I don't know how that back and forth started between you and the guy over sympathy and empathy, but in actual usage
there is a pretty blurry border between the two. I use both words, but obviously to relate to different situations: they will NEVER be the same because they are different words , with different prefixes. That's one thing that should be communicated to the other guy---it's a not necessarily helpful shorthand in this context to come out with the usual rule of thumb of "sympathy is feeling with, empathy is feeling into."Once you say that you are still at a loss as to the real-life applications
and exclusivity. The fact is that they are used interchangeably , by people who don't really know what they're trying to communicate, or are aware of the nuances of where one begins and the other ends.
Consider how much bad grammar, misspelling, misuse of words, etc. we are exposed to every day---I don't even want to get into how often I hear it from the whole media spectrum of talking heads, who you'd think would know better: we must fight against certifying or sanctifying ANY mistake which is the result of laziness, ignorance, sloppiness of thought, or the intentional "dumbing-down" by what is still fatuously called "education"
I'd have to read back through the many many posts to get to what really started my conversation with this other person. I only know that the usage of the word empathy in dealing with "celebrating" the death of Saddam with the Iraqi's who he brutalized was incorrect, and I attempted to get that across. I probably didn't reach my objective, but I tried. Thanks for your explanation, and pointing out that the distinction between these two words is often blurred though the common use of both. I enjoyed reading your post, and appreciate your thoughts.