The Compassionate Instinct: The Science of Human Goodness

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.

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

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