“Empath” seems to be the new thing everyone online claims to be, and as with most of these labels that go around and seem to be signaling virtue, I’m skeptical. In the same way I see many people labeling others “narcissists”, I see them labeling themselves “empaths” and I can’t help but think the terms are not being used correctly, at least much of the time. But that’s why I’m asking.

An “empath” is defined as a person with an exceptional amount of empathy. Do you believe that you have more empathy than the people around you? Is there a Dunning-Kruger effect going on where we tend to overestimate our empathic levels as we overestimate our intelligence? Is “empath” a legitimate category or is it simply the natural state for most people and those who have middling or lower amounts of empathy are the exception?