Who doesn’t like toys? Nobody! Everybody loves playing and we all can remember the joy that toys bring us when were kids. Now some educators are looking to make a toy that is not only fun but also teaches kids empathy. Empathy is perhaps the most important skill one can
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Things Are Good: Literary Fiction Enhances Empathy in Readers
Literary fiction, not popular fiction, can make people better understand one another according to a new study. Because literary fiction (i.e. books not for sale at airports) focuses on the psychology and inner life of the characters it gives people a window into the thoughts of others that aren’t covered
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: New studies show generosity and cooperation are both natural and intelligent
A new study shows a mathematical proof that generosity leads to evolutionary success. Biologists offer a mathematically based explanation for why cooperation and generosity have evolved in nature [Credit: Web] “Ever since Darwin,” Plotkin said, “biologists have been puzzled about why there is so much apparent cooperation, and even flat-out generosity
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Beautiful Bridge of Life
A couple nights ago I was wading about the web, waiting for sleepiness to find me when I came across this video. It exhibits the most beautiful project I’ve seen to in a very long time. On the surface, it is a colossal exercise of empathy and caring for those
Continue readingMelissa Fong: Boston & People of colour’s pain
Perspectives like mine and others’ that alluded to the fact that killing elsewhere gets less attention than the Boston bombing got a lot of backlash. (I should say that it got more support than criticism, but we always focus on the negative things, don’t we?). One of the main criticisms
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM - A Blog by Donna Thomson: The GOOD of Good Manners in Caregiving
I am reminded so often that receiving care is a skill that requires training in good manners, empathy for the caregiver and a healthy dose of polite assertiveness. I found this old blog post from October, 2010 and I think it contains a message that’s worth repeating. It IS good
Continue readingThose Emergency Blues: What I Have Learned from Nursing
The world of nursing on a couple of dozen flash cards. From The Nursing Channel on YouTube. While I don’t agree necessarily with every card — some of them, I think, play into some old stereotypes on how nurses behave — it’s still a fresh perspective on nursing. What do
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Boycott the National Headshot League (#NHL)
Before I get into my increasingly radical antipathy towards the NHL and NHLPA and their callous disregard for brain injury risks, I’d like you to spend a few moments watching this gratuitous display of intent to injure at a bantam hockey game in Kelowna last month involving teenagers. It will
Continue readingThose Emergency Blues: Nursing Makes Nurses Less Empathetic
Irony alert! The best way to decrease empathy in nurses, apparently, is to actually practice nursing. A new study of nursing students found that as students gained more clinical exposure, they demonstrated a much greater decline in empathy scores over the year than did those with limited clinical experience during
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