The Age of Empathy

Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society

Is it really human nature to stab one another in the back in our climb up the corporate ladder? Competitive, selfish behavior is often explained away as instinctive, thanks to evolution and "survival of the fittest", but in fact, humans are equally hard-wired for empathy. Using research from the fields of anthropology, psychology, animal behavior, and neuroscience, Frans de Waal brilliantly argues that humans are group animals - highly cooperative, sensitive to injustice, and mostly peace-loving - just like other primates, elephants, and dolphins. This revelation has profound implications for everything from politics to office culture.©2009 Frans de Waal (P)2009 Tantor

A Lot Of Things In Common With Our Animal Friends!

I enjoyed reading The Age of Empathy because it really hit home with me since I am a vegetarian and it was an "easy leap" to understand the empathy and compassion of animals and how it can easily apply to humans.

I think there is a lot to learn here in this very good read!!!

Thoughtful and informative

Clarifying insights helped me strengthen my own values and morality. An enlightening and worthwhile read.

Brilliant and incredibly important

The importance of this book cannot be overstated. Finally a look at the biology of one of our most important traits. How empathy is linked to our success as a species is utterly undeniable. And the behavior is much less conscious than we think.

However, after listening to the incredible science behind Empathy, I can't help but feel that consciously widening this vastly unconscious trait's reach with our intellect and consciousness would push our species to the next frontier in our existence.