Rick Hanson

And people can deliberately cultivate it.

And there's good evidence now that as people do deliberate training in cultivation, they report certainly increases in trait compassion.

And then there's evidence for neurological changes.

changes, relatively lasting changes in the brain that underlie that development of greater trait compassion.

So part of it is a matter of intent.

And then when I think about other groups, the us versus them, us and them dichotomy, how do we mobilize states of compassion grounded in traits of compassion in real time?

Well, one thing is,

It's really important to do what we can in larger objective systems outside of people to reduce the demands on them and the wear and the tear, because when people feel desperate inside, they're running for their lives, they're impoverished, they're being attacked, they're in a war zone, their family feels like a war zone, it's harder to mobilize pro-social qualities.

It's kind of like Maslow's hierarchy.

People are now dealing with issues that are raw survival.

So if you want to help people become more compassionate,

establish the social democracy systems like in Copenhagen and in Denmark, you know, that put more of a flooring under most people.

Part one.

Inside the person, I was thinking about four factors that are quite real and people can pay attention to them.

So research shows that for a typical person, and there are exceptions for people who have developed a lot of trait compassion, typically it's easier to mobilize compassion

for someone who is similar to you, that you like, that you do not feel wronged by, while fourth, you are not desperate yourself.

Oh, I mean, and fourth, their suffering is not their fault.

Okay, while fifth, not feeling desperate yourself.

So you can help yourself.

If you're trying to expand your circle of moral concern, it's a turn to jobs, she's very familiar with,