You Can Feel Safer
April 20, 2011 by Rick Hanson, Ph.D.
Filed under •-Feature, Personal Growth
Yes, there are real threats out there, but evolution and other factors have left a lot of us walking around in a kind of paranoid trance. I’ve been there myself, and the results include feeling less peaceful and hopeful, and more worried and cranky, than is right.
21 ways to turn ill will to good will
March 20, 2011 by Rick Hanson, Ph.D.
Filed under •-Feature, Personal Growth
On the one hand, as the most social and loving species on the planet, we have the wonderful ability and inclination to connect with others, be empathic, cooperate, care, and love. On the other hand, we also have the capacity and inclination to be fearfully aggressive toward any individual or group we regard as “them.”
How Did Humans Become Empathic?
February 20, 2011 by Rick Hanson, Ph.D.
Filed under •-Feature, Personal Growth
Empathy is in our bones. For example, infants will cry at the tape-recorded sound of other infants crying but not at a recording of their own cries. And speaking of crying, as adults, our tear glands will automatically start producing tears when we hear the crying of others, even if we have no sense of tearing up ourselves.
The Wolf of Hate
January 20, 2011 by Rick Hanson, Ph.D.
Filed under •-Feature, Personal Growth
I heard a story once about a Native American elder who was asked how she had become so wise, so happy, and so respected. She answered: “In my heart, there are two wolves: a wolf of love and a wolf of hate. It all depends on which one I feed each day.”
The Evolution of Love
December 20, 2010 by Rick Hanson, Ph.D.
Filed under •-Feature, Personal Growth
How did we evolve the most loving brain on the planet? Humans are the most sociable species on earth – for better and for worse. On the one hand, we have the greatest capacities for empathy, communication, friendship, romance, complex social structures, and altruism. On the other, we have the greatest capacities for shaming, emotional [...]
