system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: What is the "cringe" feeling caused by?
gpt
Empathy. When you're watching someone go through another experience, you view their experience from your standpoint. If they are going through something that makes you feel uncomfortable, be it because they brought it on themselves or someone else is putting them in that situation, you start to feel like withdrawing from the whole predicament altogether.