Skip to main content

The Age of Empathy – Frans de Waal ****

Primatologist Frans de Waal aims to remind us in this book of the caring and empathic side of human nature. This is often neglected, he argues, by political ideologies, economic theories and scientific ideas, which have tended to over-emphasise the competitiveness and struggle for existence in nature. As the subtitle (Nature’s lessons for a kinder society) suggests, the book looks at how the caring behaviour and kindness we observe in animals can illuminate our own capacities for such behaviour. The book is best seen, however, just as an exploration of empathy in the animal world in general. As such, it is fascinating, informative and difficult to put down.
Given the author’s area of research, we look largely at primates for examples of empathy in animals, and the numerous stories of animal kindness are often heart warming. Particularly interesting were the instances of animals helping and acting empathically towards members of other species – the story de Waal relates that stands out is where a bonobo takes an injured bird to the top of a tree to set it free.
What comes through constantly, apart from the extent of empathy among animals, is how acts of kindness that many have been thought to be uniquely human are clearly not. It is true that humans have a greater capacity for empathy, and a greater capacity to act with others in mind, than other animals – we can reason, and can feel empathy for others after an intellectual process has taken place (“this has happened to so-and-so, and I know they must feel bad because this is how I would feel if I were in the same position, so I empathise and should help”). But when it comes down to it, the book explains, this isn’t the fundamental basis for empathy in humans. The example scenario given is a baby drowning. We don’t reason in this situation – we just dive into the water. Observations of animals show they act in a similar way.
The most interesting section of the book is on how empathy evolved. We read how empathy has its origin in animals’ imitating each other, as it has often been evolutionary advantageous for groups to co-ordinate their actions. (Imitation has developed so much that, as the book explains, and as you will probably know, when you see somebody yawn, it’s likely you will yawn yourself.) This imitative behaviour led to emotional contagion, where if you witnessed a member of your group in distress, for example, you would feel some of the distress yourself.
The book is easy to read and it always kept my attention, mainly because of the author’s enthusiastic writing. There is a good mix of de Waal’s own personal anecdotes of endearing animal behaviour, the more empirical work that has been carried out on empathy, and the theories we have come up with to make sense of empathic behaviour. And it’s difficult not to like a book with such an uplifting theme, that celebrates the caring side of human and animal nature.
de Waal’s argument that human societies need to appreciate much more the empathic and social side of human nature is probably less relevant outside the United States, where de Waal is based. The conservative views that have held sway and which he explains he is concerned about, based on a kind of Social Darwinism, are more pronounced in American politics and society, and the European states, for instance, are in general more empathic than the US state, which in comparison has a less generous social security system, has larger inequalities, and doesn’t have universal health care.
But de Waal is a scientist, and whilst the political message of the book is a little less significant than the author might think, the science in this book is covered incredibly well. If you want a comprehensive look at empathy in animals written accessibly and endearingly, read this book.

Paperback:  

Kindle:  
Using these links earns us commission at no cost to you
Review by Matt Chorley

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Philip Ball - How Life Works Interview

Philip Ball is one of the most versatile science writers operating today, covering topics from colour and music to modern myths and the new biology. He is also a broadcaster, and was an editor at Nature for more than twenty years. He writes regularly in the scientific and popular media and has written many books on the interactions of the sciences, the arts, and wider culture, including Bright Earth: The Invention of Colour, The Music Instinct, and Curiosity: How Science Became Interested in Everything. His book Critical Mass won the 2005 Aventis Prize for Science Books. Ball is also a presenter of Science Stories, the BBC Radio 4 series on the history of science. He trained as a chemist at the University of Oxford and as a physicist at the University of Bristol. He is also the author of The Modern Myths. He lives in London. His latest title is How Life Works . Your book is about the ’new biology’ - how new is ’new’? Great question – because there might be some dispute about that! Many

Stephen Hawking: Genius at Work - Roger Highfield ****

It is easy to suspect that a biographical book from highly-illustrated publisher Dorling Kindersley would be mostly high level fluff, so I was pleasantly surprised at the depth Roger Highfield has worked into this large-format title. Yes, we get some of the ephemera so beloved of such books, such as a whole page dedicated to Hawking's coxing blazer - but there is plenty on Hawking's scientific life and particularly on his many scientific ideas. I've read a couple of biographies of Hawking, but I still came across aspects of his lesser fields here that I didn't remember, as well as the inevitable topics, ranging from Hawking radiation to his attempts to quell the out-of-control nature of the possible string theory universes. We also get plenty of coverage of what could be classified as Hawking the celebrity, whether it be a photograph with the Obamas in the White House, his appearances on Star Trek TNG and The Big Bang Theory or representations of him in the Simpsons. Ha

The Blind Spot - Adam Frank, Marcelo Gleiser and Evan Thompson ****

This is a curate's egg - sections are gripping, others rather dull. Overall the writing could be better... but the central message is fascinating and the book gets four stars despite everything because of this. That central message is that, as the subtitle says, science can't ignore human experience. This is not a cry for 'my truth'. The concept comes from scientists and philosophers of science. Instead it refers to the way that it is very easy to make a handful of mistakes about what we are doing with science, as a result of which most people (including many scientists) totally misunderstand the process and the implications. At the heart of this is confusing mathematical models with reality. It's all too easy when a mathematical model matches observation well to think of that model and its related concepts as factual. What the authors describe as 'the blind spot' is a combination of a number of such errors. These include what the authors call 'the bifur