combination of nature and nurture? Dacher Keltner, director of the Berkeley Social Interaction Laboratory, investigates these questions from multiple angles, and often generates results that are both surprising and challenging. In his new book, Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life, Keltner weaves together scientific findings with personal narrative to uncover the innate power of human emotion to connect people with each other, which he argues is the path to living the good life. Keltner was kind enough to take some time out to discuss altruism, Darwinism, neurobiology and practical applications of his findings with David DiSalvo. DISALVO: You have a book that was jus... posted on Oct 19 2013 (26,890 reads)

is like a spotlight—whatever it shines on becomes brighter in the mind. This knowledge can help us build compassion, says Paul Gilbert. Why do we need compassion? This week, we feature the video of a Science of a Meaningful Life presentation by Paul Gilbert, the author of Mindful Compassion. This essay is inspired by his talk. We need compassion because life is hard. We are all susceptible to diseases and injuries. Every one of us has a lifespan that had a start and will have an end. Just like you, I am vulnerable to disease. Just like you, I could have a blood test tomorrow that says my life is going to end. Just like you, I could hear that my son has been killed... posted on Jan 26 2014 (25,160 reads)

science of why fantasy and imaginative escapism are essential elements of a satisfying mental life. Freud asserted that daydreaming is essential to creative writing — something a number of famous creators and theorists intuited in asserting that unconscious processing is essential to how creativity works, from T. S. Eliot’s notion of “idea incubation” to Alexander Graham Bell’s “unconscious cerebration” to Lewis Carroll’s “mental mastication.” In the 1950s, Yale psychologist Jerome L. Singer put these intuitive observations to the empirical test as he embarked u... posted on Dec 8 2013 (25,249 reads)

who want to pursue these ideas more deeply. Seven Lessons for Leaders For educators and change agents who are tackling the challenge of changing systems, some of them deeply entrenched, we are pleased to offer these lessons, based on our work with thousands of leaders. Lesson #1:  To promote systems change, foster community and cultivate networks. Most of the qualities of a living system, notes Fritjof Capra, are aspects of a single fundamental network pattern: nature sustains life by creating and nurturing communities. Lasting change frequently requires a critical mass or density of interrelationships within a community. For instance, we've seen from research and our e... posted on Dec 12 2013 (32,838 reads)

research suggests—is that your phone? Go ahead and reply. It’s OK, I’ll wait. Back? I think I was saying something about—wait, you’re checking your email? Can’t you focus? You’re not alone. It has become an axiom of modern life that we’re a people under attack, assailed by a barrage of technologies and near-constant communications. Amidst this wealth of data and information, one resource is in short supply: our ability to pay attention. It is this dilemma that animates Daniel Goleman’s new book,Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence. Goleman, the former New York Times science journalist turned best-selling author... posted on Feb 18 2014 (31,513 reads)

have anybody anymore. My son is gone and he was the only person that I was living with. I set about changing you, and you’re not that same person anymore. But I don’t have anybody, and I want to know if you’d stay here. I’m in need of a son, and I want to know if I can adopt you.” And he said yes and she did. What is forgiveness? What is this human capacity for forgiveness? What is the human capacity for dignity no matter what the circumstances of life? As this story shows, forgiveness is not just about the other. It’s really for the beauty of your soul. It’s for your own capacity to fulfill your life. Forgiveness is, in... posted on Mar 15 2014 (62,400 reads)

Women Were Birds. "What was my mother trying to say to me?" she asks in the interview that follows. "Why did my mother choose not to write in her journals? Was she afraid of her voice? Was she saying, 'Use your voice because I couldn't or wouldn't use mine'? Was she saying, 'I'm giving you my journals because I want you to fill them'? Or were her empty journals an act of defiance by a Mormon woman who was told: the two things you will do in your life are to keep a journal and to bear children?" For 30 years Williams wrote in the journals, and then at 54 turned her attention to exploring these questions. The resulting considerations of... posted on Mar 22 2014 (12,479 reads)

Attention the Secret to Emotional Intelligence? An interview with best-selling author Daniel Goleman about his new book, Focus. New research suggests—is that your phone? Go ahead and reply. It’s OK, I’ll wait. Back? I think I was saying something about—wait, you’re checking your email? Can’t you focus? You’re not alone. It has become an axiom of modern life that we’re a people under attack, assailed by a barrage of technologies and near-constant communications. Amidst this wealth of data and information, one resource is in short supply: our ability to pay attention. It is this dilemma that animates Daniel Goleman’s ... posted on Mar 25 2014 (22,996 reads)

analysis ... It's a knowing without knowing." Our intuition is always there, whether we're aware of it or not. As HuffPost President and Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington puts it in her upcoming book Thrive: Even when we're not at a fork in the road, wondering what to do and trying to hear that inner voice, our intuition is always there, always reading the situation, always trying to steer us the right way. But can we hear it? Are we paying attention? Are we living a life that keeps the pathway to our intuition unblocked? Feeding and nurturing our intuition, and living a life in which we can make use of its wisdom, is one key way to thrive, at work and in life. ... posted on Apr 30 2014 (136,135 reads)

During the bad days I would say that the ‘light was definitely out.’ On the good days, I would come to her and embrace her. I would kiss her, and she would kiss me back, which elicited wonderful memories of a loving marriage. Shoshana died in 2012, but during our half century together, she taught me that trauma can be an opening for transformation through the way she dealt with her own experiences, in her psychotherapeutic work, and through my own role as her care giver later in life. “War.” Tapestry by Shoshana Comet. Credit: Ted Comet. All rights reserved. *** On the morning after Hitler’s invasion of Belgium in 1940, Shoshana Ungar and he... posted on Jun 15 2014 (23,259 reads)

unexpected. My explanation created an atmosphere of mystery. The tale was so unlikely that later my friends joked that perhaps I’d dreamed it. The red napkin, tablecloth, and candlesticks all belonged to Mrs. Cybulski (not her real name), a widow who had lived down the street as long as I’d been in the neighborhood, about twenty years. Except to water her yard, she didn’t go out much. And when she did, she stayed near the house, as if the tether fastening her to life had retracted, pulling her toward an eternal home. One day, I noticed a full-size dumpster in front of her bungalow. I assumed it was for yard debris or trash from some renovation project. But... posted on May 27 2023 (24,584 reads)

from chemical reactions in your brain. RW: Can we just say that human intelligence is a broader field than what our typical measurements can disclose? EJ: Oh, human intelligence, right now, can’t be explained scientifically! And there’s a very good chance that it will never be explained scientifically. The idea of free will in science would seem to contradict the idea that everything is driven by entropy proceeding toward the greatest state of disorder. Free will, in fact life in general, is acting in the opposite direction. So when I say “feeling” I do mean an emotional expression that is inexplicable and that’s capable of not necessarily overriding,... posted on May 26 2014 (10,905 reads)

and one study showed they have changes in their amygdala, a brain area involved in fear and the response to threat. If you’re intimidated by the time investment, take heart — fMRI studies show that as little as 11 hours of total training, or an hour every other day for three weeks, can produce structural changes in the brain. If you’re considering dipping your toes in the practice, I wholeheartedly recommend meditation teacher Tara Brach, who has changed my life. But perhaps the most striking finding in exploring how our beliefs affect our bodies has to do with finding your purpose and, more than that, finding meaning in life. The most prominent studi... posted on Sep 13 2014 (27,057 reads)

executive David Campbell never imagined that a casual lunch with a friend in Boston in December 2004 would change the course of his life. Their conversation turned to the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami that had ravaged Southeast Asia two days earlier. It was a personal shock to his friend who had eaten lunch at a Meridien Hotel in Phuket, Thailand, just ten days before. The hotel had been damaged and several guests killed. The story deeply affected Campbell, who scoured the web to learn all that he could about the largest natural disaster of his lifetime. When he discovered a hotel in Bang Tao, Thailand, that had been damaged but, miraculously, still had Internet service, an ... posted on Dec 10 2014 (20,337 reads)

me, this is stepping into someone else’s shoes just to sell them another pair. I believe that the best use of empathy is not in the commercial world but in the social one, where it allows us to challenge prejudices and create political change. And if you look through history, there are some extraordinary figures who have harnessed this power by engaging in what I think of as “experiential empathy.” This is where you don’t just imagine someone else’s life (a practice technically known as “cognitive empathy”) but try to live it yourself, doing the things they do, living in the places where they live, and knowing the people they know. ... posted on Jan 15 2015 (29,292 reads)

“every walk is a sort of crusade.” “Go out and walk. That is the glory of life,” Maira Kalman exhorted in her glorious visual memoir. A century and a half earlier, another remarkable mind made a beautiful and timeless case for that basic, infinitely rewarding, yet presently endangered human activity. Henry David Thoreau was a man of extraordinary wisdom on everything fromoptimism to the true meaning of “success” tothe creative benefits of keeping a diary to the greatest gift of growing old. In his 1861 treatiseWalking (free ebook | public library | IndieBound), penned seven years after Walden, he sets out to remind us of how that prim... posted on Jan 2 2015 (30,271 reads)

positive self-talk to eat better, feel stronger, and rejuvenate your body.  When day-to-day life seems to revolve around providing for others, we can forget to nourish our own bodies and spirits. And yet, self-care is what empowers us to give back to the world, fully and joyfully. Start your practice by taking just a few moments each day to affirm your commitment to eat well and live a healthful life.  Each bite of food contains the life of the sun and the earth. The whole universe is in a piece of bread. —Thich Nhat Hanh I choose well so that I can feel well. —Nathalie W. Herrman Preparing fresh, healthy meals instead of ... posted on Feb 2 2015 (69,058 reads)

will give you a talisman. Recall the face of the poorest and weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny? Will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and yourself melting away." —Mahatma Gandhi Mahatma Gandhi was one of the great empathetic adventurers of the twentieth century, a master in the art of looking at the world from another’s perspective. His philosophy was embodied in what is known as “Gandhi’s talisma... posted on Mar 2 2015 (24,280 reads)

mentoring carries many benefits, but it's becoming more and more rare. Here are some tips for renewing an age-old practice. When I was in high school, I had a lot of big questions. I wanted to know if it was possible to devote your life to your work without compromising your integrity. I wanted to know how to be a powerful man without being a jerk. And I could not understand why so many adults seemed to be okay with the systematic injustices that plagued my hometown. I read dozens of biographies as a teenager, in search of some answers. But for many years, I did not feel safe talking to an adult about any of this, for fear of being told I was crazy. I crave... posted on May 22 2015 (27,605 reads)

gifts” and now are called “natural resources.” I always suppose that experts may be wrong. But even if they are wrong about the alleged human causes of climate change, we have nothing to lose, and much to gain, by trusting them. Even so, we are not dummies, and we can see that for all of us to stop, or start stopping, our waste and destruction today would be difficult. And so we chase our thoughts off into the morrow where we can resign ourselves to “the end of life as we know it” and come to rest, or start devising heroic methods and technologies for coping with a changed climate. The technologies will help, if not us, then the corporations that will ... posted on May 5 2015 (10,753 reads)