Isn't a lack of empathy the hallmark of a Sociopath...or a Narcissist...or even Asperger's/ASD...?!?! But turning off one's empathy is never a good solution in my books. Perhaps during wartime, or other traumatic events, it helps you get through the messiest parts, by not having to care. But come later on, geez, that's when it swallows you up... Perhaps all these non-empathic people can't see what they are doing to Humanity (or just don't care...but hey, isn't that what lack of empathy is all about?!). But by not caring, one is part of the problem, not the solution. And we see it everywhere - from the lousy words of blatant money-grabbing corporate CEOs to the $2 Store worker who's jacked up their prices for cheap and nasty items and then says "Oh, everything's going up" with a smile... When will people actually realise that they are in the middle of a horrible War and that their behaviour is alongside those who have willfully killed others in past wars because it was merely their 'job'? How far down the track of disaster and the desert of morals do people have to go before they wonder 'where am I, exactly?'...I guess for some there's a steep climb up outta there, but for most, they will dwell and die down there...