Chelsea Fisher
Analytic and Persuasive Writing
Prof. Robinson
Empathy is described as “what you feel when you enter the internal world of another person. Without abandoning your own perspective, you experience the other’s emotions, conflicts or aspirations.” (LaBier, 2) This concept was first explained by Robert Vischer a German psychologist in Das optische Formgefühl, but instead of relating it to the ability of one person stepping in the “shoes of another” it was described as a person’s ability to feel through purely aesthetic objects such as paintings and other pieces of art. In other words it is a person’s ability to feel what the art is portraying. As the idea progressed it turned into the idea that humans have, or at least should have, the innate sense to tell what another person is feeling purely by their demeanor and or facial expressions. Today empathy is a widely known human capability, but what is most fascinating is why it has been necessary for human evolution, and the effects it has on people who are either lacking empathy or have a heightened sense of it. These two issues have been known to cause many problems in human beings especially in the social aspect of their lives.
First of all, why is empathy a vital part of human evolution? In Darwin’s theory of natural selection the fittest survive. In order to survive and be the fittest it is necessary for people to have close kin who would support them in times of need. Altruistic behavior for instance would not be possible if hominids did not have the ability to sense when another was in distress. E.O Wilson describes in On Human Nature the questionability of why altruism persists even though human beings would be better off if they were selfish. “A basic problem immediately arises in connection with such an explanation: fallen heroes do not have children. If self sacrifice results in fewer descendants, the genes that allow heroes to be created can be expected to disappear gradually from a population.” (Wilson, 153) Perhaps empathy is the reason altruistic behavior has persisted through human evolution; by enabling the persistence of altruism empathy has created even more social connections among human beings and therefore people with close kin are more likely to help them survive. “As Good all has written, ‘if we know that another, especially a close relative or friend, is suffering, then we ourselves become emotionally disturbed, sometimes to the point of anguish. Only by helping (or trying to help) can we hope to alleviate our own distress.’?” (Smith, 5) In this idea from Goodall empathy and altruism are directly related. Goodall’s explanation describes that empathy has been necessary for humans to survive because it creates a teamwork like atmosphere in which close kin help others survive.
Another important reason empathy has aided human evolution revolves around a happy family also being a healthy and strong family. Smith also says in his article “Emotions can be viewed as mechanisms of survival and communication. Positive emotions tend to be linked to safety, security, comfort, relaxation, and enhanced immune activity.”(Smith, 5) He later says that negative emotions are related to a lowered immune system. This means that if humans are able to stay happy their kin, through empathy, will also be happy, thus creating better immune systems, and the overall ability to survive. It seems that empathy has been an important part of natural selection, or survival of the fittest, because it has created the ability for people to help each other, and is believed to be an important part of a healthy immune system. Both of these create a stronger family.
As shown above empathy is believed to be a very important part in human evolution, but it is also a very vital part in human development. A lack of empathy or heightened sense of empathy can cause many problems. In LaBier’s article “Empathy: Could it be What You’re Missing?” he states the general problems a lack of empathy can cause. He explains EDD or empathy deficit disorder where “people are unable to step outside themselves and tune into what other people experience.” This is a common problem in many marriages and relationships in general. The average person can lose their ability to empathize if they are too interested in their own circumstances “EDD develops when people focus too much on acquiring power, status and money…” (LaBier) this is a common problem that can be diagnosed and changed, but there is also the less common and more serious problem of people who are born with the inability to empathize. This deficiency is often related with Autism and other disorders similar to it like Aspergers syndrome.
The disorder most commonly associated with a lack of empathy is Autism. “If children with autism have a general lack of empathy, then it would not be surprising if they found the social world confusing or irrelevant. It would no be surprising if they had no motivation to approach people.” (Smith, 8) Research shows that children with autism have little or no capability for empathetic response, and therefore are unable to predict what other people are feeling. Also empathy gives humans the ability to distinguish whether or not another person is lying or trying to manipulate them; often kids who lack empathy will do many things without realizing they are being mistreated or being wronged. Also autistic kids have difficulty understanding when they are hurting someone else emotionally because they cannot sense what the other person is feeling. This is also seen in many people with Asperger syndrome which is basically a lesser case of autism but has many of the same social problems. All in all one of the main issues with Autism is the awkwardness in relating to other people, and an inability to socialize; both of these issues are likely due to a lack of empathy.
Another social issue regarding empathy is the case in which people have too much empathy, in other words they are hyper sensitive to it. In this case many people take on the problems of others even when it is unnecessary. Often Williams syndrome is associated with having too much empathy. Williams Syndrome is “a rare genetically based neurodevelopment disorder.” (Smith, 10)There are many issues that come along with this disorder, one of them being hyper sociability. These people have a very high capacity for empathy. “They can seem ‘almost psychic with their uncanny knowledge and responsivity to the feelings and circumstances of others. Individuals with Williams syndrome have a very endearing personality. They have a unique strength in their expressive language skills, and are extremely polite. They are typically unafraid of strangers and show a greater interest in contact with adults than with their peers.” this may not seem as serious as a lack of empathy, but people with this syndrome tend to take what other people are feeling too seriously, in other words other people’s problems become their own. Autism and Williams create very different problems, yet they revolve around the same issue, empathy. Many of the issues of these two disorders have been linked with empathy and show the importance of a balance of the ability to empathize.
Although it has been studied that empathy is an important part of daily life and development, there is no way to really understand how important ,or unimportant for that matter, empathy really is. This is due to the fact that people with autism and people with Williams syndrome have never really been able to explain what it is like for them. For instance it is said that people with Williams syndrome have never been able to explain how their condition affects them unless they are talking to someone who also has the disorder. Also personal experiences with autistic people have shown that they do in fact have the capability to empathize, they just may have different ways of expressing it. For now psychologists think that empathy is a vital quality for humans to have, but until we can understand the inner thoughts of a person with Autism or a person with Willaims there is really no way for us to say that a lack thereof is a negative trait.
Even though empathy may seem like a simple human quality, it has actually been extremely important in the evolution of human beings, and is extremely influential in our development and the rest of our lives. If empathy is absent in a person a social life will either be difficult to come by or may be non-existent, people with a low capacity for empathy tend to be extremely solitary. An abundance of empathetic concern also causes problems for the individual including the issue of taking on everyone’s problems haphazardly. So far we believe that empathy is a vital part in development and even though we may never understand the way an autistic person or a person with Williams feel, we still know how important it is for us in our daily lives. The ability to look at another human beings facial expressions and disposition and step into their situation is an ability that humans must appreciate and cultivate because it has and will always enable a closeness among human beings that is unparalleled by many other mammals.
