How Would I Feel If I Were Born In Gaza: The Empathy Game

(Essay)

I haven’t played this game, this thought experiment, in a while. And so, with another three hours to go on my flight this morning, I thought I’d try it again. The idea is simple; the imagining is the hard part.

The game goes like this: I take a person — or if I’m thinking more broadly, a group of people with whom I am not “pleasantly disposed.” Today, I’…