What the Brain Can Teach Us About What It Means to Matter

Is Empathy Hardwired? What the Social Brain Reveals

It’s easy to think of empathy as something soft—like kindness, courtesy, or being nice. But in my conversation with Bruce Miller and Virginia Sturm, I was reminded that empathy is hardwired. It’s not just a virtue; it’s a biological circuit that makes us human.

Photo by Tim Marshall on Unsplash

Bruce told the story of Thomas, a man who—after damage to his right anterior temporal lobe—lost the ability to feel empathy altogether. He could no longer resonate with his wife’s pain or his community’s struggles. A circuit went dark, and with it, an entire dimension of his humanity vanished.

Then there was Anne. She lost her language, yet out of that decline bloomed an astonishing artistic talent. Her paintings became more vivid as her words disappeared. What does it say about the hidden potential in all of us, that sometimes loss can open doors to new forms of creation?

These stories shook me. Because they’re not just clinical—they’re personal. They remind me how fragile and yet how profound the social brain is.

And it left me with a question that I want you to sit with too:
If empathy and creativity are circuits we can strengthen, what choices are we making today to activate them?

✦ What’s Inside for Premium Subscribers

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• Behind-the-scenes from the Passion Struck Podcast