Scientists are now beginning to believe that people who annoy us are actually changing the way our brain works when we look at them. According to a study done that the University of Southern California, our brain mimics movements of people that we are watching. For example, if someone stubs their toe, we feel a form of physical empathy towards them. However, this process changes when we look at someone that annoys us – someone we don’t want to empathize with. In fact, if someone that annoys us begins to move, our brain perceives them as moving much slower than they actually are. Furthermore, we tend to feel empathy towards people that look like us, or anyone who reminds us of ourselves. Thus, when someone we don’t like hurts themselves we tend not to feel physical empathy towards them.
