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Is Civilization Getting More Hostile or More Empathetic? | Goodlife ZEN
Posted: 31 Aug 2010 03:36 AM PDT
By Mary Jaksch
When you follow daily news, it seems like there is more and more hostility and brutality in the world. But that isn’t necessarily the case, says one of the most popular social thinkers of our time, Jeremy Rifkin. He is the bestselling author of The Empathetic Civilization.
He makes the important point, that human beings and maybe other large mammals have so-called mirror neurons in the brain. When we observe other human beings experiencing emotions, such as anger, frustration, sense of rejection, or joy, the same area in our brain lights up as if we are having that experience ourselves.
We are soft wired to experience another’s plight as if we are experiencing it ourselves.
There is a whole more research going on in neurology and child development that suggests that we are soft wired not for aggression, violence, self-interest, or utilitarianism, but for sociability, attachment, affection, companionship.
Our first drive is to actually belong.
In an amazing video that you can see below, Rifkin lays out some compelling ideas. He shows how civilization has been steadily moving toward more empathy. It’s inspiring and heartening.
