FROM MY BLOG
LATEST POSTS
Being engaged in helping others can make your brain sharper as you age. This is a notable study, too, because it tracked not only volunteering but also informal helping behaviors, which are often not measured.
The new study of more than 30,000 adults in the U.S. looking at individuals over two decades found that the rate of cognitive decline associated with aging fell by 15%-20% for people who formally volunteer their services or who help in more informal ways with neighbors, family or friends outside the home on a regular basis. This cognitive benefit was consistently observed when individuals devoted about two to four hours per week to helping others.
Helping Others Shown To Slow Cognitive Decline | College of Natural Sciences
Studying altruism is hard to do because you need to find a population of people that are demonstrably more generous than the average person.
Two groups that make for interesting research subjects are people who make kidney donations to strangers and people who are part of the Effective Altruism (EA) movement. What's interesting about these two groups is that the kidney donors are driven by higher levels of empathy, and the EAs pursue rational approaches to impact. (A lot of EAs are also kidney donors, because of how impactful it can be.)
This paper shows that both groups share a common attribute, a recognition that distant others are important.
On average, organ donors scored higher on empathy, and effective altruists scored higher on reflective reasoning – slowing down and thinking things through. But across all participants, both traits were linked to broader, more outward-looking helping. People with either an elevated heart or head, and especially those with both compared with average adults, tended to support distant others and focus on helping as many people as possible.
Empathy and Reasoning Aren’t Rivals – New Research Shows They Work Together to Drive People to Help More
Australia's most prolific blood and plasma donor, James Harrison, has died at age 88. Known as the "Man with the Golden Arm," Harrison is credited with saving the lives of 2.4 million babies over the course of more than half a century.
Harrison died in February of last year. Of course, many, many people played a critical role in all the good that he did (nurses, doctors, researchers, phlebotomists), but Harrison also did his part and showed up, time after time.
Is there a better illustration of what it takes to make such an impact? Whatever we do, we have to keep showing up.
Blood donor James Harrison, who saved 2 million babies, has died | NPR
This happened this past week in Wisconsin. The donor had these wise words to share:
“None of us alone can fix all the problems of our world," the donor shared in a statement, "but each of us can, and should, do our best to help in whatever ways we have available to us. I hope this donation serves as a reminder that small acts taken by everyday people out of kindness and support can create a powerful ripple effect. May this small gesture inspire continued generosity, gratitude, and hope in a strong and compassionate community."
Anonymous donor clears $5,000 of school meal debt for Monona Grove School District families | Leader Independent
View all posts
LISTEN TO THESE FIRST
FEATURED EPISODES
More than ever, we have to rely on the explainers who can help us understand new achievements in science and technology. In this episode, we'll hear from one of the most prolific science and tech journalists of the last few decades, David Pogue, to help us make sense of it all.
Over 5 million people in the US live with paralysis, caused by injury, stroke, or disease. A pioneering therapy clinic called Neuroworx is leading the way into life-changing treatment for people with paralysis. Learn from Dr. Dale Hull, its co-founder.
“The real trade secret was that there was no secret.”
Elizebeth Holmes—Founder of Theranos—raised billions of dollars in startup capital. The entire company failed to produce a functioning technology, putting customer’s lives in danger and defrauding investors.
Tyler Schultz recounts his harrowing experience as a young graduate
Do you feel like you have a calling in life? Is there something when you wake up each day that you feel you are meant to do? If you don’t feel like you do, this episode will help you find what you’re missing. We’ll learn from Prof.
View all episodes
