Empathy is automatic for some people and an effort for others. On the other hand, many people lack empathy altogether. Empathy has been studied, misunderstood, understood, defined, and redefined. The one fact researchers maintain is that it is a reflexive emotional capacity for some human beings while others must possess it through cognitive means, and some are never able to truly embody it.

Some people have empathy as an additional sense.

A sense is defined as “a faculty by which the body perceives an external stimulus.” There are five human senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. Is there a sixth? The ability to intuitively sense what another human being feels?

Mantis, a Marvel character, is known for her telepathic abilities. Yet, in the series, she feels the emotional state of other beings. Empathy is her super sense and she attempts to use it to help humanity. For example, in one scene she explains the purpose of her antenna,