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Born
to Be Kind?
Why do people do good things?
Is kindness hardwired into the
brain?
Or does this tendency arise from experience?
Our human
and mammal evolution has, according to scientists, endowed us as a
species with emarkable tendencies toward kindness, play, generosity,
reverence and
self-sacrifice. These are apparently classic tasks that are vital to
survival, and evolution. These tendencies are felt in the wonderful
realm of emotion-feelings
such as compassion, gratitude, awe, embarrassment and joy. Recent
studies have revealed that our capacity for caring, play, reverence and
modesty is built into our brains, bodies, genes and social practices.
Research
carried out by Dacher Keltner at Berkley University has found that the vagus nerve promotes goodness.
The vagus
nerve is a bundle of nerves that
originates in the top of the spinal cord. It activates different organs
throughout the body (such as the heart, lungs, liver and digestive
organs). When active, it is likely to produce that feeling of warm
expansion in the chest-for example, when we are moved by someone's
goodness or when we appreciate a beautiful piece of music.
Neuroscientist Stephen Porges of the University of Illinois at
Chicago long ago argued that the vagus nerve is the nerve of
compassion (of course, it serves many other functions as well).
Several reasons justify this claim. The vagus nerve is thought to
stimulate certain muscles in the vocal chamber, enabling communication.
It reduces heart rate. Very new science suggests that it may be closely
connected to receptor networks for oxytocin, a neurotransmitter
involved in trust and maternal bonding.
These
studies suggest that activation of
the vagus nerve is associated with feelings of caretaking. and the
ethical intuition that humans from different social groups (even
adversarial ones) share a common humanity. People who have high vagus
nerve activation in a resting state, are prone to
feeling emotions that promote altruism-compassion, gratitude, love and
happiness. Psychologist Nancy Eisenberg has
found that children with high-baseline vagus nerve activity are more
cooperative and likely to give. This area of study is the beginning of
a fascinating new argument about altruism: that a branch of our nervous
system evolved to support such behaviour.
Recent
research
is suggesting that our capacities for virtue and cooperation and our
moral sense are old in evolutionary terms. A new
science of happiness is finding that these emotions can be
readily cultivated in familiar ways, bringing out the good in others
and in oneself. Here are some recent examples that have been
scientifically investigated:
*
Experiences of reverence in nature or of being around
those who are morally inspiring improves people's sense of connection
to one another and their sense of purpose.
*
Meditating on
a compassionate approach to others shifts resting brain activation to
the left hemisphere, a region associated with happiness, and boosts
immune functions.
*
Talking about what we are thankful
for-in classrooms, at the dinner table or in a diary-boosts happiness,
social well-being and health.
*
Devoting resources to others, rather than indulging a materialist
desire, brings about lasting well-being.
This kind of
science gives many hopes for the future. At the
broadest level, it could imply that our culture is shifting from a
consumption-based, materialist culture to one that privileges the
social joys (play, caring, touch, joy )that are our older (in the
evolutionary sense) sources of the good life. In more specific
terms, this new (or is it old?!) science is impacting practices
in almost every realm of life.
Here again are some well-founded examples: Medical doctors are now
receiving training in the tools of compassion, such as empathetic
listening & warm touch, that almost certainly improve basic health
outcomes.
Teachers in the USA now regularly teach the tools of empathy and
respect. In
prisons and juvenile detention centres, meditation is being taught. And
executives are starting to learn the wisdom of emotional
intelligence: that respect and
building trust contribute more to a company's thriving than
profit or the bottom line.
References:
Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life
(W. W. Norton, 2009), Dacher Keltner.
In Defence of Teasing. Dachner Keltner in New York Times Magazine, 5th
December 2008.
Forget the Survival of the Fittest: It is Kindness that Counts. David
diSalvo. Scientific American Mind, September/October 2009, pages 18-19.
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