Empathy is unusual in the animal kingdom. So empathy must have
had some major survival benefits for it to have evolved. What
might those benefits have been? Empathy seems to have evolved in
three major steps. First, among vertebrates, birds and mammals
developed ways of rearing their young, plus forms of pair
bonding – sometimes for life. This is very different from the
pattern among fish and reptile species, most of which make their
way in life alone. Pair bonding and rearing of young organisms
increased their survival and was consequently selected for,
driving the development of new mental capacities. As
neuroscientists put it, the “computational requirements” of
tuning into the signals of newborn little creatures, and of
operating as a couple – a sparrow couple, a mountain lion
couple, that is – helped drive the enlargement of the brain over
millions of years. As we all know, when you are in a
relationship with someone – and especially if you are raising a
family together – there’s a lot you have to take i