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The Dark Side of Empathy
The Atlantic: I’m not usually in favor of killing, but I’d make an exception for the leaders of ISIS. I’d feel a certain satisfaction if they were wiped off the face of the Earth. This
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Empathy Is Actually a Choice
The New York Times: ONE death is a tragedy. One million is a statistic. You’ve probably heard this saying before. It is thought to capture an unfortunate truth about empathy: While a single crying child
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How Do We Increase Empathy?
The New York Times: In my last column, I wrote about a high school buddy, Kevin Green, a warm and helpful man who floundered in a tough job market, hurt his back and died at
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Why Are People So Annoying?
It’s human nature to want other people to think well of us. And indeed we are often called upon to put our best foot forward—highlighting our accomplishments and character traits in job interviews and on
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You Are Built to Be Kind
New York Magazine: Let’s take a few minutes this dreary winter Wednesday to remind ourselves that people aren’t always the worst. In a neat little animated video published yesterday by the University of California, Berkeley
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The Psychological Comforts of Storytelling
The Atlantic: When an English archaeologist named George Smith was 31 years old, he became enchanted with an ancient tablet in the British Museum. Years earlier, in 1845, when Smith was only a five-year-old boy
