Another Pathway is
Possible
No Human Being is an
Enemy of Another Human Being
The Holistic World Planetary Paradigm of The Spiritual UN
Caring About the Whole
Planet through
A Heart Centered Human Race for the Best in All
The Teilhard de Chardin Visionary Track for the Earth and Humanity
"Love is the affinity which links and
draws together the elements of the world... Love, in fact, is the agent
of universal synthesis."
Parting with War, Hate
and Fear of Others
—
“The line separating good & evil passes not through states, nor between
classes, nor between political parties either
– but right through every
human heart” :
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Building a More Perfect Union
—
Where War is Not an
Option, But a Waste of All Life
—
Joining
the Eternal Vision
—
The
Peace and Brotherhood of
All
Is Compassion Hard-Wired Into
the Human Genome?
Post date: Sunday, January 22nd 2012 at 5:00 pm by
Sayer Ji
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The Smell of Anxiety
Induces Empathy In Humans
New research flying in the face of many popular and not-so-forgiving
views about 'human nature' indicates there is an olfactory-based,
evolutionary mechanism built into the human genome/soul to feel empathy
for the anxiety/suffering of others.
In a
fascinating study entitled "Induction of empathy by the smell of
anxiety," published in the journal of the Public Library of Science (PLoS)
in 2009, researchers discovered "The chemosensory perception of human
anxiety seems to automatically recruit empathy-related resources."
Smelling chemical signals from the sweat of anxious subjects elicited an
empathic response, even when the smell was below the threshold of
consciousness in half the subjects.
Empathy, in fact, has concrete and measurable therapeutic effects in
others. In 2009,
researchers found that practitioner empathy reduced the duration of
the common cold in their patients. Conversely, a negative and/or
indifferent attitude towards the patient has measurable adverse effects,
also known as the
nocebo effect.
Given that many believe empathy is not "hard-wired" into us, but rather
represents a "higher faculty" in constant struggle with our "baser,"
fundamentally selfish instincts, this new research is all the more
encouraging. Perhaps in light of it, it will be easier for those who do
not experience compassion directly or often enough, either on the giving
or receiving end, to come to appreciate its essential role in our past,
present and future.
Evolution and the Vast Potential of Humankind
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