Exeter Deep Ecology Network: An Empathy Revolution for 2017

My New Year's Resolution for 2017 is to be more empathic. My reason for this is that it is possible to imagine that every one of the many crises that afflict civilisation can be solved in full or in part by an empathic revolution.

Let's start at the beginning. Something cataclysmic happened about 200,000 years ago; our ancestors at that time evolved to become self-aware, and a new species homo Sapiens came into being. And that was the time that humans became separated from the rest of nature, and separate from each other. All because of the development of individual identity. And for 2,000 centuries we humans have struggled with that self identity.

Looking deeply at society's current multifaceted crisis ... War, Poverty, Climate Change, Species Extinction, Resource Depletion, Rainforest Destruction, Intolerance, Inequality, Nuclear Weapons to name but a few ... it is clear that the we are still struggling with this separation inherent in our concept of self. Nowadays we are beginning to see that the underlying cause is the Empathy Deficit.

War betrays a clear lack of empathy for the victims. Poverty is a lack of empathy for those impoverished. Climate Change indicates a lack of empathy for future generations. Species Extinction results from a lack of empathy for other species. And so it goes on.

But there are two pieces of good news...

Firstly, over the last 200,000 of human existence our empathy for others and empathy for the natural world is growing. Secondly, recent scientific research has indicated that we humans are soft-wired for empathy, thus contradicting the Hobbesian view that we are condemned to a life of brute selfishness. The selfish side of our psyche is mainly learnt (and therefore can be unlearnt).

So, how to go about it?

Empathy with our friends and family is easy. We can all do it. But how about empathy with strangers? Or empathy with people who do not think like us. And empathy with nature must be a challenge. The celebrated biologist Edward O Wilson called this empathy with nature "biophilia". We all have a deep-seated connection to nature, but sadly big business, advertisers, the media and politicians continue to divert our attention towards the nebulous concept of economic growth which has the ultimate effect of destroying the natural world ... our life support system. This is an empathy we must all learn, as it is our route to survival as a species.

The one thing I love about the growth of empathy is that anyone can do this in their own time. No need to preach that "everyone must be empathic". Just quietly get on with the practice. The rewards are wonderful.

Further reading:

- Roman Krznaric: "Empathy: A Handbook for Revolution" (2014)

- Jeremy Rifkin: "The Empathic Civilisation - The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis" (2010)