You're hard-wired for empathy, whether you like it or not.
More than two decades ago now, scientists made a discovery that fundamentally altered our understanding of empathy. While observing monkeys, they noticed that certain brain cells activated both when a monkey performed an action and when that monkey watched another monkey perform the same action.
It’s a scenario we’ve all probably experienced before: If we’ve seen someone stub her toe, or cut her finger, or fall off a bike, and winced because we could feel the pain ourselves. That wincing – that unconscious reaction – is caused by “mirror neurons” firing in our brains. And these same neurons fire whether the action happens to us or to someone we’re watching.
The discovery of mirror neurons was a significant breakthrough because it revealed that our brains have evolved in a way that enables us to recognize and understand the emotions and intentions of others – not just by thinking but actually feeling. It sent ripples through a number of scientific disciplines and challenged our understanding of everything from language and philosophy to psychotherapy – and certainly of empathy. Neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran has argued that these neurons allow us to learn complex social behaviors and has called them “the basis of civilization.”
Many species display empathy in some form – including rats, and chickens, and dogs, among others – but primates, and especially humans, have a more sophisticated capacity thanks to our more developed neocortex and our huge working memory. In fact, human beings are “hard wired” for empathy – it’s part of what makes us deeply social animals, and distinct from other animals on the planet.
As our understanding of the human brain gets more and more sophisticated, we’ve been able to pinpoint particular parts of the brain – and particular chemicals – that are linked to certain kinds of behavior. For example, the brain chemical oxytocin plays a central role in social behaviors like bonding and empathy – it’s often referred to as “the love hormone” – and has been linked to higher levels of generosity.
These hormones, along with other genes and with our mirror neurons, provide a biological basis for our evolution as social creatures by enabling deep emotional connectedness, mimicry, and cooperation, among other things. They likely evolved in the context of the prenatal care fundamental to all mammals, and over the centuries they have contributed to our sense of morality – which has manifested itself in everything from The Golden Rule to modern conceptions of human rights.
Source: http://startempathy.org/wired-for-empathy
Michael Zakara is a writer and strategist who specializes in social entrepreneurship and public policy. He has worked for Ashoka in the United States, Ireland, and Central Europe and has a Master's from the Harvard Kennedy School. He's currently based in New York City.
