This feels very stupid and uncertain to answer, but I get really curious.
I know certain people who are very manipulative. They care a lot about how they’re perceived. They put on a sort of “face” of agreeability and kindness, when in reality, they’re not like this at all.
They can fool almost anyone who doesn’t know them, because they’re very good actors. They don’t like a lot of people and even view a lot of them as not human.
They’ll find people to target, like disabled people specifically, who they view as objects or animals. They’ll show a completely different side to them. Manipulative, outwardly cruel, wanting to hurt them. And they never feel bad. They never apologize.
After all, to them, it’s the victim’s fault that they were hurt.
“If you just would have done X, I wouldn’t have hurt you!”
How can anyone be like this? I know it’s likely something in their brain, but why?
Because empathy is an inequally distributed evolutionary advantage.
If I ever had one if those magical wishes, I'd be sure to carefully construct a wish that ensures all of humanity, its descendents, and intelligent creations have a level of empathy that is increases to a level that is at a minimum equal to the modern average of human empathy and with a maximum not to exceed 150% of the pre-existing modern maximum amount.
That cap is important because too much empathy runs the risk of becoming detrimental to mental health. But locking humans at a minimum moderate amount of empathy regardless of any other factors would, in my opinion, DRAMATICALLY improve the state and prospects of our species.