James Doty

Hacking your brain for happiness | James Doty | TEDx

James Doty explains the neurological benefits of compassion.

“Project Compassion” has now turned into a leading research and educational institution and the only institution solely focused on the study of Compassion, Altruism and Empathy. Compassion improves the world; yet the world around us seems ever in need of greater feats of compassion.

How, then, can we create more compassion and inspire compassionate acts? And how is it that the brain and the heart work together to create compassion in the first place?
James Robert Doty, M.D., tackles these tough questions, examining the neural, mental, and social bases of compassion. He serves as Professor of Neurosurgery at Stanford University School of Medicine and Founder and Director of Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) – of which the Dalai Lama is the founding benefactor.

He serves as Chairman of the Dalai Lama Foundation and as a member of the International Advisory Board of the Council of the Parliament of the World’s Religion.

More awesome TED Talks on Positive Psychology

For those of you that can’t get enough of Positive Psychology-related TED talks – I’ve found some (more or less) new stuff for you. This list comprises Lea Waters, who focuses on the application of Positive Psychology in the field of education, James Doty, founder of Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE), Rick Hanson, one of the world’s foremost authorities on meditation and compassion, and Shane Lopez, who specializes in research on hope.

As a bonus, here’s an introductory talk on Positive Psychology in German I gave at a BarCamp in Hamburg three weeks ago. It was first streamed via the app Periscope so it’s a vertical video. Enjoy!