Would you rather reduce your intelligence for extra empathy, or reduce your empathy for extra intelligence?

I think I'll stay where I am.

Personally, I feel like low empathy is a sign of low intelligence ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ Emotions control so much of human behaviour so if you can't understand yours or others you won't be able to solve any problems with a human element.

You can see it in how people talk as well. Once you know what to look for.

Most of the time we attribute what we do ourselves to be situational vs intrinsic. The opposite for other people. Why are you angry? Because the situation. Why are they angry? Because they are an angry person.

When someone doesn't understand or care about emotions they don't grasp the signals that they are getting. And boy do they cause chaos.

Why did you sexually harass her? It is her fault for dressing sexy she must have wanted it. Right, not because you are horny?

Why did you pick that fight with your coworker? He is always doing x and knows it pisses me off. Right, not because you have anger issues and they do x because they were told to do x.

If you have no emotional intelligence you are going to view yourself as perfectly rational always right while the people around you view you as a human hand grenade.
- That’s called the “fundamental attribution error”.
low empathy is a sign of low intelligence

It absolutely is. Empathy is about analyzing a situation from a perspective that isn't your own. That requires a lot of abstract thought. It's like giving someone two apples and then taking one away and asking them how many apples there are versus asking them to solve 2-1=x
- As someone on the autism spectrum, I’m going to have to disagree. Yes, I’m as dumb as a pile of bricks in many social situations. But I shine when I’m given an engineering problem to solve.

I would sacrifice both for more strength and charisma, letting me qualify for a paladin multiclass

Leeloo Dallas Multiclass

Reduce my empathy for extra intelligence. Kill two birds with one stone.

May I have some happiness instead?

Just need to reduce Intelligence and you're good
- Is the "Intelligent and depressed" meme real though?
  
  I've witnessed it only in Hollywood media until now.
You can't have intelligence and happiness.
So, trade both for better dopamine regulation and higher seratonin production?

Neither, since I don't deal with vague quantities of what influences my ability to making choices.

I understand the assignment, but I'd rather see it expressed in more precise way like "would you rather give up the ability to measure distances for the ability to tell precisely the state of mind of your discussant, OR..."

Less empathy, more happy, easy choice.

Taravangian?

Same thought!

How much of each are we talking?

I mean, my empathy causes me a lot of stress. I'll take the intelligence.

I don't feel like I'm lacking either all that much. If anything, having too much is an impediment in life. Less intelligent people don't need to worry so much, and sociopaths don't have a care in the world.

I have a similar conclusion from the other side - I don't want to lose any of my intelligence Or empathy, because I already don't feel like I have as much of either as I'd like, so pushing one of them lower is not a goal.

Let me put it like this: the world could do with more empathy.

I would reduce my empathy because I have way to much of it 🤣

I've said for years that I think one of the biggest problems in this world and in the USA specifically (because I live here) is lack of empathy. People just don't care about anyone's problems until they face the same. Especially in America. Our society is built around the "do it yourself, overcome all odds" mentality. I feel like the world would be a much better place if everyone were more empathetic. That being said, I think I would reduce intelligence and gain more empathy. I tend to shoot myself in the foot with correcting people and wanting to "teach" a lot. That plus my extreme social anxiety makes it hard to get along with people.

Meh empathy has a dark side. People can see you in pain and decide that they don't like feeling pain so they avoid you. Also since they can understand what you feel in a given situation they can manipulate you.

We treat it like a virtue when it is really just part of what exists in the world. Morally neutral.

I'd vote to increase my intelligence, but I don't have empathy to reduce.

Empathy is not the same as morality. You can be intelligent and still be moral.

I’m fairly positive that my drug use in early adulthood damaged my intelligence somewhat. I am also certain that it broadened my perspective and improved my ability to understand others. Good trade imo.

I'd give up natural empathy to gain extra natural intelligence. Of course I assume with the intelligence I could be empathetic at will. And I could turn off empathy when it was inconvenient.

For autistic people this really isn't much of a paradox, I've had to learn empathetic skills as an adult because they don't come naturally anyway. So give me more intelligence all of it!

Yes.

As someone pretty high in both, I’d lose some empathy. Gets me me in trouble sometimes