TED Tuesday— Daniel Goleman: Why Aren't We More Compassionate?

"This guy was back on his feet immediately. But all it took was that simple act of noticing, and so I'm optimistic."

Good Morning Folks,

Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, asks why we aren't more compassionate more of the time.

“Why aren’t we more compassionate?” asks psychologist Daniel Goleman in this brilliant TED Talk. By studying human brain function, neuroscientists have proven that humans are wired to empathize. Yet the preoccupation with self often usurps the natural inclination to help others. It’s time to pay attention, asserts Goleman, and redirect your focus toward your fellow human beings. 

Everyone knows that high IQ is no guarantee of success, happiness, or virtue, but until the discoveries of modern brain researchers, theorists could only guess why. Daniel Goleman's fascinating report from the frontiers of psychology and neuroscience offers us startling new insight into our "two minds" -- the rational and the emotional -- and how they together shape our destiny. Beginning deep in the brain, Emotional Intelligence shows us the exact mechanism of an "emotional hijack," when passion overcomes reason. Through vivid examples, Goleman then delineates the crucial skills of emotional intelligence, and shows how they determine our success in relationships and work, and even our physical well-being. What emerges is a crucial new way to talk about being smart.

Daniel Goleman brought the notion of Emotional Intelligence, or EI, to prominence as an alternative to more traditional measures of IQ with his 1995 mega-best-seller, Emotional Intelligence.

Since the publication of that book, conferences and academic institutes have sprung up dedicated to the idea. It's taught in public schools, and corporate leaders have adopted it as a new way of thinking about success and leadership.

In today's program you will learn:

1. Why people show less compassion toward others than dictated by nature
2. What dangers and consequences accompany self-focus
3. What benefits ensue when people are compassionate toward one another

Have a look:

So kids, now that you know how, rid the stress and rock it today!.

Have a GREAT day, be happy and…  Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

*TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences -- the TED Conference on the West Coast each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh UK each summer -- TED includes the award-winning TED Talks video site, the Open Translation Project and TED Conversations, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize.  More at TED.com