Originally Posted by
keeen
Nope...we can empathize with another person's experiences by drawing comparisons to similar circumstances and feelings in our own lives, but the day-in, day-out experience is something that we will never fully grasp. It's not a question of intellect or "trying hard enough," as you say. Our understanding is always a facsimile, we're at best understanding OUR IDEA of someone else's experience, but our ideas are derived from our own experiences.
EDITED because I've just realized I responded to a comment on the first page and the conversation went in VERY different directions since then.