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Born To Be Good: The Science of A Meaningful Life October 20, 2012

Born To Be Good: The Science of A Meaningful Life October 20, 2012. Dacher Keltner University of California, Berkeley keltner@berkeley.edu www.greatergoodscience.org. Sympathy Breakthroughs (Jonathan Glover, Humanity). George Orwell Miklos Nyiszli 75% of soldiers refuse to shoot at enemy.

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Born To Be Good: The Science of A Meaningful Life October 20, 2012

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  1. Born To Be Good: The Science of A Meaningful LifeOctober 20, 2012 Dacher Keltner University of California, Berkeley keltner@berkeley.edu www.greatergoodscience.org

  2. Sympathy Breakthroughs(Jonathan Glover, Humanity) George Orwell Miklos Nyiszli 75% of soldiers refuse to shoot at enemy

  3. An Evolutionary Conundrum and Parting of Ways • Russel-Wallace: Sympathy created by God • Thomas Huxley: A cultural construction

  4. Darwin: Survival of the Kindest Darwin argued that sympathy “will have been increased through natural selection; for those communities, which included the greatest number of the most sympathetic members, would flourish best, and rear the greatest number of offspring” (Darwin, 1871/2004, p.130).

  5. Take care or die

  6. A Reliable Signal of Compassion: It’s not in the face

  7. The Vocal Register of Compassion

  8. Viral Goodness: The Spread of Compassion • Neonate distress cries • Emotional, Physiological Convergence in Friends • Compassion inspires elevation • Gratitude spreads through networks • Positive Emotion spreads through communities • Collective Joys

  9. Tactile Contact: The First Language of Compassion

  10. Touch • Rewards • Builds Trust • Signals Safety • Soothes

  11. Touch and the spread of goodness

  12. Coding Touch

  13. Survival of the Kindest: Compassion as an Adaptation Shaped by Natural Selection • Health of offspring • Sexual Selection • Social Selection

  14. Vagal Superstars • Richer friendship networks • More sympathetic prosocial children • Trusted more in interactions with strangers

  15. Compassion and midbrain periaqueductal grey activation

  16. Oxytocin and Pro-Sociality Monogamy in prairie voles Secure attachment behaviors Oxytocin care-taking in mammals Generosity in humans

  17. Self-less genes Oxytocin Receptor Gene (rs53576)(Rodrigues, Saslow et al., 2009, PNAS)

  18. Cynical views of the nature of good-natured The very emphasis of the commandment: Thou shalt not kill, makes it certain that we are descended from an endlessly long chain of generations of murderers, whose love of murder was in their blood as it is perhaps also in ours. Sigmund Freud If any civilization is to survive, it is the morality of altruism that men have to reject. Ayn Rand Con’t…

  19. Buddhism If you want others to be happy, practice compassion; if you want to be happy practice compassion. His Holiness the Dalai Lama

  20. A Compassion Crisis

  21. Deficits in Compassion in US Children

  22. TEN TIPS FOR THE GOOD LIFE Connect vs. IsolationFist bump, back pat, 10 minute mindfulness Trust vs. Distrust Describe others in terms of good intentions Give vs. Greed Service learning, volunteerism Play vs. Aggression Nicknames, wrestling, satirize self Appreciate vs. Blame Gratitude diary, Thank You letter Optimism vs. Pessimism Delights of small goals Acceptance vs. Rejection Speak respectfully; praise effort not ability Narrative vs. Suppression Questions, Diaries, Thorns & Roses Contemplate vs. Hyperactivity Favorite sayings, count to six breathing exercise Sacred vs. Anomie Sacred place, camping, museum, patterns Greater Good Science Center www.greatergoodscience.org

  23. Cultivating compassion • The Breath • Contemplative traditions • Loving Kindness meditations • Richard Davidson, Jon Kabat-Zinn • Barbara Fredrickson • Shift in brain chemistry, stronger immune function, cortical control over the amygdala

  24. Cultivating compassion • The social ethics tradition • Touch • Kind speech • Difficult conversations (Meng: Search Inside of Yourself)

  25. Cultivating Compassion • The Narrative Tradition • Family stories (Oliners) • Concepts in your environment (Shaver) • Great sayings • If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion (HHDL)

  26. Cultivating compassion • The designed environment tradition • Benefits of nature • Benefits of art, music

  27. Be part of the compassion revolution… • TEDx June 11, 2011: http://tedxgoldengateed.org/ • A compassion curriculum • Greatergood.berkeley.edu • Emotionmaster.com

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