Sunday, December 12, 2010 The Empathy Experiment  According to a recent study today's college students are 40 percent less empathetic than graduates from two or three decades ago. A disconcerting finding that raises this question: Can empathy be taught? Denvy Bowman, President of Capital University, is launching a year-long project to find out. Working closely with six students who will undergo an "empathy immersion", Bowman will also study whether learned empathy affects broader social change. The general consensus among empathy scholars is that the answer is yes and yes - but only under specific circumstances: when people are committed to the idea, and when they witness others engaging in empathetic behavior. Read More >>
back to top  Saturday, December 11, 2010 A Professor's Lesson 30 Years Ago  During a winter semester at college a young student found himself struggling through a particularly dull class, "He (the professor) was terribly ill at ease, barely looking up at us students through his gold rimmed glasses. I felt that I needed to do something to stem the boredom that would ensue in his lecture, so I created a little game for myself." That "game" resulted in a quiet, yet profound life-lesson that speaks to the power of thoughtful questions. Read More >>
back to top Friday, December 10, 2010 A Blessing from A Homeless Man  On the way back from work every evening, a homeless man would often be at the exit of the freeway. His eyes were brown and had a sparkle, like an inside light beaming out of his eyes. He always waved at every car, he was always happy and smiling and sometimes almost dancing. A feeling of joy would come over me every time I saw him, as I came off the ramp. He had that effect. Then one day, I was laid off due to the economy. With no job and no savings, I worried about providing for my four amazing kids. On my drive home, I did not prepare the usual change and did not feel the joy approaching the off-ramp. Yet there he was, as always, as I turned the ramp. And he taught me to count my blessings. Read More >>
back to top Thursday, December 9, 2010 The Art of Motivating Employees  Could a simple five-minute interaction with another person dramatically increase your weekly productivity? In some employment environments, the answer is yes, according to Wharton management professor Adam Grant. Grant has devoted significant chunks of his professional career to examining what motivates workers in settings that range from call centers and mail-order pharmacies to swimming pool lifeguard squads. In all these situations, Grant says, employees who know how their work has a meaningful, positive impact on others are not just happier than those who don't; they are vastly more productive, too. Read More >>
back to top Wednesday, December 8, 2010 A Passion for Giving  'A Passion For Giving' is a stylish, powerful and beautifully shot film with great music and compelling interviews with fascinating people, some famous some not, who inspire the viewer to give and help other people, animals and the planet. It reinforces the notion that anyone has the capacity to give, not just those with disposable income. From a Tibetan monk to a New York City street artist, this film excerpt demonstrates various methods by which a seemingly effortless gesture can prove very beneficial to society. Read More >>
back to top Tuesday, December 7, 2010 Phone Booths Find New Lives  It's iconic, a symbol of British-ness the world over: the red telephone box. But they are disappearing as fast as you can say "cell phone." With 85 percent of adult Brits using mobile phones, these booths are rapidly becoming obsolete. Now they are being recycled for astonishing and eccentric uses. The empty, often vandalized phone boxes are a huge expense for British Telecom (BT), so they have been giving them to communities; they are about to give their 1,000th one away. BT held a competition to determine the most unique usages, which include renting it to local community people for a week to make their own exhibits, posting poems, a vegetable swap and magazine swap location. Read More >>
back to top Monday, December 6, 2010 A Marathon with Heart, Literally  Just six months after undergoing open heart surgery, John Stamler crossed the finish line of the New York City Marathon. Stamler, however, did not just run for himself. He ran to raise awareness and funds for an organization that helped him through the difficulties and isolation of his rare condition. Diagnosed with a condition so rare that it just affects 0.00004% of the US population (or about 120 people), Ben had to struggle to find a solution. Fortunately, he succeeded. But now he's decided to use the Internet to connect people struggling with conditions like his. Read More >>
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When Richard Davidson told his advisers at Harvard that he planned to study the power of meditation in the 1970s, they winced. But Dr. Davidson would one day find a mentor with a different frame of mind: the Dalai Lama. The Tibetan spiritual leader recently announced plans to donate $50,000 to the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at Madison, a new research lab founded by Davidson that investigates whether meditation can promote compassion and kindness. The center has just started a project to teach meditation skills to fifth graders, focusing on charitable thoughts toward loved ones, strangers, and even enemies. [ 
"If people think I'm crazy, I don't care." Arms spread wide, feet tapping and hips swaying, Erica "Happy Lady" McElrath of St. Louis greets daily commuters on the street corner while rocking to the beat of her headphones. McElrath, who lost her full-time job in January, now spends her days doing what she loves: dancing in the street. "I don't want money. I come out here to make people smile." Her message is simple: do something that you enjoy, no matter what your circumstances. True to her word, McElrath may just be the happiest face on your daily commute. And her bravado recently earned her a job offer as a dancing Statue of Liberty. "Just be happy and do what you love," she says. "The money will come." [ 
When Iain Douglas-Hamilton left Tanzania, in East Africa, in 1970 to study at Oxford University in Britain, he left behind "an elephants' paradise". But when he returned in 1972, the country's national parks looked more like a war zone: ivory poaching had endangered these gentle giants. With elephants on the brink of extinction, the soft-spoken conservationist and author knew he had to act. In his efforts, Douglas-Hamilton has dodged bullets and survived plane crashes, droughts, floods, malaria, and even once, being squashed by a rhinoceros! He now lives in Kenya with his wife, Oria, and is the 2010 recipient of the Indianapolis Prize, the world's leading award for animal conservation. [ 
The laws of economics say that people act out of rational and self-serving motives. But what would it say about the self-sacrificing gestures we make for family and friends? On an inquiry into why people invest in their children in 2000, neuroeconomist Paul Zak discovered the hormone oxytocin, a chemical released when petting dogs, nursing children, or cuddling with loved ones. Since then, Zak has conducted a series of studies to conclude that increased oxytocin leads to increased generosity, and feelings of trust, empathy, and overall happiness. His findings also look at the effects of testosterone versus oxytocin in the workplace, and offers solutions like on-site daycare to boost trust- and, therefore, productivity and morale- in public and work settings. [ 
Why do we admire, envy, or disparage certain social groups and people? Why hire Kurt instead of Kyra? How do students choose study partners? "Within less than a second, using facial features, people make what are called 'spontaneous trait inferences,'" says social psychologist Amy Cuddy. Through investigating perceptions of warmth and competence, Cuddy explains how men and women rise to the top- or fall by the wayside- in school and at work. Her latest research connects poses to the endocrine system, showing the links between stances, gestures, and hormones. And it relates to some surprising findings about how venture capitalists decide where to make their high-risk investments. [ 
From your nervous system's point of view, there are a number of ways to respond to an argument. You can find yourself in one of the knee-jerk reactions such as fight, flight, or freeze. You can roar and bite, escape and hide, or freeze like deer in headlights. Or, you can take a breath, and get your nervous system to smile. Neuropsychologist Marsha Lucas reminds us that taking a moment to catch our breaths in the midst of a fight or other stressful situation can rewire our brains to generate compassion and respond in a productive, stress-reducing way. [ 
