The Compassionate Instinct: The Science of Human Goodness

Product Description

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. 25 illustrations

From Booklist

Why would a Palestinian ambulance driver pledge to help a wounded Israeli soldier who had killed his brother? In contemplating the remarkable commitment of this ambulance driver—and in dozens of other settings—the contributors to this volume recognize an aspect of human nature that has long eluded scientific scrutiny. But in the 35 essays and interviews here collected (all originally published in Berkeley’s Greater Good magazine), readers watch talented psychologists, neurologists, and primatologists investigate the riddles of human compassion. In the selections gathered in the first section, contributors probe the mysterious origins of human empathy, limning an evolutionary history that has primed the human brain for selflessness. In the second section, contributors explore ways to convert our biochemical potential for altruism into day-to-day behavior. Readers learn, for example, how wise management policies can promote caring collaboration even in the cubicle labyrinth. And in the final section, contributors outline strategies—such as anti-bystander education—for fostering ethical health in society as a whole. Though uneven, this collection stimulates serious reflection. –Bryce Christensen

Review

“The short, accessible essays…underscore empathy, forgiveness, gratitude, happiness, trust, and apology…A readable digest of current work in positive psychology for a general audience.”
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Library Journal

“[T]his collection stimulates serious reflection.”
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Booklist

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.