Samantha Tyler

December 13, 2023

Computers 10

USS Callister

It can be hard to know the difference between sympathy and empathy. They are both felt when

you feel bad for someone, so how do you know the difference? Well, when you feel sympathy,

you feel bad for a person without understanding why they feel the way they do. Whereas

empathy, you are putting yourself in that person's shoes and can fully get how they are feeling

and why. The episode USS Callister had numerous examples of sympathy and empathy. At the

beginning, we were almost tricked into thinking that Robert was a victim. We were shown that

he lived a sad life, nobody liked him or even respected him. That was an example of a situation

we were influenced to be sympathetic about. It was then revealed he was just a loner who felt

like he deserved power over his coworkers, not a victim. Another could be Walton sacrificing

himself to get the spaceship's engines running. He volunteered to get blasted by the engine

flames, if it meant his friends and son would be safe. An example of empathy could be when

Robert put Waltons son, Tommy, out the airlock because he was angry. Although the audience

has no idea how Walton was feeling, we can see his pain and know his feelings. We can see

how it destroyed Walton and that he would do anything to have it never happen again. I have

experienced many moments like these in my own life. I remember when I saw a lady in a

Walmart parking lot. She was walking, carrying her things. Suddenly she lost her grip and it all

fell to the ground. I felt sympathy for her, I felt bad that her things were ruined. Then there was
the time I saw a classmate struggling to present in front of the class. I do not know exactly what

they felt, but I have been in situations like that before and had empathy for them. Overall, we

experience sympathy and empathy even when we do not know we are.