Science & the Big Questions

Why We Need to Be More Emotional to Save the World

If our species wants to enjoy a long-term future, it might need to tap into the very human qualities of emotion.

BBC Future

Topics: Altruism Awe Cooperation Decision-Making Emotion Empathy Flourishing Rationality

The Empathy Option: The Science of How and Why We Choose to Be Empathetic

Putting ourselves in situations where we will feel empathy is a choice, according to Penn State psychologist Daryl Cameron. He and his students are exploring why we choose to be empathetic — and why we sometimes choose not to.

Research Penn State Magazine

Topics: Empathy

Empathy Is Tearing Us Apart

Americans are as polarized as they’ve ever been. Could the problem be that we’re caring for each other too much?

WIRED

Topics: Bias Empathy Group Conflict Robert Wright

Teaching Kids Kindness Prepares Them for Success

Parents are supposed to leave a legacy for the next generation, but we are at risk of failing to pass down the key virtue of kindness. How can we do better?

The Atlantic

Topics: Empathy Generosity Happiness Success

What Makes Someone ‘Generous’?

The virtue of generosity — as opposed to individual acts that could be deemed generous — is surprisingly complex and multifaceted.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Topics: Altruism Empathy Generosity Morality

The Technology of Kindness

How social media can rebuild our empathy — and why it must.

Scientific American

Topics: Empathy Technology

A Lesson From FaceApp: Learning to Relate to the Older Person We Will Become

Learning to think about your life in the distant future could help strengthen the long-term decisions you make.

Los Angeles Times

Topics: Decision-Making Empathy

When It Comes to Moral Decisions, Testosterone Doesn’t Seem to Do Much

The researchers admit that every one of their hypotheses was wrong.

Ars Technica

Topics: Decision-Making Empathy Ethics Morality

Researchers Study the Minds of People Who Donate Organs to Complete Strangers

The psychology behind those who give their organs to ones they don’t know.

CBS News

Topics: Altruism Empathy

How Your Brain Invents Morality

Neurophilosopher Patricia Churchland explains her theory of how we evolved a conscience.

Vox

Topics: Animal Studies Empathy Ethics Genes Morality Neurons Reductionism

Being Empathic Doesn’t Make You a Pushover

A new study finds that more prosocial people are less aggressive in competition — but they tend to win out in the long run.

Greater Good Magazine

Topics: Cooperation Decision-Making Empathy

Random Lessons of Kindness — How We Can Learn to Care

A Stanford professor who taught a class on “Becoming Kinder” notes that people are becoming less and less empathetic. The good news is that kindness can be taught; it’s not necessarily an innate trait.

San Francisco Chronicle

Topics: Empathy Jamil Zaki

The Dancing Species: How Moving Together in Time Helped Make Us Human

Dancing is a human universal, but why?

Aeon

Topics: Empathy Human Evolution Ritual

What Makes Us Better

Two books explore whether morality is innate or learned.

The American Scholar

Topics: Empathy Jamil Zaki Morality

In a Divided World, We Need to Choose Empathy

It’s gotten harder to empathize; that’s why it’s so important we work at it. Luckily, we can.