I can see where you think that. When I'm being akrasic, though, I'm still doing it for some reason. I'm motivated to do what I'm doing for some reason, not for no reason. For instance, someone who is akrasic about getting their bills paid isn't just insane; they have an aversion and get some slight relief from distracting themselves with non-bill activities. Understanding that in first-person near-mode (rather than just seeing them as a machine to be trouble-shot) seems to help a lot with empathy. In my experience!
Empathy is a huge life skill, useful in almost every interaction with other people. But, many people aren't able to empathize with others as effectively as they might want to. The standard technique is "put yourself in their shoes," which works for me. However, this doesn't always work with people completely different from myself, because I can't imagine reacting the way they are.
Does anyone have suggestions for how to "practice" empathizing, tips on how to do it better, or different techniques entirely?