empathy or the lack thereof

[Strangelet]

http://health.usnews.com/health-news...k-empathy.html

"Many people see the current group of college students -- sometimes called 'Generation Me' -- as one of the most self-centered, narcissistic, competitive, confident and individualistic in recent history," observed Konrath, who is also affiliated with the psychiatry department at the University of Rochester.

Question: what is the cause of this stripping raw the connections between human beings? Is it really caused by media saturation, specifically types of media that promote violent and/or shallow micro interactions between people?

Is it the ethics/values of the parents that raised them?

Or are they just twats who are more than happy to swim in the factory model of education administered by corporate educational systems on behalf of other corporations?

or is it flouride in the drinking water?

how important is empathy?

ah right. the meds...