It's in our nature to care for others. Really is. If you don't care for at least some people it means something is wrong with you. You might be a sociopath then.
But a sociopath can still care for others, albeit in a non emotional way. I for example care for the poor in this world, but since I don't know all the poor, there is not much emotion there. But I still want them to be better off, I'd still like to help them. And a sociopath can do that too I believe.
But back to the point: why care? Caring is what makes us special. Let's take take a table for example. A table in and of itself has no meaning. But for us it does, we, as conscious entities give it it's meaning, because we use it for a purpose. If there is nothing conscious around, nothing has a meaning, because anything can only ever have a meaning toward something conscious (even if that happens to be a sociopath). Without us it's all empty, all void, all meaningless.
But we can give meaning to more than just tables. We can give meaning to our interactions, to our communities, to our friendships. And the more we put in, the more we suffer for it (not because of it... for it, as in meaningful suffering), the more meaning it acquires. So why do we care?
Because that is who we are.
And you can develop your ability to care for others, or you can let it wither away. But for you to be able to develop it, you have to get close, you have to let others get close. You need to enter deeply into relationships, and that is scary.
