> The connection is perhaps not so surprising considering that we experience pain – whether it’s the physical pain of stubbing our toe or the social pain of get

> The connection is perhaps not so surprising considering that we experience pain – whether it’s the physical pain of stubbing our toe or the social pain of getting bulldozed in a political argument – in a similar part of the brain. We can also experience pain vicariously by witnessing other people’s distress or perceiving a social injustice. My first thought when reading the headline was Stockholm Syndrome, the "fawn response", and the differential between male and female strength (literally just read a reddit post on this topic right before). So the question is whether this sympathy is genuine sympathy for the other (over sympathy for the others on your side), a fawn response designed to avoid pain to oneself by allying with the other, or remotely possible some more complex response of agreeing with the other in order to eventually convince them to moderate?