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Dec 12, 2010

"Empathy cannot be taught, but it can be caught." --Mary Gordon

The Empathy Experiment

According to a recent study today's college students are 40 percent less empathetic than graduates from two or three decades ago. A disconcerting finding that raises this question: Can empathy be taught? Denvy Bowman, President of Capital University, is launching a year-long project to find out. Working closely with six students who will undergo an "empathy immersion", Bowman will also study whether learned empathy affects broader social change. The general consensus among empathy scholars is that the answer is yes and yes - but only under specific circumstances: when people are committed to the idea, and when they witness others engaging in empathetic behavior.