Do you think that poets and other artists are more or less compassionate than &q

Question:I feel they should be, since they understand emotion, but I may be wrong.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I feel they should be, since they understand emotion, but I may be wrong.

I have the impression that most artists are LESS compassionate than 'ordinary' people. Consider how many poems you've read about alienation, as instance. Is there in those a whole lot of understanding of the thicker-hided humanity around the poet? Or of sympathy for 'those too blind to see'? On the contrary, in many alienated artistic works, wretchedly ordinary people are NOT understood by the artist, and for that, the ordinary folk are dismissed as trivial or immoral or irrelevant. (I don't want to rail here; you take my point.)

No, there is in those poems--and in much other art as well--an insularity of feeling, a super-refinement of perceptions that many don't have at all, an unsympathetic attitude toward those who do not (or perhaps cannot) share with the artist the artist's vision. (The standard example: a blind man listening to a lecture on pigment theory.)

Of course there ARE artists who try successfully to reach the unwashed. But there are rather more who don't and who never will, in my estimation. HIs artistic pursuit will take him further from the rest of humanity, and deeper into his personal artistic idiom. HIs personal need to feel 'better than the rest of men', ditto. (adjust the pronouns to suit your agenda).

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"I don't get it" is a phrase that trumpets artistic failure, in my opinion. 'Compassionate' works bring the art consumer (so to speak) into the artist's passion, to feel with the artist. But it must suppose that the artist also feels with the art's consumer(s). Most artistic work fails this 'test for compassion', in both directions.

Oddly, the arts consumer is made to feel shame when she says "I don't get it." Where did this corrupt inversion of communication principles come from?

Yes, yes, and yes! I totally agree. We see and feel more. This is my observation. We also decipher. We understand. We know. We're wonderful - lol.

No, I don't.

You would think that they would be more compassionate toward others and I believe most are, but some are not. Actually, I think poetic personalities vary greatly. I've encountered some poets who are so self absorbed that they can't see anything but themselves and only recognize their own feelings. They are what you could call solipsistic. Then, there are the poets who overly empathetic and feel everything for everyone and are constantly tortured by their own feelings and the feelings of others. They also tend to see the ugliness in life. Then there are the quite observers who are conscious of their surroundings and the people closest to them. They are empathetic and compassionate, but they don't get caught up in other's emotions. They tend to see the beauty in mundane objects and are careful not offend or hurt other's feelings. It is this poet, the quite observer, that I think defines the majority of poets.

when you are happy do you not feel like
to skip run dance for JOY !!
we are made from sound , we live by sound,,
Rather ordinary Passion,,,then MISERY
we do not celebrate selfishness
we celebrate its Occasion WITH JOY !!
life is all but ,when we CRY with JOY..
As off I go to the ordinary..[myself ]
The Keep saker of [ i ] within me,,!!
it is RAINING ,,[OUT SIDE.]..

I don't think so, we are ordinary people. We just have a passion to write, to paint, to sculpt, or to build. I can write a passionate love poem this morning, and make a Rambo type knife this afternoon, which to me might seem to be on opposite ends of the compassion scale. I think we, as artists of all types just tend to show our compassion more than people who are not as artistic. How many poets are told that what they do make them geeky, or sissified, and other derogatory remarks, and how many people would rather be ordinary than put up with the remarks. We understand emotion, so do the others, but they do not care to show the emotions to the degree that we, as artists do, for we will withstand the critics. I can't count the times I have had someone tell me that poets are all sissies, then come to me later and want me to write something for them. I have at times wrote the most sissy sounding poetry for them that I could, for I knew they were going to claim they wrote it to impress someone else. My reasons for thinking as I do, not necessarily that of the establishment.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

no your instincts are correct hon, poets are very compassionate for the exact reason that you stated

No. Yet, I do believe we have a strong grasp on emotions and seek to spread compassion.

I think all people have an artist and a poet inside of them.
They just need to be encouraged. Some people hold this
stuff in. But it`s there. All people have compassion within. They are just afraid to show it. With a good teacher and an
open mind, we can all be poets and artists.

Well I have to say, I'm about the most compassionate person I know, although I don't often express poetically or artistically. I may not be extraordinary, but I'm also not ordinary as my friends will attest to. Artistry is another frame of mind, aside from compassion.

I don't think so, and I think poets are "ordinary" people, like bakers, teachers or candlestick makers... They may have a special understanding of emotion, but emotion is not necessarily positive. There are many negative types of emotions. For instance, anger, jealousy or envy are emotions (or passions as they used to be called).

One would hope that poets would be more compassionate
Alas, as we have seen ....especially in this forum that is not always the case.
I think there is no universal median when it comes to compassion. It would boil down to the the individual, their upbringing and value system.
Great question...star for you!

I think poets and artists are just like us "ordinary people" just that they can express themselves so much better, they see the world from many different points of views, they can capture an emotion or beauty in a few words or strokes of their brush.

I'm sure all people could do this, if they only opened their eyes and mind to the rest of the world. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they have a gift. Idk, but I just think that everyone is created equal, it's just the people and things that innfluence them that change their outlooks.

I hate to hurt people's feelings. I would rather keep quiet rather then say something doesn't appeal to me. But I usually can find something good in everyone's poetry. I always lift the person up and will not tred on their feelings. That's just me.

Since when do you have to be a poet or artist to understand emotion? I am a musician/lyricist/singer and I have alway considered myself passionate at what I do, and incidentally, I feel I have more compassion than the average person has to share. So to answer your question, I'd say generally speaking poets and artists are more compassionate but I don't think it's a rule set in stone. People can be an artist at heart without ever writing a poem or putting together a song or painting a picture.