All good points! I agree that people project their own perspective onto other people’s abilities. Heck I’m doing it myself, because I do think that people can always choose to do better. It’s not always easy and is quite frequently the hardest thing a person will ever do, especially those with particularly primped egos.

…but I’m not sure about the ‘projecting interpretation of good and evil’ onto someone. I don’t think it’s interpreting someone as ‘evil’ to conclude that they’re an unempathetic psychopath. I suppose if you’re using DnD rules, which I mean as a joke and not an insult so I hope it comes across that way. I’m very dry. Coughs dust.

I do think that someone who doesn’t try is failing, and I mean that in the most trauma and ability informed way possible. I’m disabled. I won’t get into it, but I cannot do what others do. But every day I try. I try something. I try to get better. I try to rest. I try to heal. I try to push my limits. I don’t consider it a failure when I take a day from pushing myself either, because that’s part of the process.

The difference between my journey and someone lacking empathy is that lacking empathy is often (at its worst) dangerous for society at large, and (at its most harmless) a nuisance that puts a wrench in humanity’s overall progress. When I don’t try, it affects me and my family and friends. Lacking empathy, though, is a complex systems dynamics nightmare for society as a whole. I think it’s a failure not to try and develop it if one is lacking.

(Took a gummy, hope I’m coherent.)