science

Mimpathy

Mimpathy is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Mimpathy rather than just read about it. In short: Mimpathy (German: Nachfühlen, literally "after experience") is a philosophical concept related to empathy and sympathy. In Dagobert D.

Key takeaways

Mimpathy belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Mimpathy to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Mimpathy from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Mimpathy (German: Nachfühlen, literally "after experience") is a philosophical concept related to empathy and sympathy. In Dagobert D. Runes' 1942 Dictionary of Philosophy, contributor Herman Hausheer defines mimpathy as the sharing of another's feelings on a matter, without necessarily experiencing feelings of sympathy. Philosopher Max Scheler describes mimpathy, or "emotional imitation", as the basis for sympathy, but of no help in understanding another person in and of itself. Scheler identifies four types of sympathy:

Compathy, or emotional solidarity, the immediate sharing of the same emotion with another Genuine sympathy, in which sorrow is experienced "in an act of understanding experienced as such an act", and the objective source of emotion is not shared Transpathy, or emotional contagion, a state induced in a group, "automatic and without understanding", by the emotional display of another Unipathy, or genuine emotional identification with another, an "intensified" and "involuntary" form of transpathy, which may present as a folie à deux. Academic Karen E. Smythe, in analyzing the fiction of Mavis Gallant, described mimpathy as a combination of mimesis and empathy, an acting out of "self-dramas" as a means of interpreting the suffering of literary characters.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mimpathy

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mimpathy claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mimpathy before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mimpathy ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mimpathy

In research: Mimpathy appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Mimpathy in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Mimpathy is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1940s neologisms, 1942 introductions, Concepts in ethics, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mimpathy outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Mimpathy in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Mimpathy means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Mimpathy out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mimpathy in simple terms?

Mimpathy (German: Nachfühlen, literally "after experience") is a philosophical concept related to empathy and sympathy. In Dagobert D.

Why does Mimpathy matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mimpathy?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mimpathy.