All human are soft wired with mirror neurons. This means that when I observe you, with your anger, joy, frustration or sense of rejection, and feel what you’re experiencing, then the same neurons will light up in me as if I’m actually having that experience myself.

Are we in fact ‘homo empathicus?’

Bestselling author, political advisor, social and ethical activist, Jeremy Rifkin, investigates the evolution of empathy and the profound ways it has shaped our development and our society. In his book The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis, he asks if we can bring out this common nature to create a more peaceful future civilisation.

This video is a remarkable lesson on empathy – its history, the science behind it and the possibilities for the future.