A common space for harmonic peacemakers

Being able to feel a touch as if it were your own

Listening to radio 4 last week, there was the story of people who experience a sense of touch when someone they are looking at is being touched. In it's extreme, all sensation is felt, like a mirror. For example, 'Jane' first discovered she had the condition aged 6 when her mum asked why she was limping. Jane had seen her friend fall and sprain her ankle when skipping a few days before, so replied "Oh I sprained my ankle the other day when Alice fell over and it's not quite better yet". People who have this condition often cannot watch certain movies or take up dangerous sports, if they see the pain, they will feel it as if they have had the injury themselves. But not just pain, any touch sensation, from a pat on the back to a kiss. Just over 1% of people in the UK have this condition and are usually totally unaware that they are different to others.

I was wondering, why? Why have people evolved like this? Well... so have the scientists and they've found that these guys are usually acutely aware of how others are feeling. They're empathetic, good at understanding facial expression, much better than your average Jo. I thought to myself that around one in a hundred is pretty accurate number to have scattered in a community to help heal people, not to operate, but to share their discomfort and pain. That would be a gift of evolution.