Please feel free to E-mail me with your own comments on this issue or on anything else included in my Philosophy of Life section. Hopefully, I can offer some answers that will do them justice. I consider compassion to be an admirable and very viable behavior.
Most mammals seem to be able to recognize and respond to it.
Humans tend to respond in kind to how they are treated by others. If they are abused, they are more likely to become abusive themselves. On the other hand, if they are treated compassionately, they tend to respond in kind. It is certainly a basic tenet of Christianity and is found in almost all other belief systems, as well. Certainly, treating the sick or injured or offering assistance to someone in need are compassionate things to do and there is little to quibble with about that.