Jeremy Rifkin focuses on the development and role of empathy in society in his RSA talk "The Emphatic Civilization" (RSA, 10 May 2012, www.thersa.org).
Rifkin explains how we are "soft-wired" to reflect the emotions we see in other people. This is possible due to the "mirror neurons", that "light up" when witnessing those emotions in others just as they light up when we experience these emotions ourselves. This shared feeling, Rifkin continues, is called empathy, and it is rooted in existentialist realizations: the fragility of life, the idea of death and the underlying desire to celebrate life.
Empathy starts building up from the core outwards: blood ties, religious groups, the nation-state identity, etc. But what happens when we talk about the total human race? It all starts to dilute, and we do not naturally feel the same amount of compassion towards others just because they are on the same planet.
Just like Mr. Rifkin, I would like to see the entire human race behave as one extended family that, regardless of culture and religious beliefs, can promote compassion and solidarity.
Link to video: http://www.thersa.org/events/video/animate/rsa-animate-the-empathic-civilisation
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