Moving from Sympathy to Empathy in an Alphabet-Based World Sympathy is an insult. It’s a polite way of saying, “I’m so sorry you aren’t running the standard factory software like the rest of us.” For years, I carried the shame of not learning the rigid rules of the linear world the way my siblings did. Well-meaning people offered me sympathy for my “learning disability.” But sympathy didn't lift the weight—it reinforced the idea that my hardware was broken. It wasn't broken.