In the Futile Pursuit of Happiness, Professor and economist George Loewenstein talks about and explains Empathy Gaps or as he says it “hot or cold” states. Empathy Gaps are thoughts and behavior we cannot predict. Hot states usually occur when you are experiencing anxiety, courage, fear, drug craving, or sexual excitation; whereas in a cold states you are more rational and calm. We tend to use these empathy gaps when we’re excited in any kind of way (hot) or in a calm state of mind (cold) for whatever reasons in everyday life.
As humans we tend to use more of our “hot” state instead of our “cold” because we seek the “thrill” or excitement in life. I believe this occurs more often in teens and young adults because we act like we don’t care about life. We live for the moment and whatever happens happens.
In my experience I was absolutely in my “hot” state. It was my junior year of high school and it was the annual senior fashion show where everyone comes dressed like its mini fashion week. Well my friends and I were no exception. When the show was done we decided we were going to go to Times Square to hang out some more before we all had to start heading home. We were there for a while, almost an hour and just before we decided to leave we saw this party bus with people on it and the music was really good. We asked if it was free and they said yes; then one thing led to another and next thing we knew we were on the bus.
My friends started drinking and we’re all dancing but then I notice that we were on the bus for quite some time now. We decided to get off but when we told them to stop they pulled out a bill of how much money we owed them for the ride and the drinks. We owed them over $100. The only money we had on us was our only way home. We ended up paying them about $60-$70 because that’s all we had and then they threaten to call the cops on us. At this point my “hot” state got even higher because they refuse to let us off the bus. The whole time they were threatening us I kept on staring at the emergency escape just incase we needed to run for it. Luckily they had a change of heart and they let us off the bus on the other side of the city.
I n my experience your “Hot and Cold” state can trigger how fast and how you react towards unpredictable situations like mine. It’s all apart of human nature and it’s just an instinct we all have to live with each day.
