Through conversations with others on the Human Library Bus; hearing from a brain booth how empathic you are; spending a momentary spell as a sweatshop worker; and experiencing a meal in the Cafe in the Dark served by vision-impaired waiters; the museum aims to "transform the way you look at the world and yourself."
As a "crucial method of expanding our empathy is by making the imaginative leap in other people's lives through books and films", an online Empathy Library is already live. It reviews and recommends movies and books which have the "power to deepen our empathy." So even before the museum gets going you can sit in the comfort of your armchair and work on your empathetic muscles.
The Empathy Museum and Library comes on the back of Krznaric's 2014 book "Empathy, why it matters and how to get it." I'll need to read the book to learn how un-empathetic I am and find out what a revolution of human relationships looks like.
Whilst the museum sounds like a good day out for all ages, I hope there will be a focus on action and continuing transformation. Just as one swallow doesn't make a summer, so one day of being more empathic does not a revolutionary make. It can't be exercised in our isolated armchairs, Empathy demands we get self-sacrificially dirty. It calls for altruistic action; using ones voice and resources to speak for another. It invites us to know the names and dreams of fellow humanoids; to sit in the dirt to weep together; to squeal with delight as we soar to liberty and equality.
So if the Empathy Museum comes our way I will pay a visit - I don't know about you, but I need repeated prods to think about, feel as and act for, others rather than just for myself.
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