not just an idea...

these causes are not just ideas or theories that have no relevance in today's modern reality. there has been plenty of research in looking towards empathy scientifically. last year for instance, the university of chicago released a study about how brain scans show children are naturally prone to empathy. they used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to scan brains of children from ages 7 to 12, and compared those images to that of s. the results showed that both children and s respond to other peoples pain in the same area of the brain.

another case i found to be very inquisitive on the subject is from just a few weeks ago. this article from "medical news today" discusses how researchers have found a link between our genes and empathy. basically, every person has one of three different variations of oxycotin genes in there body (AA. AG, and GG). AA and AG are statistically the same, however those who have GG have increased levels of empathy. a study conducted by these researchers showed that 22.7% of the GG group were less likely to make a mistake on the test for empathy (the "Reading the Mind in Eyes" test)....

is this coincidence? does genetics and biology have anything to do with a person's empathy? i believe it does, and these kinds of studies are important to help prove this. it shows that empathy is not purely nurture, it is nature too. it is part biological. we are born with it, however it is our upbringing and environment that helps put this empathy to use in the real world.