u/Kfjkkfk

According to every test I’ve taken as well as my own subjective assessment I completely lack affective empathy.

I have a habit of processing any emotional state in the person before me, or any social situation, through a purely logical lens, analyzing the potential consequences of my own behavior.

Consequently, I very often either express absolutely nothing at all, or I express myself solely through practical actions. I'm able to analyze my own feelings, identify their specific underlying causes, and adjust my behavior *before* I say or do anything having first considered what the repercussions might be and how, from a strictly logical standpoint, others are likely to react.

In other words, my empathy is entirely cognitive and built exclusively upon asking myself "how would I feel in this situation?" and then adjusting my behavior accordingly.

Is this sufficient to live in society, or do I need to work on my affective empathy? How bad is it that I have very low EQ?

Plus, the basic principles: do not meddle in others' affairs; first and foremost, view the person or animal as a subject with their own needs; and do no harm unless justified by an extreme situation; don't demand emotional labor from anyone.

In other words, in order to figure out how to express what I’m feeling (and I have no trouble understanding what I feel or why) I first have to pause for a few seconds, then analyze the entire web of context and long-term consequences, and only then respond with a delay

He was planning to drive along a highway known for being notoriously dangerous with faulty brakes (which his mechanic said would hold out for another month) and a car packed to the brim, its trunk completely full.

This is sheer suicide, because the mechanic most likely meant "around the city at low speeds," not "on the highway through the mountains" with a trunk and back seat stuffed full of boxes.

My mother didn't react at all; she just said, "Well, *you* try explaining it to him."

He brushed me off and said he would drive carefully.

I got scared and called our city's traffic police, telling them that a driver was about to set off at a specific time; his brakes were faulty, he wasn't listening to reason, and they needed to do something.

In our country, we have a system of "traffic police checkpoints." They stopped him at the city limits and impounded his car.

He doesn't know that I was the one who did it, but I feel conflicted

On the one hand, it's bad to go behind their back, on the other, the person fucking fails to realize that they face a massive risk of crashing due to a specific highway, an overloaded car, and brakes that could fail at any moment