User blog comment:EvilMegaCookie/Maya/@comment-5819717-20150316181224/@comment-4867780-20150320100042

Empathy is a survivalist instinct, biologically evolved to keep the members of a given species receptive to one another's suffering, to increase the cooperation between them, and thus their overall chances both as a group and as individuals. So I'm sorry to contradict you once more, but "empathy" is most certainly species based.

Though it is clear the radical improvement in our conditions of life naturally deconstructed this instinct, and we now care more about our pets than fellows humans.

Isn't that what Lawrence and Selforge City are all about ? Safety and happiness for everyone ? Don't mind the word "city" too much, it only refers to the unity of the place, with his abilities and resources it could have any size at all, and expand to infinite levels. Beside, this character was inherently built to be compatible with other fictional settings, so the existence of suffering outside of its borders became de facto inevitable.

Lastly, Lawrence and Selforge are largely focused on this highly relatable idea of "hope". Hope for a better life, hope for another way, hope for unconditional safety and lasting happiness. In short, the hope for this "Paradise" most real-life religions are built upon. It is the very reason why Selforge is largely open to immigrants in the first place, rather than a locked-up and only populated by perfect artificial natives.

In short, the idea of a perfect universe simply doesn't cut it on an empathic level, while the idea of extraplanar Eldorado resonates strongly in the human heart.