Empathy is definitely not about feeling nothing. That is something more in the avenue of sociopathic thinking. On the contrary empathy is about feeling a great deal about other people - their situations and their feelings. To be empathetic is to feel - and it is other people's joy and duress that one feels.

No, to feel another's emotional pain for instance is not intentional. Empathy cannot be controlled. One cannot choose this situation or that situation to feel for. It just happens uncontrollably. Neither can one simply shut off the feelings. Sometimes they fester and take on greater significance than one's own. Another common trait about empathy is the unfaultering need to make things better. Empathy then often occurs side by side the emotion of frustration and sometimes even anger.

Empathy I am told is admirable. No, I would not wish this upon my fellow man. While having a great understanding of people and there feelings can be advantageous, feeling their emotional agony definitely isn't.