So either we succumb to the truism and can stop right here. Or we have to realize we're talking about something other than complete understanding.
If that's the case, it begs the question of what we're talking about. What's the goal here, for which the required amount of empathy is either brought to the table or not?
That tends to remain conveniently unanswered by people making such statements.
Ostensibly it is to improve the conditions of what it is to be X. But the phrasing is such that...