Compassion

## Cold Open

Jason Silva: Compassion. The ability to understand and empathize with the pain of others all is all around us, and is a hallmark of a truly evolved human being. But on the other hand, in today's 'me first' world, empathy for others can often seem like a pretty scarce commodity. In many ways, it might seem like the people with the most amount of success have the least compassion. So which path would you choose? If you have an extra buck, do you give it to someone in need, or do you keep it for yourself? The real answer is, it depends. compassion can feel good, but not if it causes you hardship. So which is it? Is your brain hardwired selfish or selfless?

### Questions

So you might be asking yourself, if we're all born compassionate, why do we seem to act so selfish when we get older? But the real question is, do we really lose our compassion at all?

Is all compassion created equal? Even if you don't have psychopathic tendencies, would you help some people more than others?

What about growing compassion if it's not there to start with?

## Games

### Game #1: Angels vs. Demons

Seeing certain images may evoke our brains and minds to act differently.

Volunteer response: 50% Demon, 25% struggled to see angels

### Game #2: Naughty Or Nice

Babies must decide whether they want to be naughty or nice. A cat needs help opening a box and one puppy is going to help, while the other is cruel. Or Which puppy will they pick? Remember, they're still growing. The babies are between 8 and 12 months old.

Result: Most of the babies chose the kind puppies.

Why? Well, when babies see the kind puppy, the chemical that stimulates oxytocin is released by the brain, releasing empathy, and other positive feelings. Researchers now believe that humans are more likely to prefer positive and emphatic individuals.

### Game #3: Heider-Simmel Test

Players react to a gray and orange triangle along with a green circle. What's the story? Does it match up?

Result: Everyone seems to think that the green circle's a victim, while the orange triangle is a bully. The gray triangle tries to defend the green circle.

Why were human qualities given to inanimate objects?

It's just a product of compassion. It's hardwired in our brain. It triggers our vagus nerve. The reason it has evolved was for survival. You can't do it all alone.

### Game #4: Psychopath Tendencies Test

Science suggests 1% of the population is Psychopathic. It's time to test some volunteers at a party. Six statements are asked to volunteers to determine psychopathic tendencies.

Result: 50% of the volunteers were on the compassionate high. 33% are in the middle and may show a little bit of a psychopath in them at times. 2 volunteers seem more inclined to harbor psychopathic tendencies, but this test isn't the end all be all.

What does it mean?

This test obviously isn't indicative of true results. Only very, very few people can be considered true psychopaths. Pyschopathic brains view the world differently. They have less activity in compassionate areas. However, the fascinating thing is that most of the world display some miniscule-level aspects of these tendencies associated with psychopaths.

### Game #5: Help Me!

Who would you rather help. A nice young lady, or a biker.

Result: You probably chose the nice young lady.

Lets swap the young lady for an alien. Now who looks better? Obviously skull?

Why?

We are most likely going to help people who are more similar to us and look like us, etc. It further

Benefit X Relationship > Cost

That's why we're more likely to help family and friends then strangers.

### Game #6: Compassion is a Two-Lane Street

Volunteers are going to give hot sauce to a test subject. Hidden cameras are in place. Will they show compassion?

Round 1: No twists. Just the choice of hot sauce.

Results: Most people choose the mild sauce to show compassion to the test subject.

Round 2: The test subject runs over the volunteers before the choice of hot sauce.

Results: Most people choose the death sauce, wanting sweet revenge, they even add more then they need to. Compassion is thrown right out the window, when you want justice for a jerk.

Round 3: The test subject still runs over the test subjects, but this time there's a twist.

Results: Most people choose mild or medium sauce, because the doctor has been showing compassion to them, letting them get rid of their anger.

What does this reveal?

That compassion is contagious. People can pay it forward. If you feel slighted, you need someone emphatic to calm down. Like with the babies, compassion stimulates the chemical oxytocin. You can even get better at compassion. By engaging in compassionate behavior, your brain creates new neural pathways,

In a nutshell: The more you give, The more you get!