"It’s an emotion that focuses on a centering of self."

Wow, that's an awful sentence and describes the exact opposite of what Empathy is. Empathy is about being able to feel for someone else. It's literally about focusing on another and then internalizing what they are feeling, despite not being them. It's literally the opposite of centering the self; it's de-centering the self.

In fact, people who lack empathy are said to be self-centered. This "genius" is an ignoramus, in addition to being extremely pretentious. This McArthur genius award is based on 100% ideology and 0% on merit. What a joke.