The world we want in 20 years begins this minute. Empathy is triggered when we consider the impact of our actions on the greater whole. But, when we’re born, we have only 15% of the neurons that route our decision-making to the parts of the brain that does that sort of thinking and we only develop more if we’re raised in an empathic, nurturing environment during the first 8 months of our lives. So what happens in those earliest months are essential for an empathic civilization. 
Gretta Vosper is a minister and atheist. She is a Best-Selling author of two books and founder of the Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity.
