Empathy therefore biases us in favour of individuals we know while numbing us to the plight of thousands. As the latest research in psychology and neuroscience shows, we feel empathy most for those we find attractive and who seem similar to us and not at all for those who are different, distant or anonymous. But while it inspires care and protection in personal relationships, it has the opposite effect in the wider world. We think of empathy - the ability to feel the suffering of others for ourselves - as the ultimate source of all good behaviour. In a divided world, empathy is not the solution, it is the problem.
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