wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Hey I mean even the title of the book makes no sense: being good is not the same as being meaningful. How could a UC Berkeley prof get away with such egregious fallacy?

women tease each other, men tease everybody.. not sure I agree w/that but definitely if women want to survive in a man's world (and it still is) ya' better learn to bust balls along w/the rest of the guys. (spoken by an early female presence on "wall st" in the '70's)

Great observation, One of the major keys to understanding of the stability of relationships between systems with independent interests is the learning they do about the “lines of conflict” they might run into. Dacher Keltne's observation that we often do that with playfully testing the limits with teasing is a simply wonderful example.

I have read that our brains are programmed to register negative events/interactions more rapidly than positive ones, leading us to overlook moments of compassion and kindness we witness or participate in. As a practitioner of love and compassion meditations, I am finding that I am increasingly more attuned to the good in people and in my self, which of course is positively reinforcing.

Hardwired to be good? Ridiculous.
Our natural tendency is to divide our fellows into us and them, and to be terribly cruel to "them." Slavery, subjugation of women, religious intolerance, etc.

I think men are better able to handle the tease of their peers than women. Women sometimes use teasing as a way of being mean to each other or go too far with it.

You NEED to have this author back on!!! Too short!

I believe that Google pays close attention to this kind of thing in their culture building strategy.

The Chinese person is pronounced "ren" -- and it is related to the word for humanity. It is the obligation that you have to other people by virtue of the fact that they are human (as opposed to the more stringent obligations you have to your family, state, immediate community, etc.)

It seems to me that the specific cultural value is less important than the institutional context. Lots and lots of people over time were taught that ren was an important value, and they then had a reasonable expectation that people around them had shared values.

The social context is important -- when Chinese states encountered peoples who were indeed human, but who did not act "humanely" (with "ren" according to the Chinese definition), interactions worked much differently.

In other words - phenotype = genome+environment, and particularly in this context.

Katie in Huntington:

Jot and tittle is an old expression. It refers to writing. To get every jot and tittle is to cross every "t" and to dot every "i"

Well then the bad must kick in pretty quick, because I have seen a lot of pre-schoolers bite, kick and scream, snatch their toys back and have tantrums in grocery store that DO NOT know what you are talking about!

Answer to the current economic crisis!

Introduce Oxycotin in the water supply instead of flouride.

EDEN.

If there is more oxytosen (?) in women's blood and some people have greater vegas nerve - could it be medicalized? Could we forsee a prescription for a pill to be a better person? That's an overdose I'd like to take.

Thanks for covering this topic. Its great, especially with the tunnel vision cruelty New Yorkers display during rush hour.

New Yorkers should read this book!

It doesn't seem to me that anyone is "born to be good". It seems that good ethics and behavior are modeled by parents and teachers to children (and if they are not, the kids just don't learn them). Even with good modeling, people need to have self-control and the desire to improve in order to maintain good ethics and to behave kindly towards others.

Yes, you could have probably talked those Palestinian mothers, who are proud of their suicidal bomber sons and daughters, into loving the infidel swine!

Second comment this morning about the male guest being scared to answer due to fear of wife. Are women becoming less "tease-able?"

Only kindergarten teachers should be world leaders - they spend their whole lives making peace in the playground.

Does this bundle of nerves relate to health as well? To me it seems that someone who is calm can keep their nervous system calm and healthy, too.

I disagree. "Being considerate of the interests of others", which is distinct from any of the so-called "virtues" the author names, holds the key to harmony and peace. I don't need people to be particularly grateful, benevolent or compassionate or altruistic. If they have enough decency to know to not stand in the doorway to subway cars BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO PASS THROUGH WITHOUT HAVING TO PUSH OTHERS, the world would be a better place.

Jot and Tiddle? Is that what you said Brian? I learned many a funny cliche at my Mom's knee (my favorite was: "she gave up the ghost") but this is a new one on me. Cute.

Peapole are naturally generous? Your guest must be talking about Bible-belters as Peter Schweizer wrote about...

i'm a bagel superstar

Would you ask him:

Someone who displays the characteristics of a super vegas nerve, are they calm inside as well as outside, or are they able to *display* calmness when in fact their subjective experience is not calm?