Hyperempathy and Language
One of the major advantages humans have over other animals is our ability to socialize, and to work together to help out many humans. I remember some Freshman Biology vid about how Neanderthals had squeaky voices and could only really grunt, while humans have developed more advanced vocal chords, and the ability to communicate through language. That ability to socialize has carried humans a long way, first in small hunter gatherer societies, and then into settled farming, which then leads to large empires, which are eventually able to industrialize, bringing us to where we are now.
Looking back at those hunter gatherer communities, and at the early farming societies, most would probably describe them as fitting Lauren's idea of hyperempathy. Looking at our societies today, most would consider us to be very unempathetic. We see each other die by the thousands and millions, and go on with our days. I don't think the key to that "primitive hyperempathy" has been lost, and so I think we're still capable of it, thanks to our use of language. Through our use of language, I think we as a species can start to return to that state, and better communicate our common sufferings and our common goals, and achieve them. Its an interesting twist on the society of 1984, that the same tool used to break a population, and to pit children against parents, can also be used to create a better society, where we are all a little more empathetic.
Hah, I didn't know that about Neaderthals having squeaky voices. Supposedly dinosaurs might have been more chirpy and less "rawr"-like, too. In any case, yes, I'm glad you wrote about this because the hyper-empathy is clearly important in this book but so far it hasn't been seen as a positive thing at all. I have to imagine Butler means for Lauren to eventually see it as an asset rather than a weakness, but so far that hasn't happened...
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