In Born to Be Good, Dacher Keltner marries Eastern notions of kindness and reverence with evolutionary science in order to get at the answer to three salient questions:
Throughout Born to Be Good, Keltner refers back to the Confucian concept of jen, a combination of kindness and reverence. As Keltner says, "Jen is felt in that deeply satisfying moment when you bring out the good in others."
Tied to the concept of jen is the jen ratio, how one views humanity based upon a ratio of positive human interactions over negative human interactions. Keltner posits that by merely understanding the ideas he puts forward in Born to Be Good, you, Dear Eeader, may very well increase your jen ratio and, as a result, that of humanity.
- How can we be happy?
- What are the origins of kindness?
- How can we be good?
Throughout Born to Be Good, Keltner refers back to the Confucian concept of jen, a combination of kindness and reverence. As Keltner says, "Jen is felt in that deeply satisfying moment when you bring out the good in others."
Tied to the concept of jen is the jen ratio, how one views humanity based upon a ratio of positive human interactions over negative human interactions. Keltner posits that by merely understanding the ideas he puts forward in Born to Be Good, you, Dear Eeader, may very well increase your jen ratio and, as a result, that of humanity.
Happy Hormones
Born to Be Good takes the reader on a journey through Darwin's studies of positive human emotion, which Darwin believed to be the basis for our capacity for good, and Paul Ekman's studies of facial expressions, the results of which found emotions to be deeply tied to moral intuition. In the chapters that follow, Keltner connects these studies of positive emotions back to the notion of jen. In so doing, he dissects emotions and behaviors that give rise to high jen rations - embarassment, smiling, laughter, touch, love, compassion, and awe.
Keltner probes the evolution of these emotions and behaviors, and reveals fascinating information about why we do some of the things we do. Studies of facial movements of embarrassed subjects combined with evolutionary science show that the behaviors accompanying embarrassemnt are rooted in acts of appeasement and reconcilliation; laughter has evolved as a cooperative exchange between individuals with intrinsic benefits that include neutralizing our fight or flight response and dropping our heart rate; touch between individuals stimulates the release of oxytocin, a hormone that creates feelings of devotion and supports monogamous relationships; and dance evolved as a behavior that promotes trust between the dancers.
Born to Be Good takes the reader on a journey through Darwin's studies of positive human emotion, which Darwin believed to be the basis for our capacity for good, and Paul Ekman's studies of facial expressions, the results of which found emotions to be deeply tied to moral intuition. In the chapters that follow, Keltner connects these studies of positive emotions back to the notion of jen. In so doing, he dissects emotions and behaviors that give rise to high jen rations - embarassment, smiling, laughter, touch, love, compassion, and awe.
Keltner probes the evolution of these emotions and behaviors, and reveals fascinating information about why we do some of the things we do. Studies of facial movements of embarrassed subjects combined with evolutionary science show that the behaviors accompanying embarrassemnt are rooted in acts of appeasement and reconcilliation; laughter has evolved as a cooperative exchange between individuals with intrinsic benefits that include neutralizing our fight or flight response and dropping our heart rate; touch between individuals stimulates the release of oxytocin, a hormone that creates feelings of devotion and supports monogamous relationships; and dance evolved as a behavior that promotes trust between the dancers.
The Bottom Line
Born to Be Good can at times be, for my tastes, long on the scientific explanations of evolution or brain physiology, but Keltner is a scientist who began his work in this field as a student in Paul Ekman's Human Interaction Laboratory, where he spent 100 hours mastering the meanings of minute facial movements. As such, he approaches his task in a scientific manner: hypothesis, research, proof, conclusion.
And Keltner succeeds in this approach. Throughout his book, he delineates the origins, evolution, and necessity for the positive emotions that bind us together – that "subordinate self-interst in the service of the collective." As you might expect in a book about compassion, he gives due attention to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, a man who has written books connecting science to spirituality and spent his life extolling the virtues of compassion:
Born to Be Good can at times be, for my tastes, long on the scientific explanations of evolution or brain physiology, but Keltner is a scientist who began his work in this field as a student in Paul Ekman's Human Interaction Laboratory, where he spent 100 hours mastering the meanings of minute facial movements. As such, he approaches his task in a scientific manner: hypothesis, research, proof, conclusion.
And Keltner succeeds in this approach. Throughout his book, he delineates the origins, evolution, and necessity for the positive emotions that bind us together – that "subordinate self-interst in the service of the collective." As you might expect in a book about compassion, he gives due attention to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, a man who has written books connecting science to spirituality and spent his life extolling the virtues of compassion:
"At the most fundamental level our nature is compassionat, and that cooperation, not conflict, lies at the heart of the baic principles that govern our human existence."
If it is true that one perpetuates in their lives that which one focuses upon, and I believe it is, then Dacher Keltner's claim that you increase your own jen by merely reading Born to Be Good is a fair one. Born to Be Good is a compelling narrative into the evolution of compassion and its individual and collective benefits, one that deserves the minute fraction of your life's attention.
If it is true that one perpetuates in their lives that which one focuses upon, and I believe it is, then Dacher Keltner's claim that you increase your own jen by merely reading Born to Be Good is a fair one. Born to Be Good is a compelling narrative into the evolution of compassion and its individual and collective benefits, one that deserves the minute fraction of your life's attention.
