http://livelearnevolve.com/new-perspective-human-empathy-spark-new-civilisation/
Empathy is inherent to all of us. It grows as we grow. Ever since the genesis of humans, we would only empathize with a select few relatives. Now, in a less, but still discriminatory world, we were endowed with the ability to empathize with each other across the world via the internet. If we have become this connected, is it possible to connect the whole world? This article attempts to analyze that very question.
This article analyzes the collective evolution of Empathy. From where it first originated to where it is today. What exactly is empathy? Definitively, empathy is the ability and understand the feelings of one another, but this article reveals the deeper and more profound aspect of empathy. Babies for instance, are extremely empathetic, when you line up a bunch of babies together, and one cries, in turn, the rest of the babies begin to cry. This psychological phenomena is explained by mirror neurons. A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires when animals (humans too) act and observe. The neurological activity going on in your brain is the same when you observe someone play tennis and when you physically play tennis. Babies cry when other babies cry because of their mirror neurons and partly because of their developing brains. When we are about 2 years old we become capable of identifying our selves; we become cognizant of our existence. At age around age 8 we learn where babies come from and about life and death. Kids are programed to believe that this life is precious and you only get one chance. I think that type of programing is giving children the wrong idea about this universe. Going through life worrying about its fragility is a foolish thing to do. Be satisfied to be here, however, Earth is relative to a fun game, but most people take it too seriously. Even when we physically die, that doesn’t eliminate our identity or experience. There always must be an experience. Heaven, hell, and purgatory are not physical destinations, you can view them as experiences; heaven being the most ideal, hell being the most abysmal. There are multitudes of ideas that attempt to explain what happens after death. Whatever truth lies behind the persisting enigma of death, its an experience that will vary for everybody.
This article dives deep into some interesting ideas about empathetic societies. One idea I found intriguing, is that empathy is antithetical to a utopia. In a utopia, there would be no struggle, ergo, there would be nothing “negative” to empathize over, but you can still empathize over positive and neutral events/feelings. Earth’s essence is a utopia, but obviously not many people are aware of that. The type of utopia where there is no struggle can be extremely detrimental. When there is no struggle, there is no growth, when there is no growth, we become inert and stagnate. The true utopia is one that facilitates peace and growth, without stagnation.
Ever since we first became homo-sapiens, we were empathetic. Initially, we would only interact with those in our blood line. As time progressed, we discriminated less and less with other people. Ideologies (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) united even more people since its another common ground other than blood line. These ideologies have caused a lot of turmoil and chaos, but for the people within each ideological community, they supported each other. Religions are extensions of family almost. Nations are another prominent extension of empathy. “America”, “Canada”, “Russia”, and “China” don’t exist. They are just titles that represent an enormous population in the same territory. Like the article suggests, if we can connect this many people together, we can connect the entire world. We are all connected, its just that not enough people realize it since they believe in the illusion of separation.
The internet has played a significant role in worldwide connectivity and empathy. Whenever a calamity occurs, people find out almost instantly due to the convenience and efficiency of the internet. Through social media sites like Facebook, you can give empathize over tragedies and other miscellaneous events. Although this convenience has its own ramifications, its a superb instrument of awareness.
Remember every thing in the Universe is connected.
