In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared……
Amnesty mobilises thousands of people who have never been tortured or imprisoned for their beliefs to act on behalf of those who have. The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives, and frees prisoners. Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet. My small participation in that process was one of the most humbling and inspiring experiences of my life…
What is more, those who choose not to empathise enable real monsters. For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy.
http://harvardmagazine.com/2008/06/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imagination
