Simon Baron-Cohen is Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at the University of Cambridge and Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge. He discusses the social factors that erode empathy including obedience to authority, idealogical beliefs, stereotyping and de-humanizing a group as an enemy.  

He is Director of the Autism Research Centre (ARC) in Cambridge. His books include Mindblindness (MIT Press, 1995), The Essential Difference (Penguin UK/Basic Books, 2003), Prenatal Testosterone in Mind (MIT Press, 2005), Zero Degrees of Empathy (Penguin UK/Basic Books, 2011) and Autism and Asperger Syndrome: The Facts (OUP, 2008). He is a Fellow of the BPS and the British Academy. Published on Sep 12, 2012 by TEDxHousesofParliament.