Science has been trying to untangle the mystery of empathy for at least a quarter of a century. And it turns out the ability to "walk a mile in somebody else's shoes" emotionally may turn out to be one of the more complex operations our brains can engage in. It's a phenomenon that's controlled at least in part, some researchers believe, by hormones and specialized neurons in the brain. That means whether we like it or not, we may not be entirely in control of how empathetic we are at any given time.
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