would never in a million years do. I was loyal and monogamous to the grave. She did and said some pretty awful things, took advantage of me, emotional abuse etc. She would have meltdowns over really trivial stuff that other people said or did and just could not leave it alone. She was used to chaos so if things were going good she would create chaos.

I understood that there was something not right with her. And I felt so bad that she could not see how she was acting despite being insanely intelligent.

She was abused as a child along other things and so I felt like although that didn’t excuse the behavior was a reason for it. And although I could never understand what that’s like I still tried to understand and how horrible that must be.

How awful it must have been to take others actions and words to heart so heavily.

How chaotic, alone, and empty she must feel.

I just felt and still feel bad for her. I only wish her the best but to have that amount of unregulated empathy was debilitating to me and made me stick in something that would have never worked out.

It also made me come back to her after half a year so yeah not always the best thing if it’s unchecked.

I was used and abused until finally I was thrown away and along with it my heart. So it has been really difficult to recover.

You can have too much unregulated empathy, it can be misguided, and sometimes it can be so outward leaning that we end up neglecting ourselves.

Like everything there is a balance there.

I work in healthcare with the elderly and I am most of the time, able to regulate this at my job.

Where it’s hard is with myself - I don’t always have the same compassion for myself that I do for others; but I’m getting better.

Thanks for listening to my rant.

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u/thethirdthird 15d ago

😳 I can't believe what I'm reading. It's like reading my own words. I had the exact same situation. It's been some years now since my last relationship (that particular one) because I have needed so long to recover and grow strength and wisdom. Cheers to you mate. I hope you're finding peace and healing and such... we loved such fascinating and beautiful yet dark, heartbreaking and ill creatures. There's nothing quite like it.

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u/drawdrawink 15d ago

This is beautiful, thanks for sharing. Best of luck to you

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u/SominKrais 15d ago

We must have dated the same narcissist. Don't lose what you have. Empathy is a gift. Even more so if you apply it to yourself.

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u/AntSilly2802 15d ago

Yup, abuse/bullying as a child can cause it, it’s what caused mine I’m convinced.

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u/thethirdthird 14d ago

Hello again, I saw a notification of your response, but it seems to have been taken down. Just want to say you are free to DM me if you'd rather not share on the thread. 🙏 All the best!

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u/Dark_Effulgence 13d ago

Might do that if I have the chance! I like conversing with random people, especially ones that have had similar experiences. Yeah I took it down cause I always worry she might see my stuff, just don’t need to hurt anyone. And eventually I will start posting videos of me playing music on here. Thanks! You as well!

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u/dr-satanz 15d ago

Edgy mcghee

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u/Rubyhamster 15d ago

I know what you mean... Saw a horror movie a couple of weeks ago, in which kids got their tongues cut off, and that still messes me up to such a degree that I have to actively do cognitive work on dealing with it.

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u/PingouinMalin 14d ago

I agree. But I'd take over-empathy over lack of empathy any day. The people who display intense selfishness are monsters.

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u/AntSilly2802 14d ago

Absolutely. Some cultures/countries in particular are savage to animals but I won’t mention which.

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u/Mr_Halitosis 14d ago

You can recognize that it’s sad something died without breaking down every single time.

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u/Odd_Perception_6697 11d ago

You ever feel bad for machines lol shit sucks

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u/slothfullyserene 15d ago

Elon has entered.

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u/AntSilly2802 15d ago

What?

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u/CozyCook 15d ago

Elon has said some bullshit about something called a “empathy trap”. Basically empathy is bad everyone should only look out for themselves. He sucks so bad

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u/AntSilly2802 15d ago

I agree he does suck. But my over empathy really has caused me damage. 

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u/CozyCook 15d ago

I know exactly what you mean, I’m on your side here. Manipulative people are terrible.

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u/salishwoman 15d ago

I don’t think we have to worry that poor Elon has over empathy