The Compassionate Instinct: The Science of Human Goodness

Dacher Keltner, Jason Marsh, Jeremy Adam Smith

W. W. Norton & Company, Jan 4, 2010 - Psychology - 336 pages

Leading scientists and science writers reflect on the life-changing, perspective-changing, new science of human goodness.

Where once science painted humans as self-seeking and warlike, today scientists of many disciplines are uncovering the deep roots of human goodness. At the forefront of this revolution in scientific understanding is the Greater Good Science Center, based at the University of California, Berkeley. The center fuses its cutting-edge research with inspiring stories of compassion in action in Greater Good magazine. The best of these writings are collected here, and contributions from Steven Pinker, Robert Sapolsky, Paul Ekman, Michael Pollan, and the Dalai Lama, among others, will make you think not only about what it means to be happy and fulfilled but also what it means to lead an ethical and compassionate life.

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User Review  - lindap69 - LibraryThing

some personal stories some research about what it means to be empathic, compassionate and ethical

Contents

• Introduction: 5
• The Evolution of Empathy: 16
• Peace among Primates: 26
• Dave Grossman: 36
• Political Primates: 45
• The Forgiveness Instinct: 51
• The New Science of Forgiveness: 62
• Brain Trust: 72
• Wired to Be Inspired: 86
• how to cultivate goodness: 95
• Philip A Cowan Carolyn Pape Cowan and Neera Mehta: 100
• Love Honor and Thank: 111
• Stumbling toward Gratitude: 118
• The Choice to Forgive: 126
• Compassion across Cubicles: 133
• Are You a Jerk at Work?: 140
• A Feeling for Fiction: 150
• A Different View: 157
• Daniel Goleman: 171
• Introduction: 177
• The Activism Cure: 195
• Americas Trust Fall: 203
• The Power Paradox: 213
• An Interview with Michael Pollan: 223
• Lisa Bennett: 230
• Jason Marsh: 239
• Making Peace through Apology: 246
• Truth + Reconciliation: 255
• The Heroine with One Thousand Faces: 283
• Zeno Franco and Philip Zimbardo: 287
• Illustration Credits: 301

About the author

Dacher Keltner is Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley. He has taught social psychology for the past 21 years and is the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award for Letters and Sciences. His research focuses on the prosocial emotions (such as love, sympathy, and gratitude), morality, and power. Other awards include the Western Psychological Association’s award for outstanding contribution to research, the Positive Psychology Prize for excellence in research, and the Distinguished Mentoring Award at UC Berkeley. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. In 2008, the Utne Reader listed Dacher as one of the 50 visionaries changing the world.

Jason Marsh is an editor of Greater Good magazine. He lives in Berkeley, CA.

Jeremy Adam Smith is the senior editor of Greater Good magazine and the author of The Daddy Shift. He lives in San Francisco.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Compassionate Instinct: The Science of Human Goodness
• Editors: Dacher Keltner, Jason Marsh, Jeremy Adam Smith
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010
• ISBN: 0393076857, 9780393076851
• Length: 336 pages
• Subjects: Psychology / Emotions; Psychology / Essays