De Waal (2008, 292) concludes in a comprehensive study of empathy and altruism:[1]
"More than three decades ago, biologists deliberately removed the altruism from altruism. There is now increasing evidence that the brain is hard wired for social connection, and that the same empathy mechanism proposed to underlie human altruism (Batson1991) may underlie the directed altruism of other animals. Empathy could well provide the main motivation making individuals who have exchanged benefits in the past to continue doing so in the future. Instead of assuming learned expectations or calculations about future benefits, this approach emphasizes a spontaneous altruistic impulse and a mediating role of the emotions. It is summarized in the five conclusions below:
1. An evolutionarily parsimonious account (cf.deWaal1999) of directed altruism assumes similar motivational processes in humans and other animals.
2. Empathy, broadly defined, is a phylogenetically ancient capacity.
3. Without the emotional engagement brought about by empathy, it is unclear what could motivate the extremely costly helping behavior occasionally observed in social animals.
4. Consistent with kin selection and reciprocal altruism theory, empathy favors familiar individuals and previous cooperators, and is biased against previous defectors.
5. Combined with perspective-taking abilities, empathy’s motivational autonomy opens the door to intentionally altruistic altruism in a few large-brained species." (DeWaal, Frans 2008)
Neuroscientists over the past twenty years have discovered what they call “mirror neurons” in human beings and other animals. A neuron is a nerve cell in animals that processes and transmits information via electro-chemical means. A mirror neuron is a neuron that transmits both when an animal acts and/or when an animal observes another animal act. Although an extremely complex area to prove and to understand, the theory is worth exploring. Some neuroscientists believe that the discovery of these neurons will one day be as important to the understanding of human behavior as DNA is to the understanding of human biology. “The simple fact that a subset of the cells in our brains-the mirror neurons- fire when an individual kicks a soccer ball, sees a ball being kicked, hears a ball being kicked, and even just says or hears the word ‘kick’ leads to amazing consequences and new understandings” says Marco Iacoboni in his in-depth exploration and detailed account of research in the field of mirror neurons (Iacoboni, 12). If we are neurologically stimulated from action emanating from ourselves and by observation of, or thoughts about others, then the concepts of empathy, imitation, sympathy, compassion, emotional understanding, etc… and how they are part of our natural behavior becomes easier to understand. As the research unfolds and we begin to understand more about how mirror neurons affect empathy, the innateness of their existence may guide us towards a better understanding of how we use empathy as a tool in conflict resolution. All signs point toward empathy being a crucial and present common ability that most humans have and use. Physiological and psychological studies about empathy from various parts of the world would be a natural next step to take in this exploration in order to compare and contrast beliefs and potential human differences in various settings.
"More than three decades ago, biologists deliberately removed the altruism from altruism. There is now increasing evidence that the brain is hard wired for social connection, and that the same empathy mechanism proposed to underlie human altruism (Batson1991) may underlie the directed altruism of other animals. Empathy could well provide the main motivation making individuals who have exchanged benefits in the past to continue doing so in the future. Instead of assuming learned expectations or calculations about future benefits, this approach emphasizes a spontaneous altruistic impulse and a mediating role of the emotions. It is summarized in the five conclusions below:
1. An evolutionarily parsimonious account (cf.deWaal1999) of directed altruism assumes similar motivational processes in humans and other animals.
2. Empathy, broadly defined, is a phylogenetically ancient capacity.
3. Without the emotional engagement brought about by empathy, it is unclear what could motivate the extremely costly helping behavior occasionally observed in social animals.
4. Consistent with kin selection and reciprocal altruism theory, empathy favors familiar individuals and previous cooperators, and is biased against previous defectors.
5. Combined with perspective-taking abilities, empathy’s motivational autonomy opens the door to intentionally altruistic altruism in a few large-brained species." (DeWaal, Frans 2008)
Neuroscientists over the past twenty years have discovered what they call “mirror neurons” in human beings and other animals. A neuron is a nerve cell in animals that processes and transmits information via electro-chemical means. A mirror neuron is a neuron that transmits both when an animal acts and/or when an animal observes another animal act. Although an extremely complex area to prove and to understand, the theory is worth exploring. Some neuroscientists believe that the discovery of these neurons will one day be as important to the understanding of human behavior as DNA is to the understanding of human biology. “The simple fact that a subset of the cells in our brains-the mirror neurons- fire when an individual kicks a soccer ball, sees a ball being kicked, hears a ball being kicked, and even just says or hears the word ‘kick’ leads to amazing consequences and new understandings” says Marco Iacoboni in his in-depth exploration and detailed account of research in the field of mirror neurons (Iacoboni, 12). If we are neurologically stimulated from action emanating from ourselves and by observation of, or thoughts about others, then the concepts of empathy, imitation, sympathy, compassion, emotional understanding, etc… and how they are part of our natural behavior becomes easier to understand. As the research unfolds and we begin to understand more about how mirror neurons affect empathy, the innateness of their existence may guide us towards a better understanding of how we use empathy as a tool in conflict resolution. All signs point toward empathy being a crucial and present common ability that most humans have and use. Physiological and psychological studies about empathy from various parts of the world would be a natural next step to take in this exploration in order to compare and contrast beliefs and potential human differences in various settings.
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[1]Altruism is the unselfish concern for the welfare of others. In Zoology it is; instinctive cooperative behavior that is detrimental to the individual but contributes to the survival of the species. (American Heritage Dictionary 54)
[1]Altruism is the unselfish concern for the welfare of others. In Zoology it is; instinctive cooperative behavior that is detrimental to the individual but contributes to the survival of the species. (American Heritage Dictionary 54)
