Three main points that the author is making here is that one, empathy has a narrow focus; two only lets us focus on the few not the many; and three, empathy allows our own biases to dictate where our empathy is directed. As seen in this quote, “but spotlights have a narrow focus, and this is one problem with empathy. It does poorly in a world where there are many people in need” (Bloom 1). This quote from Bloom is an example of one of the points he is trying to make which is that empathy is narrowly focused at times. I find myself agreeing with a lot of Blooms points that he makes about empathy. He didn’t necessarily challenge any initial beliefs I had about empathy, his argument made me think about empathy in a deeper, more complex way than I had before. I don’t believe however that my opinions changed on empathy because of bloom’s points.

            A claim in Bloom’s writing that he included to invoke a stronger response was “empathy is limited as well in that it focuses on specific individuals” (Bloom 2). This claim he makes that empathy can only focus on the few not the many is something I find myself agreeing with. Even in my own experiences, either giving or receiving empathy I realize looking back that people can only give so much empathy at one time. This makes it hard to have empathy for many individuals affected by an issue or that need empathy.