I hope they come to look at human nature in a new light, one that is more hopeful and sanguine. I hope they learn about the remarkable wisdom of Darwin and the wonders of the study of emotion. My hopes for potential readers are numerous. These emotions were of interest to Darwin, and Darwin-inspired studies have revealed that our capacity for caring, for play, for reverence and modesty are built into our brains, bodies, genes and social practices.
These tendencies are felt in the wonderful realm of emotion-emotions such as compassion, gratitude, awe, embarrassment and mirth. KELTNER: “Born to be good” for me means that our mammalian and hominid evolution have crafted a species-us-with remarkable tendencies toward kindness, play, generosity, reverence and self-sacrifice, which are vital to the classic tasks of evolution-survival, gene replication and smooth functioning groups. What in a nutshell does the term “born to be good” mean to you, and what are you hoping people learn from reading the book? Keltner was kind enough to take some time out to discuss altruism, Darwinism, neurobiology and practical applications of his findings with David DiSalvo.ĭISALVO: You have a book that was just released called Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life. In his new book, Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life, Keltner weaves together scientific findings with personal narrative to uncover the innate power of human emotion to connect people with each other, which he argues is the path to living the good life. Why do people do good things? Is kindness hard-wired into the brain, or does this tendency arise via experience? Or is goodness some combination of nature and nurture?ĭacher Keltner, director of the Berkeley Social Interaction Laboratory, investigates these questions from multiple angles, and often generates results that are both surprising and challenging.
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