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Empathy is typically seen as wonderful, central to cooperation, caring, and morality. We want to have empathic parents, children, spouses and friends; we want to train those in the helping professions to expand their empathy, and we certainly want to elect empathic politicians and policy makers. But empathy has certain troubling features, and questions have begun to arise...
No doctor awakens in the morning determined to discriminate against patients of color, yet their daily clinical decisions too often have that result. Implicit bias—unconscious assumptions and stereotypes—often cause the harm. The failure to ask the right questions, listen closely and reserve judgment can sabotage communication in any patient/physician encounter, but it wor...
Democracy is in danger, not only in foreign places where autocrats rule, but also here at home. We are divided between those who would let the people rule and those who would allow rule by the powerful, greedy few. Defending our democratic system takes a new kind of democratic practice. It’s not only the practice of communal celebration; it’s the cultivation of self. Presi...
Storytelling is a uniquely human activity, helping us to make sense of the world, cultivate empathy, honor the past, and pass on traditions. Everyone has a story to tell, and sharing them can be an act of love, an expression of compassion, and a way to explore our humanity more fully. Careful listening also builds health-promoting connections among caregivers, family membe...
Most people think the only problem with empathy is that we don’t have enough of it. Drawing on research into psychopathy, criminal behavior, charitable giving, cognitive neuroscience, and Buddhist meditation practices, Yale psychologist Paul Bloom argues that this is mistaken. Empathy makes us worse as people. We are better off, Bloom says, in both public policy and intima...
Over the past decade, levels of anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide have increased dramatically, but the causes are more nuanced than the headlines suggest. This session unpacks the data and real-world learnings to shed light on the changes — at the policy, family, school, and community levels — that have the most potential to improve kids’ well-being.
Our country’s social fabric is badly frayed by distrust, division and exclusion. But across America, people are quietly working to end loneliness and isolation and weave together inclusive communities. Meet some remarkable ordinary Americans who are “weaving” every day — swimming against the current of hyper-individualism and doing their part to put trust, empathy, connect...
From academic pressures to classroom shootings, economic uncertainty to climate change, young people are facing more stressors than ever, and it’s surfacing in some terrible ways. In the past 12 months, 62 percent of college students said they had felt overwhelming anxiety at some point, 41 percent were so depressed that it was difficult to function, and 11 percent had ser...
Thinking about the far-off future isn’t just an exercise in intellectual curiosity. It’s a practical skill that, as new research reveals, has a direct neurological link to greater creativity, empathy, and optimism. In this session from master game designer and acclaimed futurist Jane McGonigal, you’ll learn three practical habits that will increase the power of your imagin...
The way history books tell it, the story of science and technology is one where the heroes are almost exclusively men. But we as a country have recently come to think of female and trans leadership differently, allowing the stories of past scientific pioneers to surface. This new perspective has enabled talented technologists to take greater leadership in the innovation se...
Strategic, highly focused philanthropy—combining head and heart—has attracted a growing number of individuals and families and those who advise them. Donors merge passion, drive, and empathy with strategy, and employ the tools—be it grants, social investments or mentorship—to best meet the need. While professional expertise and academic training inform their initial choice...
Has America lost its voice? For better or worse, our policies, protests, and pop culture have traditionally had a deep impact both abroad and at home. Do the voices we elevate today amount to a collective identity? Should they? Who lays claim to America’s voice, and what happens to the voiceless? Creative Tensions is not a panel — it’s a conversation that moves. Participan...
Many Americans worry that our country is hopelessly divided — that we lack even the most basic common experiences, beliefs, or traditions, resulting in a society devoid of empathy and factions unable to work together in our republic. One idea to address this critical challenge is gaining momentum, including increasingly getting mentioned on the 2020 campaign trail: making...
When we look for attributes of strong leaders, we look for creativity and curiosity, integrity and empathy, diligence and discipline. Ideally, a great leader embodies all of these attributes, which collectively describe their character, and these leaders invariably point to influences including parents, teachers, mentors, and to critical episodes, including failures. This...
The Aspen Challenge presents teams of high school students from New Orleans and Miami who have developed innovative solutions to issues that have impacted their communities. See these young changemakers take to the stage to prove that entrepreneurial community solutions can be created at any age. Learn how Benjamin Franklin High School at the Katherine Johnson Campus is ta...
Words hurt, words heal — or do they? As we’re exposed to the broad range of messages through media and social networks, and as we hear more people saying controversial (and historically taboo) things, do the words we use have the power they once did? This session will look at the power, or lack of power, of the most simple tool we have: words. We’ll look at words that peop...
Where does classical liberalism come from? What comfort and lessons are we to take from our forebearers? In the aftermath of the 2016 election, acclaimed author and essayist Adam Gopnik traced the moral and philosophical trajectory of liberalism as a way to contextualize the election for his daughter. Gopnik takes the audience on a tour of the great places and people who c...
When we understand how our emotions work — and how they can trick us for both good and bad outcomes — we can turn them into superpowers. Hear from researchers and practitioners who offer intriguing ways to think about emotions. They suggest ways to better navigate our inner lives and relationships with those around us.