Empathy is on the Rise in Young People

It doesn’t often feel as if we’re living in empathetic times.

…

That increase in empathy can be undermined by our cynicism toward each other, according to Jamil Zaki, a professor of psychology at Stanford University who is also director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab.

People often believe that “their craving for a more empathetic community is theirs alone when other people all around them also want the same thing,” said Zaki, author of “The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World.” This mistaken belief weakens conversations by creating biased views before you even start talking.

People sometimes have an inaccurate sense of what other people think.

That’s why “gaining a more accurate perspective on who is surrounding us right now can make us more hopeful about how we can build a better future together,” Zaki said.

Read the whole story (subscription may be required): CNN