A somewhat complicated question mind you, even though it takes seconds to write it out. Most of us, unfortunately not all, are equipped with the ability to feel sympathy and empathy, to care about others, to be able to put us aside for just a second, and see someone on the other side. Have you ever wondered why? Why is it that we can care for others?

Evolutionary Psychology

Often talks about different behavioral traits that sure exist because it helped us overcome adversity. In other words, if a new psychological feature on a brand new human helped that human survive, reproduce and what not, then that mental feature was considered an evolutionary advantage.

The goal of this field however is come up with a plausible reason for them, a plausible reason as to why for example, all teenagers have a rebellious stage, what advantage that behavior offered mankind when it first sprouted in ancient society.

Sympathy & Empathy

These two words often get confused, but they are social glues of different intensities. One synonym that I find valuable for the word sympathy is compassion. As humans we value compassion, we think that being a practitioner of compassion is noble, admirable and worthy of memorable saints.

As a matter of fact many religions latch on to this concept as a core element of their doctrine. It's powerful enough to evoke reverence in all of us, and even lower the shields of healthy skepticism.

Now when it comes to empathy, that is a lot more intense than compassion. Empathy is feeling exactly what the other person is feeling. Empathy is the closest think we might ever get to emotional emulation, a mind reading of sorts.

What's the advantage?

Is there one to begin with? We have to deduce that there must be, otherwise we would not have it, and these words and concepts would not be part of our social structure. We might not even think of them often, but we practice one form or another every single day.

Feeling compassion allows us to do what's right. To return someone's wallet that just fell to the floor, to donate a dollar to someone that is begging for food waiting at a stop light. Compassion allows us to seem selfless, even when we are not.

I believe that no action is truly selfless because if we feel pleasure when we are being compassionate, our gain may have not be material per say, but it sure is psychological, emotional. And who doesn't like to feel good about themselves, to smile to a mirror?

So we see that the reward mechanism is there, those who practice compassion feel good about themselves, but we have to ask: What is the social advantage? - The only plausible answer I can come up with is that compassion allows us to walk away from strictly darwinian thinking, to value the life of others enough to strengthen social safety nets. When we act compassionate, and are observed to be so and appreciated, we also somewhat secure social value for ourselves, not guaranteed of course, but in life nothing is.

Have you not automatically felt appreciation, love even, for someone who is kind and compassionate? I sure have, and it was effortless to do. The value of that person in my eyes took a shortcut to my heart.

Yeah, but empathy?

I'm starting to think of empathy as some sort of social intensive care. People who are highly empathic suffer a lot, but they are also capable of enjoying life intensely. A double edged sword no doubt, but with an important mission within their social circles at times.

Someone who is empathic can help others reconnect if you will with their social circles. They can help people regain their "caring" their "desires", not because an empath is all knowing, not because an empath is magical, but because it removes other people's loneliness by practicing loneliness with them, as paradoxical as it may sound.

Someone who is empathic can be a diffuser of conflict as well, because he or she can truly understand both sides. Two positions in complete opposition can have validity, because the people who hold those ideas are valuable.

That to me is so powerful and at the same time so wild, I have a hard time not feeling overwhelmed by those thoughts as I type them.

This post has been a truly fascinating mental exploration for me that would probably require hundreds of posts to encase all that I'm thinking. But, as it always happens on saturday nights, listening to @clayboyn philosophy show has my mind racing and I did not want to go to sleep without sharing some of these thoughts on this crazy little blog of mine.