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Baron-Cohen has made a major contribution to our understanding of autism. Autistic people lack any comprehension that other people have feelings. They do not understand what empathy is. Like most psychologists, he loves categorising and measuring. He describes how our degree of empathy can be measured, and how our scores form the familiar shape of the bell curve. If you want to find your Empathy Quotient (EQ), the questionnaire is in the book.
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"We are wired for empathy," says Dr. Marco Iacoboni, professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA. "Human instinct is to be empathic. We can't help it." For centuries, he says, scientists thought of empathy upside-down: that we were animals fighting for survival and it was only our higher brain functions that allowed us to feel cooperative emotions such as empathy. Neuroscientists are now finding that our brains are wired on a very basic level to feel empathy for others, though obviously the capacity for empathy varies from person to person.
In general, however, neuroscientists are finding that the more empathic a person is in general, the higher the level of embarrassment and discomfort they feel for others when they see another's embarrassing situation.
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My five-year-old niece recently saw a girl bullying one of her classmates. The teacher intervened and made the bully put on her victim's pair of shoes. This curious punishment was a literal rendering of the Native American saying: "Walk a mile in another man's moccasins before you criticise him." It was also an instance of creating empathy – the art of stepping into the shoes of others and seeing the world from their perspective.
The power of empathy has been recognised for millennia, at least since theatre audiences in ancient Greece wept at the tragic suffering of the heroes on stage.
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In two consecutive studies, using behavioral measures and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the authors show that the experience of vicarious embarrassment is linked to empathy and neural activations in brain areas constituting the affective component of the pain matrix: the anterior cingulate cortex and the left anterior insula.
The authors generated four kinds of everyday life situations eliciting vicarious embarrassment.
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People diagnosed as psychopathic have difficulty showing empathy, just like patients who have suffered frontal head injury, according to a new study from the University of Haifa.
"Our findings show that people who have psychopathic symptoms behave as though they are suffering frontal brain damage," said study author Simone Shamay-Tsoory, PhD.
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The benefits of altruism and empathy are obvious. These qualities are so highly regarded and embedded in both secular and religious societies that it seems almost heretical to suggest they can cause harm. Like most good things, however, altruism can be distorted or taken to an unhealthy extreme.
Pathological Altruism presents a number of new, thought-provoking theses that explore a range of hurtful effects of altruism and empathy. Pathologies of empathy, for example, may trigger depression as well as the burnout seen in healthcare professionals.
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researchers found that those holding conservative views tend to have larger amygdale, the almond-shaped organ in the center of the brain that's linked to fear, anxiety and emotion; and a smaller-than-average anterior cingulate, a region of the brain linked to sorting through conflicting information and maintaining a more optimistic outlook. The opposite was true for subjects identified as liberal.
Many psychological reports published over the years have also shown conservatives to be more sensitive to threats in the face of uncertainty, while liberals tend to be more open to new experiences.
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So how do we revive Empathy in America? It shouldn’t be difficult. Almost each and every one of us enter this world full of it, ready to give and accept love and not to “think” about what’s best for us as individuals. Seeing ourselves in others and vice versa isn’t a burden or a version of community service — it’s a gift we give others and a reward we receive. Fixing this problem starts with a reminder — when you hurt another you are actually hurting yourself. If we could all see the greater whole and not just the individual goal — then empathy won’t only survive but it will flourish…
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In a book just published, Zero Degrees of Empathy, professor Simon Baron-Cohen suggests that evil is best understood as being a lack of empathy rather than the presence of something else. In an interview in the New Scientist, he explains how he set out to understand how people could do terrible things to each other. After years of study, he’s concluded that it’s partly down to cultural norms that tell you what’s okay to do to someone else and partly down to how about 10 circuits in the brain that he calls the ‘empathy circuit’ work.
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Self-compassion is the ground of all emotional healing, and Dr. Germer has produced an invaluable guide. Written with great clarity, psychological wisdom, and warmth, this book will serve anyone seeking practical and powerful tools that free the heart.”–Tara Brach, PhD, author of Radical Acceptance
“Explains both the science and practice of developing kindness toward ourselves and others. Dr. Germer offers powerful and easily accessible steps toward transforming our lives from the inside out. It’s never too late to start along this important path.”–Daniel J. Siegel, MD, author of The Mindful Brain
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From the blogosphere to the New York Times, there's been a lot of talk recently about "self-compassion." Two books on the subject - discussing "The Self-Compassion Diet:" and "A Mindful and Compassionate Guide to Losing Weight" - hit bookshelves in December.
In March, a survey in Glamour magazine explored the concept through the daily number of negative body thoughts reported by the female participants. Another book, "Self-Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind," is due April 19.
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The Culture of Empathy website is a growing portal for resources and information about the values of empathy and compassion. It contains the largest collection of; articles, conferences, definitions, experts, history, interviews, videos, science and much more about empathy and compassion. To
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Empathy is becoming a science. That was the message of a recent article in The Observer newspaper by Cambridge psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen. Our brains, he argues, contain an ‘empathy circuit’. But if empathy is wired into us, does that leave any scope for expanding our empathic potential?
Baron-Cohen cites several cases of people with ‘borderline personality disorders’, who display a distinct inability to empathise, in the sense of lacking a capacity to understand other people’s feelings or step into their shoes.
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Guest PJ Manney joins Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon in a discussion of how empathy may prove a critical factor in determining what sort of future we experience.
Topics include: - What to make of recent findings concerning the physiological nature of empathy. - Why empathy exists in so many animals, including humans - Why as the world becomes more complex, we may need it more and more - Empathy and Geek Culture -- there hope?
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The participants were also asked to rate how embarrassed they would feel if they were in the person's position -- and also whether they were feeling chagrined for that person -- and then took another survey intended to rate the participants' empathy. Not surprisingly, empathetic folks were more likely to experience secondhand embarrassment, proving what we already suspected:
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Empathy is one of the most important aspects of creating harmonious relationships, reducing stress, and enhancing emotional awareness – yet it can be tricky at times. I consider myself to be quite empathetic, but notice that with certain people (especially those I don’t like or agree with and also with myself at times) and in particular situations, my natural ability and desire to empathize can be diminished or almost non-existent.
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Kornrath argues that part of the explanation for decreased levels of empathy for young people may be as a result of changes in parenting styles in the 1980's, when parents focused on nurturing if not spoiling children, and focused on success and competition. The researchers observed that young people today "may be so busy worrying about themselves and their own issues that they don't have time to spend empathizing with others, or at least perceive such time to be limited.
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A conversation between Frans de Waal, author of "The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society," He says, a torturer needs empathy to know how to inflict pain.
Frans de Waal, Empathy Expert Page: http://bit.ly/jn2OTe
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Carole Jahme reviews two new books about the science of empathy, Zero Degrees of Empathy by Simon Baron-Cohen, and Pathological Altruism edited by Barbara Oakley.
Where you sit on the empathy spectrum will have an effect over the sorts of things that make you cry. More significantly, how much or how little empathic understanding you possess will shape the course of your life. Empathy is a powerful ability that most mammals possess to a greater or lesser extent. Strange then that science only started tuning in to empathy in the 1960s. Simon Baron-Cohen is one of a few scientists who have continually focused on the genetic and environmental factors involved.
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I recently returned from Peter Breggin's Empathic Therapy Conference in Syracuse, NY. It was a phenomenal event, attended by nearly 200 physicians, psychologists, recovered mental health consumers, authors and advocates. It was inspiring to be surrounded by so many people who are dedicated to a humane and hopeful approach to help those who struggle with mental and emotional distress.
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Empathy-altruism is a form of altruism based on feelings for others.
The social exchange theory basically states that altruism does not exist unless benefits outweigh the costs. C. Daniel Batson disagrees. He feels that people help out of genuine concern for the well-being of the other person. The key ingredient to helping is empathy. According to his 'empathy-altruism hypothesis', if you feel empathy towards another person you will help them, regardless of what you can gain from it. Relieving their suffering becomes the most important thing. When you do not feel empathy, the social exchange theory takes control. Dan Batson, Empathy Expert Page: http://bit.ly/iSwLnu
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We describe all manner of wrongdoings as ‘evil’, but should we be focusing instead on our levels of empathy? Simon Baron-Cohen believes our ability to empathise with others is key to unlocking the dark side of human nature...
But isn’t it a long way from empathy to evil? “People with classic autism and Asperger’s have difficulties with empathy,” says Baron-Cohen, “but the majority of them don’t do things that are cruel or that involve hurting others. However, there are certain psychiatric conditions – psychopaths, for example – where low empathy does result in people hurting other people. So for me, it was a question of, how do these conditions relate to each other? Does low empathy always lead to cruelty?
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In his latest book, Zero Degrees of Empathy: A new theory of human cruelty, Baron-Cohen, argues that the term evil is unscientific and unhelpful. "Sometimes the term evil is used as a way to stop an inquiry," Baron-Cohen tells me. "'This person did it because they're evil' – as if that were an explanation."
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You’re so stupid! What a loser! You look like a total cow in those jeans! Would you talk this way to a friend – or even to a stranger for that matter? Of course not. (Or at least I hope not! If you do please don’t invite me to your next dinner party!) Its natural for us to try to be kind to the people we care about in our lives. We let them know it’s okay to be human when they fail. We reassure them of our respect and support when they’re feeling bad about themselves.
We comfort them when they’re going through hard times. In other words, most of us are very good at being understanding, kind, and compassionate towards other
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Self Compassion Part 1 Kristin Neff... In addition to her pioneering research into self-compassion, she has developed an 8-week program to teach self-compassion skills. The program, co-created with her colleague Chris Germer at Harvard University, is called Mindful Self-Compassion. She has a new book titled "Self-Compassion" that will be published by William Morrow on April 19, 2011.
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