The Empathic Civilization examines the radical new view of human nature that is emerging in the biological and cognitive sciences, and creating controversy in intellectual circles, the business community, and government. Recent discoveries in brain science and child development are forcing us to rethink the long-held belief that human beings are, by nature, aggressive, materialistic, utilitarian, and self-interested. The dawning realization that we are a fundamentally empathic species has profound and far-reaching consequences for society. Building on these new understandings of human nature, Rifkin takes us on a never-before-told journey. He chronicles the dramatic story of the development of human empathy from the rise of the first great theological civilizations to the ideological age that dominated the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the psychological era that characterized much of the twentieth century. Viewing economic history from an empathic lens, Rifkin uncovers rich strands of the human narrative that lay previously hidden. The result is a new social tapestry—The Empathic Civilization—woven from a wide range of fields including literature and the arts, theology, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, political science, psychology, and communication theory. The author argues that at the very core of the human story is the paradoxical relationship between empathy and entropy. He observes that at various times in history new energy regimes have converged with new communication revolutions, creating ever more complex societies. More technologically advanced cultures, in turn, have brought together more diverse people, heightened empathic sensitivity, and expanded human consciousness. But these increasingly complicated milieus require extensive energy use and speed us toward resource depletion. The irony is that our growing empathic awareness has been made possible by an ever-greater consumption of the Earth's energy and other resources, resulting in a dramatic deterioration of the health of the planet. We now face the bittersweet prospect, says Rifkin, of approaching global empathy in a highly energy-intensive, interconnected world, riding on the back of an escalating entropy bill that now threatens catastrophic climate change and our very existence. Resolving the empathy/entropy paradox, according to Rifkin, is the critical test of our species' ability to survive and flourish on Earth in the future. This will necessitate a fundamental rethinking of our economic and social models. Rifkin describes the emergence of a new economic system—the Third Industrial Revolution—that is ushering in an era of "distributed capitalism" and the beginning of biosphere consciousness. We are on the cusp, he contends, of an epic shift into a "climax" global economy and a fundamental repositioning of human life on the planet. The author challenges us to think about what may be the most important question facing humanity: Can we reach global empathy in time to avoid the collapse of civilization and save the Earth?