> some people have it, some people not so much. I don't think that's true at all--not for empathy or for many other psychosocial quantities. While a statistica

> some people have it, some people not so much. I don't think that's true at all--not for empathy or for many other psychosocial quantities. While a statistically few people exist who really are biologically missing certain psychological abilities (what we usually call mental health disorders), for everyone else it's totally possible to increase/decrease things like empathy, critical thought, fearfulness, optimism, etc. over time. Making those changes consciously is just a) hard and b) usually quite gradual/hard to gauge progress, so as a result the position that "you either innately have it or you don't" becomes quite seductive. This sword cuts both ways: that ability to change is present even for awful or deeply suffering people. However, it's also possible for positive things (empathy, hopefulness and the like) to decrease over time even without conscious effort. This is one of the reasons that I think everyone, if able, should try to get help in tracking their mental state, even if they're healthy: how you do this might differ (therapy, church, regular mental check-ins with a trusted confidant, journaling, meditation, whatever), but it is a really powerful quality of maturity to be able to watch--and to the extent you are able, manage--your "levels" of these personal/psychological qualities