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Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity. 
chazburton's comment January 27, 2012 2:45 AM
Yes, and it is a relationship between the wound and healing, because as I allow myself to face and feel my own woundedness, compassion for myself and naturally emerges....
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The Roots of Empathy aims to tackle the bullying problem in school-aged children. Mary Gordon joins Steve Paikin.
More on Mary and her Roots of Empathy program, including my interview with her. http://bit.ly/hut0rI "Your quest for an empathic culture, or a Culture of Empathy as you call it, I think is a great quest. I don't think it's ever to late to develop empathy. It starts so naturally... I think we should do everything that we can to cultivate empathy and we can do it at every level. So why would we not."
"When I talk to city officials, I speak of the fact that there is fluoride in our water supply to prevent tooth decay. I tell them we need empathy in the water supply to prevent social decay ."
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Men who are narcissistic are likely to have higher levels of a primary stress hormone called cortisol, a new study finds.
However, the same trend was not as strong for women with narcissist traits, according to research published Mondayin the journal Public Library of Science ONE.
“The more narcissistic, the more cortisol that men have in mundane situations,” said author Sara Konrath, who is the director of the Interdisciplinary Program on Empathy and Altruism Research at the University of Michigan.
by Madison Park
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Narcissism, or excessive love of oneself, is not just an unattractive trait, it’s physically damaging for men too, scientists say.
Researchers at the University of Michigan found that men who have this personality trait — characterised by a sense of grandiosity, entitlement and low empathy — may also have to suffer in terms of their physical health due to more stress encountered in daily activities. However, this does not appear to be the case for women, found the study, LiveScience reported.
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Why do some human groups appear to hate each other? New research by a group of neuroscientists attempts to use brain imaging to determine how the brain responds to empathy and conflict-resolution.
Drs. Emile Bruneau and Rebecca Saxe of Massachusetts Institute of Technology are studying why empathy — the ability to feel compassion for another person’s suffering — often fails between members of opposing groups.
More on Emile Bruneau
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The scientists, from the Museum of Natural History and Territory in Calvi, outside Pisa, believe that yawn infectiveness can be a form of emotional contagion. They believe that humans, and other primates, transmit yawns more often and more quickly from family and friends than acquaintances and strangers.
These observations serve as new evidence that empathy - the ability to share others' emotions - plays a part in controlling contagious yawning...
contagious yawning may ultimately prove a useful tool in the field of mental health, according to Norscia, saying it could be used as a non-invasive method to help assess empathy disorders.
by Lindsey Tugman
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Until the past two decades, physicians (unlike other caregivers) have been skeptical about empathy, assuming that it would interfere with their clinical objectivity and effectiveness. This has shifted as research has shown that empathy plays a fundamental role in both diagnostic accuracy and treatment effectiveness. Repeated studies show that patients first give superficial clues about their histories until they sense empathy, and only then disclose anxiety-provoking information (as happened in the reported case).
Such disclosure is crucial for making the correct diagnosis. Empathy is also important for establishing trust, and trust is a powerful determinant of adherence to treatment and thus effectiveness of care.2
Even when clinicians need to deliver bad news, their empathic engagement matters, empowering patients to take earlier steps in organizing treatment and self-care....
by Jodi Halpern, MD, PhD
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Executives from San Diego State, University of California San Diego and University of San Diego joined to announce the inaugural public visit of the spiritual leader of Tibet, His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, to San Diego on April 18 and 19.
His April visit will consist of a two-day event and will be the second stop on his 12-day North American tour. The seminar, “Compassion Without Borders,” includes three major public events addressing themes of climate change, peace and justice and universal ethics. A private conference prior to the UCSD event will reflect on his passion for neuroscience and its relationship with consciousness and compassion.
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MIT neuroscientists explore how longstanding conflict influences empathy for others.
MIT postdoc Emile Bruneau has long been drawn to conflict — not as a participant, but an observer. In 1994, while doing volunteer work in South Africa, he witnessed firsthand the turmoil surrounding the fall of apartheid; during a 2001 trip to visit friends in Sri Lanka, he found himself in the midst of the violent conflict between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan military.
Those chance experiences got Bruneau, who taught high school science for several years, interested in the psychology of human conflict. While teaching, he also volunteered as counselor for a conflict-resolution camp in Ireland that brought Catholic and Protestant children together. At MIT, Bruneau is now working with associate professor of cognitive neuroscience Rebecca Saxe to figure out why empathy — the ability to feel compassion for another person’s suffering — often fails between members of opposing conflict groups.
More on Emile Bruneau
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Roman Krznaric Author of: The Wonderbox: Curious Histories of How to Live
see: http://bit.ly/yogvQs " I believe that empathy – the imaginative act of stepping into another person’s shoes and viewing the world from their perspective – is a radical tool for social change and should be a guiding light for the art of living. As I describe in this video definition of empathy, it matters not just because it makes you good, but because it is good for you"
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Steven Pinker talks about empathy being one of 'The Better Angels of Our Nature' that is reducing violence.
"The third historical force has been called the expanding circle, this is a concept that was named by Peter Singer and first endorsed by Charles Darwin more than a century before. The idea is that evolution bequeathed us with a sense of empathy. Unfortunately, by default we apply it only to a narrow circle of family. Over the course of history you can see the circle of empathy expanding..."
From Book: The Better Angels of Our Nature:
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Emotions and actions are powerfully contagious. When we see someone laugh, cry, show disgust and experience pain, in some sense we share those feelings. When we see a great actor, musician or athletic perform at the peak of their abilities, it can feel like we are experiencing something of what they feel.
In the 1990’s when a research team at the University of Parma, lead by neurophysiologist Giacomo Rizzolatti, made the serendipitous discovery of “mirror neurons,” a new revolution in our understanding of humans as social beings began. Since that time, neuroscience findings have helped us to appreciate the implications of the powerful sharing of experience.
Relationships are all about connecting with others. However, very few people consciously think about how relationships are formed. When relationships are working, there is a tendency to take them for granted and not think about how they’ve been established.
by Louise Altman
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We discuss the article which was critical of empathy: Great Negotiators Think With Heads, Not Hearts - Empathy Can Subvert Human Well-Being - Forbes - by Victoria Pynchon. The article’s use of the word “empathy” not congruent with Joe’s understanding of the latest research from people like Frans De Waal, Author of “Age of Empathy” or Jeremy Rifkin, Author of the Empathetic Civilisation, or Bruce Perry and Maia Szalavitz the author’s of “Born for Love: Why Empathy is Essential and Endangered”
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In a fascinating study entitled "Induction of empathy by the smell of anxiety," published in the journal of the Public Library of Science (PLoS) in 2009, researchers discovered "The chemosensory perception of human anxiety seems to automatically recruit empathy-related resources." Smelling chemical signals from the sweat of anxious subjects elicited an empathic response, even when the smell was below the threshold of consciousness in half the subjects. Empathy, in fact, has concrete and measurable therapeutic effects in others.
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Unhealthy narcissism leads to elevated stress hormone in men.
Narcissists exist throughout society. Self-absorbed. Entitled. Lacking empathy. In mild forms, narcissism can help men succeed. More unhealthy forms can affect relationships and lead to aggression. Around one percent of the population suffers from narcissism severe enough to be classified as a personality disorder.
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Narcissism is characterized by grandiosity, low empathy levels and a sense of entitlement, the researchers said. Narcissistic men, it turns out, release more cortisol — even when they're not in stressful situations....
The study noted that "the level of narcissism is rising in American culture, and that narcissism tends to be more prevalent among males." It's a trait that includes "an inflated sense of self-importance, overestimations of uniqueness and a sense of grandiosity." By Lois M. Collins
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Morality is hardwired into animals.
More on Frans De Waal
I think it is important in society, especially at the moment. Now that we have come out of this period where greed was so good. I think it is important to emphasize that there are alternative ways of looking at society. A society where solidarity is important and caring about others is important.
The other things, that I'm not an expert on, is education and culture of course. A cultural and educational change that emphasizes empathy more. I would also warn that empathy is not invariably positive. People think that empathy is automatically a positive characteristic. Empathy can be used for bad purposes also.
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In "The Human Spark," Alan Alda visits dozens of scientists on three continents -- and even undergoes an examination of his own brain -- to find the answer to one question: What makes us human?
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Italian researchers say that contagious yawning occurs at a faster rate among friends and family than strangers. Their study, aimed at advancing the understanding of empathy between people, also uncovered similar findings among other primates.
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To most adults, it seems to go without saying that children are self-absorbed. Whether because of developmental inevitability or deeply-rooted cultural messages, children seem to be instinctively preoccupied with their own wants and wishes. And then there are those remarkable exceptions. Thirteen-year-old Fiona Carey reminds us with her youthful wisdom how important it is to care about others.
Fiona Carey is an eighth-grader at Paul Cuffee School in Providence. Fiona lives in Providence with her parents, Russell and Rebekah, and nine-year-old sister, Grace. She is passionate about reading, piano, dance, travel . . . and empathy.
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MIT neuroscientists are studying the patterns of brain activity that correlate with empathy. They hope to use their findings to determine how well people respond to reconciliation programs aimed at boosting empathy between groups in conflict, since compassion for others suffering often fails between members of opposing conflict groups.
MIT postdoc Emile Bruneau has long been drawn to conflict — not as a participant, but an observer. In 1994, while doing volunteer work in South Africa, he witnessed firsthand the turmoil surrounding the fall of apartheid; during a 2001 trip to visit friends in Sri Lanka, he found himself in the midst of the violent conflict between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan military.
More on Emile Bruneau
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Mirror neurons are active when someone observes a movement as well as when someone performs the act himself. The same is true for the facial expression of emotion, which is why links have been made between mirror neurons and empathy. Also, researchers now have come to realize that mirror neurons as such probably are not a type of cell in the brain. Instead, mirroring is thought to be an emergent property of the network structure of the brain. We therefore sometimes also talk about the mirror system.
The brain area of interest to the Italian researchers is the premotor cortex, a brain area involved with the planning of our movements. The premotor cortex is connected to the motor cortex which controls our muscles and therefore movements. Thanks to the work of a famous neurosurgeon,
by Daniëlle van Versendaal
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by Roman Krznaric
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Find out more at http://www.floatinguniversity.com/lectures-bloom Experiment footage of toddler altruism courtesy Felix Warneken and Michael Tomasello.
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E. I'm looking at How do we build a culture of empathy and compassion in the largest sence? It seems that looking at how do we have empathy and compassion for animals is a part of that. Do you have thoughts about How we can go about building a culture of empathy?
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