MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > When did humanity first learn empathy? A...

When did humanity first learn empathy? As well as the fact that action has consequences etc?

posted a year ago by TheMan18 (12688)
6 replies | jump to latest

Was it aware of these things ever since it originated tens of thousands of years ago? Or...?

Thanks.

P.S. And yes I know not all people even at that time had it all equally. But please remember, human nature overall is complex and complicated and that in humanity, in terms of human beings, EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT. And that in itself is a fact of life, not necessarily a "good" or a "bad" thing, but depends on certain individual cases, can be either or even both sometimes, but a fact nonetheless.

[–] ItsGood2BeRight (3879) a year ago

When the Jews crucified Jesus of Nazareth.

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (10899) a year ago

It's not something learned. It's a natural human trait which goes with the species. We're pack animals.

[–] TheMan18 (12688) a year ago

But I think some of us learn it too.

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (10899) a year ago

Sure, if a child has good moral training he will develop empathy towards others. If he's raised like an animal he'll be more callous. But awareness of others' emotions is a human trait.

[–] CarterBlunt (1031) a year ago

When serpent gave us the apple.

[–] InquiringMind (2272) a year ago

Non-human primates have empathy. It is likely that it has been an important part of our evolution for a very long time. Most likely before we were even human.

So to answer your question: We've had empathy for at least a couple of hundred thousand years.