It is not easy to feel with the heart and let reason speak. Anyone who has been angry at an injustice or who has felt the pain of another person knows that it is very difficult to keep a cool head and resort to logic. And when we are truly empathetic, it is as if an emotional hijacking occurs . Why?
The clue comes from a very interesting study carried out at Case Western Reserve University . These neuroscientists have discovered why it is so difficult for us to be empathetic and rational at the same time. The answer lies in our brain, since when the network of neurons involved in empathy is activated, the network used to analyse the facts is suppressed. Of course, the opposite also occurs; when we are analysing a fact in a purely rational way, the empathy network is switched off.
A physics problem, an emotion and a brain scan
This study shows, for the first time, why it is so difficult for us to be both understanding and analytical. The experiment involved 45 university students, who were given a series of problems to solve and some situations that required them to understand another person’s feelings.
While the students were engaged in these activities, the neuroscientists scanned their brains. They found that physics problems activated the analytical network and suppressed the empathy network. Conversely, when they asked them to focus on another person’s feelings and be empathetic, the brain network linked to logical analysis was suppressed.
In fact, neural inhibition is not a new phenomenon. Our brain has a tendency to economize resources, so it tends to “turn off” those areas that we do not need. In the phenomenon of cognitive inhibition, for example, our mind concentrates on the information that is important for the task we must perform and sets aside irrelevant stimuli. Most of the time this mechanism is activated automatically, to prevent us from becoming saturated with stimuli.
In fact, there is a theory that tells us that when we have limited mental resources, our brain allocates them in the most effective way for the task at hand, so that we can be more efficient. When inhibition does not work, we have trouble concentrating and we make more mistakes.
Positive or negative?
There is no doubt that the ability to focus only on the emotional or rational aspect of situations leads us to a biased view. However, there are times when this biased view is exactly what we need. However, there are times when we need the opposite: to have a broader view of the matter. In that case, it is true that we cannot be rational and empathetic at the same time, but we can direct the focus of our brain to one or the other perspective, so that we can form a more general image of the picture.
For example, to run a business you need to be analytical and rational, to be efficient. Otherwise we will go bankrupt. However, without a moral compass and passion, this excess of rationality can also lead us to a dead end. Both networks will not work at the same time, but we can alternate between them before making decisions. This way we will have a more global perspective and, probably, we will make better decisions.
Reference:
Jack, A. I. et. Al. (2013) fMRI reveals reciprocal inhibition between social and physical cognitive domains. NeuroImage; 66: 385-401.
