A New Diversion

Marching endlessly and aimlessly on an elliptical exercise devise at the YMCA just became a bit more tolerable, thanks to a Christmas gift. Bluetooth headphones make it easier to use my iPhone to play podcasts that I can listen to while mindlessly and boringly pumping all those calories away.

The first cast I played this week was from NPR"s TED Radio Hour (http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510298/ted-radio-hour), which captures snippets from a variety of TED talks around a theme. Called "Just a Little Nicer," the theme of this episode was compassion - a discussion of the state of compassion, what it is an what it is not, and what we can do to stimulate more of it. It was relevant to me at a time that we've been bombarded by all kinds of organizations looking for donations toward the end of the year.  A tinge of guilt comes over me when I ignore those solicitations, leading to wonder occasionally if I'm doing enough - if I'm compassionate enough. There are no compassion indexes, after all.

In this radio hour,  speakers hypothesized that:

• Compassion is not only an emotional concept, it is a genetic function, innate to humans. Brought about by genetic selection, called Kin Selection, it is an instinct in humans and many other animals. So why is it so often inhibited?
• The reptilian portion of the brain, along with ego, interfere's with altruism by focusing on compassionate behaviors that are more self-serving. Giving with the expectation of return, or with the expectation of acknowledgement, for example. 
• Most compassion, especially using media interpretations of compassion that focus on extraordinary, heroic behaviors rather than common, everyday interactions, is selective. That selectivity is self-serving. Compassionate givers focus on friends, acquaintances, affiliated organizations, and those that are deserving as defined by the giver. Others are either ignored or even marginalized.
• One of the strongest expressions of compassion is attention. Just being there, mindful of the moment and the person or people in that moment. Time taken to listen, to understand, to empathize. The time and skill available for paying attention to others is actually diminished by the influences of social media. In social media, communication is often one way and remote, without interactive human relationship. 

I found the discussion interesting as I wrestle with the role of guilt in modern (or perhaps not so modern) social phenomenon. A sense of guilt, which so often seems to underlie the basis of political correctness, is often expressed or imposed as compassion, distorting the meaning of compassion. It's another hypothesis that I'm using to try to explain what I perceive to be the erosion of common sense in our governance and regulatory environment.

If you aren't familiar with TED (Technology, Entertainment, & Design) talks -  less than 18 minute talks from a variety of speakers on a variety of interesting subjects - they're worth taking in at TED.COM.  Lot's of interesting information delivered professionally and concisely, just right for hungry, busy, scattered, or even idled minds.