I see your hypothesis as too improbable to be worth worrying over. I expect to find instead that it all adds up to normality; the brain will explain the mind rather than explaining it away.
For those who have it, empathy and sympathy toward others stands or falls with empathy and sympathy for oneself. Actually that understates the case: self-concern beyond the immediate moment just is empathy and sympathy for oneself, even for those who only have empathy and sympathy for that one person. I boldly ;) predict robustness for these tendencies.
I see your hypothesis as too improbable to be worth worrying over. I expect to find instead that it all adds up to normality; the brain will explain the mind rather than explaining it away.
For those who have it, empathy and sympathy toward others stands or falls with empathy and sympathy for oneself. Actually that understates the case: self-concern beyond the immediate moment just is empathy and sympathy for oneself, even for those who only have empathy and sympathy for that one person. I boldly ;) predict robustness for these tendencies.