The Canadian and American research team published their findings in Current Biology.
Previous studies have shown that the ability to feel or share someone else’s pain is not something unique to humans. Mice can feel empathy too.
But in both species, empathy is stronger between those that recognise each other and all but absent between those unfamiliar with each other.
Stress levels have also been shown to rise in both mice and people in the presence of strangers.
Of mice and men

Dr. Nicole Price 

I just don’t have empathy right now.” I hear this more often than you’d think.

“I just don’t have empathy right now.”

I hear this more often than you’d think.

And usually, what people mean is: “I don’t feel like caring.”

That’s emotional empathy — feeling empathy. It’s when you feel what someone else is feeling. Most people are talking about this kind.

But there’s another kind of empathy. And it’s even more powerful.

It’s mental empathy — thinking empathy.

“We’ve seen the impact of a lack of empathy causing significant problems - the scandals of Robodebt in Australia and Dutch childcare payments are two examples that come to mind.  

“Both have led to reputational and financial damage for their governments,” Einfeld shares.   

While there are metrics and tools like SERVQUAL’s empathy dimension and the Toronto Empathy Scale, Mussagulova explains that there is no single metric designed specifically for this field. 

Most studies also focus on how frontline public officers practice empathy, leaving empathy’s role in policymaking underexplored. 

“What we are arguing for is a more holistic model that demonstrates how empathy is practiced in different policy contexts.  

"In Procurement, we’ve often been seen as the 'bad cops,' relishing our power tactics. But Tactical Empathy® changed the game. It’s not just about winning now; it’s about building long-term trust. I thought I understood it from books and podcasts, but this workshop revealed new insights and areas for improvement. For anyone in Procurement, this course is essential for elevating your skills and transforming your approach." : 

There is always a moment after tragedy when the public is told to summon empathy, usually for the person who caused the tragedy. But this week the ask for empathy was for someone who many felt didn't deserve it and who wouldn't have offered in return. Many people bristled, asking why they should care about someone who actively promoted damage in an already damaged world.

Through the discourse surrounding Kirk’s death, I’ve become familiar with the term “selective empathy,” a succinct phrase that covers a concept with which many of us are familiar. At their worst, President Trump and even Kirk engaged in this type of moral relativism, condoning actions against their opponents that they would condemn if done to their allies. And those of us who reject the MAGA ideology are at our worst when we tolerate, excuse, or even celebrate, violence against those who oppose us or who hold us in disdain.

Hence my personal challenge: Feeling empathy for a person – trying to understand him, trying to walk in his shoes – when that person feels no empathy for others.

No empathy, especially, for Black professionals (“If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, ‘Boy I hope he’s qualified’.”). Or for Black women (“You do not have brain processing power to otherwise be taken seriously, you have to go steal a white person’s slot”).

Or for the victims of America’s gun violence epidemic, including schoolchildren (“I think it’s worth the cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights”). Or for single women (“the most depressed, suicidal, anxious, and lonely in America’s history…so they start to lash out at the rest of society”). Or for Jews (“Some of the largest funders of cultural Marxist ideas… Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them”). Or for gay people (who are “corrupting your children”).

by W. Kamau Bell

When I see Charlie Kirk getting shot and killed, presumably for his beliefs, I am reminded that I've imagined myself in that same position many times. (So have all of the security guards and production managers who worked to keep me safe on the road.) And yet, I have no empathy for him. Or maybe what I mean to say is that I have no extra empathy for him. Before any of you scroll down to the comments to tell me how agog you are, just understand one thing. Charlie Kirk would be fine with my lack of empathy for him, Not that I needed his permission.

We’ve forgotten how to listen, how to critically analyse, and how to approach conflict with empathy, and here’s how the world is paying the price.

How, in a corner of the world that prides itself on liberty and free speech, did we find ourselves in a dystopian landscape where speaking out on divisive issues, from whatever side of the fence, comes with a fear of persecution, judgment, and abuse? 

You don’t have to scroll social media or

Empathy is seemingly either everywhere or nowhere, perhaps a reflection of our divided times.  In broader society, the current lack of empathy is causing increasing division, misrepresentation and conflict.   

In the research and insight sector, the desire for empathy is in the foreground, often driving attitudes, behaviours, methodologies and approaches. But is our embrace of empathy causing or exacerbating some fundamental problems?

I've been thinking a lot about the importance of empathy, how it connects us with one another, and how its absence can imperil us. An old quote from Hannah Arendt, the late philosopher and scholar of totalitarianism, has been rattling loose in my head: “The death of human empathy is one of the earliest and most telling signs of a culture about to fall into barbarism.”

I also recall that Charlie Kirk made it abundantly clear that he had no use for empathy. In his words, “Empathy is a new-age term that's done a lot of damage.”

Hence my personal challenge: Feeling empathy for a person — trying to understand him, trying to walk in his shoes — when that person feels no empathy for others.

No empathy, especially, for Black professionals (“If I see a Black pilot, I'm going to be like, ‘Boy I hope he's qualified.'”). Or for Black women (“You do not have brain processing power to otherwise be taken seriously, you have to go steal a white person's slot”).

An assessment of several arguments as to whether empathy is immoral or a key component of moral reasoning.

Allison R. Shely

On an October 12, 2022 episode of his podcast, he stated his dislike for the concept of empathy. “I can’t stand the word empathy, actually. I think empathy is a made-up, new age term that—it does a lot of damage.”

Immediately after the shooting, people on social media began circulating some of Kirk’s more incendiary comments, including his dismissal of gun violence and his criticism of empathy. The most extreme posts suggested that his death was to be celebrated or somehow coming to him because of his political views.

What happened to Charlie Kirk was a tragedy. But the popularity of his ideas, as well as the online posts after his death, point to a very real problem in U.S. society: We have an empathy problem.

In the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination i wanted to talk about Idubbbz and fake empathy of the left. Your boos mean nothing ive seen what makes you cheer.

Human library is an innovative concept of building human connection and empathy with the help of storytelling. Here the ‘human books’ share the stories.

This episode is a raw meditation on the limits of human empathy, the difference between authentic and blind caring, and why we can’t (and shouldn’t) try to feel for everyone all the time. We get into limbic connection, smell as proof of reality, and how mythology outmuscles “facts.” If you’ve ever been told you “don’t care enough,” this talk is both permission slip and challenge.

Featured Quotes
“Empathy is not a free energy device. It’s not a magic coupon you can just bequeef to everyone around you.”
“The moment you can smell someone, you lose the ability to believe they’re not real.”
“Blind empathy is how we go to war.”
“This isn’t a contest for who cares most—it’s a contest for who cares authentically.”
“Morality goes against the grain. It’s hardwood—and Gaia can do something with that.”\

This week’s guest is Robin Hills. Robin and Ron discussed emotional intelligence, unconscious bias, the importance of empathy and active listening, and more. An MP3 audio version of this episode is available for download here.

In this episode you’ll learn: 
Robin’s quote (2:55)
How Robin defines emotional intelligence (4:43)
How it plays into righteous anger (7:03)
Avoiding manipulative behavior (9:38)
Robin’s thoughts on unconscious bias (10:42)
Practicing empathy (13:42)
The importance of pausing after listening (14:50)
How Robin practices this (17:38)
The future of emotional intelligence (20:03)
Robin’s final words of wisdom (23:31)

If you truly want things to get better in this country, show empathy; the greatest and only effective weapon we have.  

One person on Fizz invoked the name of the late great American author, Mark Twain, to defend their celebration of Kirk’s death.  

“I’ve never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure,” the supposed quote from Twain read.