The fact that something can be used for good isn't necessarily a knockdown argument for it.

It's hard to pull apart empathy from compassion. What is really clear is that we innately care for other people at least to some extent.

My book is going to be called Against Empathy, which may give you a feeling for where my argument is going to go. Whenever I talk about this, I have to begin in the most boring of all possible ways: by defining my terms. By "empathy," some people mean everything that is good - compassion, kindness, warmth, love, being a mensch, changing the world - and I'm for all of those things. I'm not a monster.

Empty heads, cognitive science has taught us, learn nothing. The powerful cultural and personal flexibility of our species is owed at least in part to our starting off so well-informed; we are good learners because we know what to pay attention to and what questions are the right ones to ask.

Traditionally, psychology has been the study of two populations: university freshmen and white rats.

Because of empathy, stories of the suffering of one person could lead us into a war that could kill millions of people.

This enthusiasm [for empathy] may be misplaced. Empathy has some unfortunate features – it is parochial, narrow-minded and innumerate. We’re often at our best when we’re smart enough not to rely on it.