I'm not going to reveal my score on the Empathy Quotient test but you might get a sense from my answer (slightly disagree) to the question - "it upsets me to see an animal in pain" - that I lean a little to the heartless misanthrope (although "borderline sociopath" as recently suggested by my co-blogger is unduly harsh and "slightly disagrees" with the actual score).
And yet, I find it almost unbearably poignant to learn of the death from lupus of genius Hip-Hop producer J Dilla (aka Jay Dee) in his mother's arms on February 10, just three days after his 32nd birthday. I didn't even know he was ill. He apparently toured Europe in a wheelchair last year. He was a true innovator, creator of many timeless classics - for the likes of Tribe called Quest, Pharcyde, Slum Village, Q-Tip and Janet Jackson (he was widely considered to be the "real" producer for the Jonie-Mitchell-sampling Got 'til it's gone) along with his own solo work (official and unofficial) - and will be sadly missed.
For more on the man and his music, the J Dilla tribute show by Benji B is available to listen to on demand until next Thursday night with Gilles Peterson's tribute show available until next Sunday night.
How is it that I managed to score a mere 28 on that Empathy Quotient test?
"You have a lower than average ability for [sic] understanding how other people feel and responding appropriately. Most people with Asperger Syndrome or high-functioning autism score about 20. On average most women score about 47 and most men about 42."
Me, an Asperger sufferer or a "high-functioning" autistic? I think not; looks to me that there's a high weighting in this thing for being obsessed with fashion and other such frivolities.
PS: On the other hand, perhaps it is indicative of something that I managed to skip over the main thrust of this post - namely the death of J Dilla - in order to complain about the EQ test. Then again, it's not like I knew the man before reading this ...
Posted by: Abiola | February 21, 2006 at 09:16 PM
Bah! I think empathy is overrated anyway
Posted by: Frank McGahon | February 21, 2006 at 09:45 PM