I think my code has improved quite a lot since I've been thinking empathically about current and future colleagues. If you keep in mind that this code will be read by other people, and if you really want them not to have a terrible time decyphering it, you start being more careful with naming, structure and syntax.

So yes, social empathy is important to craft great code.

You can never truly know your audience, you can only know yourself. Good writing involves getting in touch with yourself on a fundamentally human level that others can relate to. Good writing is about exploration and discovery. Writers that pander to an audience tend to be hacks, and the best they can hope for is to become shallow commercial successes.

I had never thought about programming (or, for what comes next, application development) as a verbal skill.

The more I think about it, the more it makes sense, especially as it pertains to UI/UX. About empathy -- you need to relate to your users, understand, be aware and sensitive of their needs and their thought process as they use your application.

Thanks for the interesting view. Not sure I read it too literally, but it gave me something to think about.

I can't prove it, but I really don't think that programming helps one to become more empathic. In my case, after a long programming session, I need about an hour to snap out of my analytical state of mind, and get my social/verbal skills back to their original level.

I've had the same - I have that quite a lot but have also have the reverse where immediately after a non-technical presentation being presented with a trivial technical problem that mind would not engage with.

Code is also a UI, for your coworker or future self who has to read and understand it. You also need to empathize with your future self and work to prevent confusion.

What strategies did you use to consciously work on your empathy?