Compassion is what makes us human

Her study found that younger generations in particular are less empathetic and more narcissistic. Another study from the U. Meanwhile, stories of increasing political polarization , the demonizing of refugees or desperate migrants from other parts of the world, and hate crimes would seem to point to the empathic impulse being overwhelmed by anger, anxiety, suspicion and prejudice.

While it's tempting to put the blame squarely on technology and social media, she believes a lot of factors come into play, from a long-term trend in Western societies becoming more individualistic , to something as basic as mental fatigue. And I think it depends a lot on their energy levels. Did they sleep enough? Are they hungry? But I think for people who are higher in empathy, it's because they practice it regularly and it matters to them, and that means it's probably less draining for them.

Fritz Breithaupt, who also teaches at Indiana University and is the author of The Dark Sides of Empathy , says looser social ties, smaller families, greater time constraints and a preponderance of public figures who project self-absorption could also be eroding empathy.

But he argues there's a paradox at work — people seem to be increasingly selective about who they feel is worthy of empathy. We tend to take a side very quickly, and then once we take a side, we take their perspective. For millennia, we have regarded the emotions as the fount of irrationality, baseness, and sin.

The idea of the seven deadly sins takes our destructive passions for granted. Plato compared the human soul to a chariot: the intellect is the driver and the emotions are the horses. Life is a continual struggle to keep the emotions under control. Many question whether true compassion exists at all—or whether it is inherently motivated by self-interest. Recent studies of compassion argue persuasively for a different take on human nature, one that rejects the preeminence of self-interest.

Compassion and benevolence, this research suggests, are an evolved part of human nature, rooted in our brain and biology, and ready to be cultivated for the greater good.

The biological basis of compassion. First consider the recent study of the biological basis of compassion. If such a basis exists, we should be wired up, so to speak, to respond to others in need. Recent evidence supports this point convincingly. University of Wisconsin psychologist Jack Nitschke found in an experiment that when mothers looked at pictures of their babies, they not only reported feeling more compassionate love than when they saw other babies; they also demonstrated unique activity in a region of their brains associated with the positive emotions.

In a different set of studies, Joshua Greene and Jonathan Cohen of Princeton University found that when subjects contemplated harm being done to others, a similar network of regions in their brains lit up. Our children and victims of violence—two very different subjects, yet united by the similar neurological reactions they provoke. In other research by Emory University neuroscientists James Rilling and Gregory Berns , participants were given the chance to help someone else while their brain activity was recorded.

Helping others triggered activity in the caudate nucleus and anterior cingulate, portions of the brain that turn on when people receive rewards or experience pleasure.

This is a rather remarkable finding: helping others brings the same pleasure we get from the gratification of personal desire. But do other parts of the body also suggest a biological basis for compassion? It seems so. Take the loose association of glands, organs, and cardiovascular and respiratory systems known as the autonomic nervous system ANS. The ANS plays a primary role in regulating our blood flow and breathing patterns for different kinds of actions. What is the ANS profile of compassion?

As it turns out, when young children and adults feel compassion for others, this emotion is reflected in very real physiological changes: Their heart rate goes down from baseline levels, which prepares them not to fight or flee, but to approach and sooth. Research performed on the small, stocky rodents known as prairie voles indicates that oxytocin promotes long-term bonds and commitments, as well as the kind of nurturing behavior—like care for offspring—that lies at the heart of compassion.

It may account for that overwhelming feeling of warmth and connection we feel toward our offspring or loved ones. Indeed, breastfeeding and massages elevate oxytocin levels in the blood as does eating chocolate.

This suggests compassion may be self-perpetuating: Being compassionate causes a chemical reaction in the body that motivates us to be even more compassionate. According to evolutionary theory, if compassion is truly vital to human survival, it would manifest itself through nonverbal signals.

Such signals would serve many adaptive functions. When someone shows this expression, they are then more likely to help others. My work has examined another nonverbal cue: touch. Previous research has already documented the important functions of touch.

Primates such as great apes spend hours a day grooming each other, even when there are no lice in their physical environment. Certain touches can trigger the release of oxytocin, bringing feelings of warmth and pleasure. The handling of neglected rat pups can reverse the effects of their previous social isolation, going as far as enhancing their immune systems.

My work set out to document, for the first time, whether compassion can be communicated via touch. Such a finding would have several important implications. It would show that we can communicate this positive emotion with nonverbal displays, whereas previous research has mostly documented the nonverbal expression of negative emotions such as anger and fear. This finding would also shed light on the social functions of compassion—how people might rely on touch to soothe, reward, and bond in daily life.

In my experiment, I put two strangers in a room where they were separated by a barrier. They could not see one another, but they could reach each other through a hole.

One person touched the other on the forearm several times, each time trying to convey one of 12 emotions, including love, gratitude, and compassion. After each touch, the person touched had to describe the emotion they thought the toucher was communicating. Imagine yourself in this experiment. How do you suppose you might do? There are few traits that everybody exhibits, few parameters that we can use to define all human beings equally and universally. This year I have been starkly reminded of the extremes humanity can reach; from the horrific death of fellow drummer Lee Rigby to the heart-wrenching situation endured by the parents and community of April Jones.

On a global level I am aware that large groups of people are traumatised by the atrocities of others. In some territories, the use of force and oppression appears to be the favoured method of resolving conflict. What does this say about us a humans? Clearly some people abuse the system, judging and acting in a way that deprives affected people of their influence, their ability to defend themselves and sometimes their basic human rights.

Such control comes in many guises, justified in the name of anything from democracy to dictatorial power.

On the other hand we often turn to debate in order to resolve our differences. We can debate anything from deciding what to have for lunch to deliberations over major international crises.

For example, world leaders at the G8 attempt to find solutions to global problems such as starvation, the lack basic infrastructure for millions of people in places like Africa and the vast number of resources wasted elsewhere in the world.

Our ability to debate these topics says something about our humanity, too, but so does the fact that we allow such terrible things to happen in the first place, not to mention our expectation that there will always be someone else around to solve the problems we create.

Our capacity for substantial levels of compassion is perhaps easiest to see in the charity sector where people work tirelessly to fund improvement, offer hope and provide mechanisms to end all manner of misery, all for the benefit of others. Perhaps prayer is the answer; our long legacy of turning to omnipresent, super-human beings to guide us to resolutions we cannot find ourselves and to provide us with spiritual sanctuary from our suffering. Or maybe it is patience that defines us. After all, this is the trait I find myself turning to extremely frequently, whether I am waiting in queues at airports or striving to perfect a piece of music.

Perhaps the answer is simpler than that. I am human and I have feelings. Do my feelings make me human? If they are I face a conundrum. I know from personal experience that other species such as cats and dogs clearly have feelings too.

Having empathy and sensitivity towards others is essential and can make a huge difference to our perception and treatment of others.