Uploaded March 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
How we interpret reassuring comments is strongly influenced by the ambiguity of the terms pity and sympathy. Taimur tends to react negatively to those trying to offer reassurance. He believes that reassuring comments portray a feeling of pity rather than sympathy which is why he has such an adverse reaction to them. Ali counters by suggesting that this is not necessarily people feeling sorry or pity, it’s just people providing reassurance to show that they care whether the recipient needs it or not.
This clips was taken from Episode 96 - Pity vs Sympathy
🎙 About the Podcast - Not Overthinking
Not Overthinking is a podcast about happiness, creativity, and the human condition. We talk about things to help us think, do, and be better. Things like social interaction, lifestyle design, mental models...things that are hard to examine, but important to explore. And hopefully, things that make for a fun and interesting chat every week.
Follow Not Overthinking on Twitter: twitter.com/noverthinking
Check out our website for show notes: notoverthinking.com
Follow us on Instagram for bite-sized podcast clips: instagram.com/notoverthinkingpod
🎧 Listen for free on your favourite Podcast platform - search "Not Overthinking" on your podcast app, or click these links
Apple Podcasts - podcasts.apple.com/pk/podcast/not-overthinking/id1456538451
Spotify - open.spotify.com/show/1Zo2yYgEYWRRpF2jTcNP5R
Google Podcasts - podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9yc3MuYXJ0MTkuY29tL25vdC1vdmVydGhpbmtpbmc
👬 Who are we?
Ali Abdaal is a junior doctor and YouTuber working in Cambridge, UK. He makes videos about medicine, technology, productivity and lifestyle design.
Ali's YouTube Channel - youtube.com/aliabdaal
Ali's Twitter - twitter.com/aliabdaal
Ali's Instagram - instagram.com/aliabdaal
Ali's Blog - aliabdaal.com
Taimur Abdaal is a data scientist and writer, working on his own startup Causal (https://causal.app/). He writes on his blog and as a columnist for Medium.
Taimur's Twitter - twitter.com/taimurabdaal
Taimur's Instagram - instagram.com/refrigerated
Taimur's Blog - taimur.me
Leave us a Review
If you enjoy the podcast, we've love for you to leave us a review on iTunes. This helps other people discover the show - podcasts.apple.com/podcast/not-overthinking/id1456538451
How we interpret reassuring comments is strongly influenced by the ambiguity of the terms pity and sympathy. Taimur tends to react negatively to those trying to offer reassurance. He believes that reassuring comments portray a feeling of pity rather than sympathy which is why he has such an adverse reaction to them. Ali counters by suggesting that this is not necessarily people feeling sorry or pity, it’s just people providing reassurance to show that they care whether the recipient needs it or not.
This clips was taken from Episode 96 - Pity vs Sympathy
🎙 About the Podcast - Not Overthinking
Not Overthinking is a podcast about happiness, creativity, and the human condition. We talk about things to help us think, do, and be better. Things like social interaction, lifestyle design, mental models...things that are hard to examine, but important to explore. And hopefully, things that make for a fun and interesting chat every week.
Follow Not Overthinking on Twitter: twitter.com/noverthinking
Check out our website for show notes: notoverthinking.com
Follow us on Instagram for bite-sized podcast clips: instagram.com/notoverthinkingpod
🎧 Listen for free on your favourite Podcast platform - search "Not Overthinking" on your podcast app, or click these links
Apple Podcasts - podcasts.apple.com/pk/podcast/not-overthinking/id1456538451
Spotify - open.spotify.com/show/1Zo2yYgEYWRRpF2jTcNP5R
Google Podcasts - podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9yc3MuYXJ0MTkuY29tL25vdC1vdmVydGhpbmtpbmc
👬 Who are we?
Ali Abdaal is a junior doctor and YouTuber working in Cambridge, UK. He makes videos about medicine, technology, productivity and lifestyle design.
Ali's YouTube Channel - youtube.com/aliabdaal
Ali's Twitter - twitter.com/aliabdaal
Ali's Instagram - instagram.com/aliabdaal
Ali's Blog - aliabdaal.com
Taimur Abdaal is a data scientist and writer, working on his own startup Causal (https://causal.app/). He writes on his blog and as a columnist for Medium.
Taimur's Twitter - twitter.com/taimurabdaal
Taimur's Instagram - instagram.com/refrigerated
Taimur's Blog - taimur.me
Leave us a Review
If you enjoy the podcast, we've love for you to leave us a review on iTunes. This helps other people discover the show - podcasts.apple.com/podcast/not-overthinking/id1456538451
