Empathy Faces Are For Show
Our subconsciouses are like the rest of us; adeptly ‘altruistic’ when it benefits them, such as when watched. For an example of how well designed we are in this regard consider the automatic empathic expression of pain we make upon seeing someone hurt. When we aren’t being watched, feeling other people’s pain goes out the window:
A 2-part experiment with 50 university students tested the hypothesis that motor mimicry is instead an interpersonal event, a nonverbal communication intended to be seen by the other….The victim of an apparently painful injury was either increasingly or decreasingly available for eye contact with the observer. Microanalysis showed that the pattern and timing of the observer’s motor mimicry were significantly affected by the visual availability of the victim.
That is Katja Grace, who now has a blog worth watching.
"Tragedy is when I get a paper cut. Comedy is when you fall in an open manhole and kill yourself." - Mel Brooks
When watching movies alone I notice I still feel some empathy for the characters (say, when they are killed horribly), even if I don't show it as I would when watching the movie with others.