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The Power of Kindness: Why Empathy Is Essential in Everyday Life
As a veteran emergency room physician, Dr. Brian Goldman has a successful career setting broken bones, curing pneumonia, and otherwise pulling people back from the brink of medical emergency. He always believed that caring came naturally to physicians. But time, stress, errors, and heavy expectations left him wondering if he might not be the same caring doctor he thought he was at the beginning of his career. He wondered what kindness truly looks like—in himself and in others.
In The Power of Kindness, Goldman leaves the comfortable, familiar surroundings of the hospital in search of his own lost compassion. A top neuroscientist performs an MRI scan of his brain to see if he is hard-wired for empathy. A researcher at Western University in Ontario tests his personality and makes a startling discovery. Goldman then circles the planet in search of the most empathic people alive, to hear their stories and learn their secrets. He visits a boulevard in São Paulo, Brazil, where he meets a woman who calls a homeless poet her soulmate and reunited him with his family; a research lab in Kyoto, Japan, where he meets a lifelike, empathetic android; and a nursing home in rural Pennsylvania, where he meets a therapist at a nursing home who has an uncanny knack of knowing what’s inside the hearts and minds of people with dementia, as well as her protege, a woman who talked a gun-wielding robber into walking away from his crime. Powerful and engaging, The Power of Kindness takes us far from the theatre of medicine and into the world at large, and investigates why kindness is so vital to our existence.
In The Power of Kindness, Goldman leaves the comfortable, familiar surroundings of the hospital in search of his own lost compassion. A top neuroscientist performs an MRI scan of his brain to see if he is hard-wired for empathy. A researcher at Western University in Ontario tests his personality and makes a startling discovery. Goldman then circles the planet in search of the most empathic people alive, to hear their stories and learn their secrets. He visits a boulevard in São Paulo, Brazil, where he meets a woman who calls a homeless poet her soulmate and reunited him with his family; a research lab in Kyoto, Japan, where he meets a lifelike, empathetic android; and a nursing home in rural Pennsylvania, where he meets a therapist at a nursing home who has an uncanny knack of knowing what’s inside the hearts and minds of people with dementia, as well as her protege, a woman who talked a gun-wielding robber into walking away from his crime. Powerful and engaging, The Power of Kindness takes us far from the theatre of medicine and into the world at large, and investigates why kindness is so vital to our existence.
307 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 24, 2018
124 people are currently reading
987 people want to read
About the author
Brian Goldman
10 books28 followersBrian Goldman, MD, is one of those rare individuals with great success in not one but several adrenaline-pumping careers. Goldman is a highly regarded emergency physician at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. He is also the host of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s award-winning radio show “White Coat, Black Art”, where he takes listeners behind the scenes of hospitals and doctor’s offices. Goldman unpacks and demystifies what goes on inside medicine’s sliding doors – with edgy topics that include the whistle blowing in health care, burnout among health professionals, racism in health care and how to getting to the head of the line in health care.
Goldman is on a lifelong campaign to confront medical errors and create a culture of safety for patients. He has proven unafraid of using his own medical mistakes for examples on how doctors can improve. His TEDtalk – “Doctors Make Mistakes. Can We Talk About That?” has been watched by close to a million viewers, and has been featured in The Huffington Post and NPRs TED Radio Hour.
Dr. Goldman has worked as a health reporter for The National, CBC Television’s flagship news program, for CBC-TV’s The Health Show, and served as senior production executive during the launch year of Discovery Health Channel, Canada’s only 24-hour channel devoted to health programming.
He is the author of the bestselling book The Night Shift: Real Life in the ER, which takes readers through giddying heights and crashing lows as Goldman works through a typical night shift in one of Canada’s busiest ERs. His book The Secret Language of Doctors – published by Harper Collins in 2014 – is a biting look at medical slang. The book cracks the coded words doctors use in hospital elevators and hallways that reveal what the doctor really thinks about your mother’s obesity, your grandfather’s dementia or her colleague’s competence. Often funny and always revealing, The Secret Language of Doctors reveals deep flaws in modern medical culture, and how to fix them.
Goldman is on a lifelong campaign to confront medical errors and create a culture of safety for patients. He has proven unafraid of using his own medical mistakes for examples on how doctors can improve. His TEDtalk – “Doctors Make Mistakes. Can We Talk About That?” has been watched by close to a million viewers, and has been featured in The Huffington Post and NPRs TED Radio Hour.
Dr. Goldman has worked as a health reporter for The National, CBC Television’s flagship news program, for CBC-TV’s The Health Show, and served as senior production executive during the launch year of Discovery Health Channel, Canada’s only 24-hour channel devoted to health programming.
He is the author of the bestselling book The Night Shift: Real Life in the ER, which takes readers through giddying heights and crashing lows as Goldman works through a typical night shift in one of Canada’s busiest ERs. His book The Secret Language of Doctors – published by Harper Collins in 2014 – is a biting look at medical slang. The book cracks the coded words doctors use in hospital elevators and hallways that reveal what the doctor really thinks about your mother’s obesity, your grandfather’s dementia or her colleague’s competence. Often funny and always revealing, The Secret Language of Doctors reveals deep flaws in modern medical culture, and how to fix them.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
May 16, 2018
The cover and the title IMMEDIATELY induced an eye-roll (which maybe gives you a hint about how I'm not the kind of person to cheerily pick up a book on empathy of all things), but the contents proved to be more enjoyable and substantial than I originally suspected. Brian Goldman cobbles together his thoughts on human empathy through big chapters ranging from a Tim Hortons in Scarborough to a robot factory in Japan to the busy streets of São Paolo. Sometimes I think that Goldman thinks he is deeply contributing to the study of empathy through his travels and interviews and subsequent writing of this book... but at the end of the day, The Power of Kindness: Why Empathy Is Essential in Everyday Life really is a compilation of interviews/sessions/happenstances that show humans being humans... and Goldman simply takes to the analysis through the "empathy" lens. What I'm trying to say is that the stories aren't remarkable, but maybe this is why he includes the word "everyday" in his subtitle. It's not a thrilling nonfiction nor is it deeply interrogative and you will just kind of leave with (as expected) a feeling of: Hm, yeah, I guess it IS good to be empathetic. (But didn't we already know that??) All said, thanks for taking me to some places I haven't been, letting me eavesdrop on conversations I'd otherwise not hear, and telling me to pay more attention to a human trait that I probably mistakenly take for granted.
Why do I feel like there should have been a chapter on elephants? Aren't they notoriously empathetic creatures? Maybe a chapter on elephants would have bumped this up another star. 🐘
Why do I feel like there should have been a chapter on elephants? Aren't they notoriously empathetic creatures? Maybe a chapter on elephants would have bumped this up another star. 🐘
January 30, 2020
hmmm. tricky, this one.
the TL;DR version: interesting and complex idea, poorly executed.
while very different, as i was reading goldman's book i found myself often thinking about the experience i had reading the memoir with or without you, by domenica ruta. in particular, this thought:
on its surface, this sounds great. and especially so now, for those of us in the western world - thanks to social media, every day is a new bombardment of bad news, terrible behaviour, cruelty, threats and attacks, and challenges against systemic safeguards of personal rights and freedoms. it's a heavy era for everyone. for those with heightened empathy and sensitivity, maintaining these traits and exerting them has, perhaps, become more difficult. for those highly attuned to others, how do we continually muster enough for everyone who is in need?
in its execution, however, goldman's book was a slog. i did not feel goldman was effective in bridging his personal crisis with his study of empathy. instead of the feeling of pursuing a curiosity to gain a better understanding and/or change behaviours, the book felt very ego-driven, with goldman centring himself at every step. he certainly met some lovely, kind people along his way - it was interesting learning about them and how they choose to exist in the world. it is reassuring to read about regular people just doing their thing. truly, the people profiled in this book are excellent humans, but are they exceptional? i don't think so - which is both great: it's in reach for everyone, and sad: have we really come to a point in time where the basics of kindness and empathy being shown are the exception, not the norm? (i'd like to think not... yet here we are even considering the question.)
there were a few experiences goldman had that stood out for me:
a) seeing roots of empathy in action - this is a nonprofit organization geographically located very close to where i live. i've known about this wonderful organization for years and it is rewarding to know how much it has grown, globally, because of the efforts (initially) of one woman, mary gordon. i feel i would have been better off reading her book, Roots of Empathy: Changing the World Child by Child, so it's now on my reading list.
b) witnessing the positive results of validation therapy in a care home for people living with dementia. apparently a controversial method, as goldman explains it in this book, it seems a kinder, gentler approach to handling the confusion and challenges of dementia. care staff are not lying to patients or repeating the same unhelpful responses over and over again; rather, they use redirection or distraction to change the course of the concerns. for example, if a widow is experiencing agitation, wanting to know where his wife is, when she will arrive, and when he can go home, a staff member might ask what they are missing about their wife at the moment, or what they want to tell her if she was here. the do not say things like, 'you live here now. she died and is no longer here.' the hope is a a more content person who experiences a lessening of the distress symptoms dementia causes. (the new yorker ran a longread feature on dementia care in late-2018, if you're interested.)
my takeaway from reading this book is that while the idea of empathy is super interesting to me, and is a very complex human quality, goldman's execution of his work here is clunky and simplistic, with a clichéd nod to the wizard of oz at its close. bummer.
the TL;DR version: interesting and complex idea, poorly executed.
while very different, as i was reading goldman's book i found myself often thinking about the experience i had reading the memoir with or without you, by domenica ruta. in particular, this thought:
"...on one side: a writer who has had experiences that suck and emerges triumphant (or some reasonable facsimile thereof). on the other side: a story driven by ego."the purpose to goldman's book is the concern that, after 35 years as an E.R. doctor, he's become insulated from feeling or displaying empathy for his patients, and that his ability to show compassion is gone. out of this concern, goldman begins to learn about empathy through both scientific and psychological perspectives, as well as through first-hand global experiences of extreme empathy in action.
on its surface, this sounds great. and especially so now, for those of us in the western world - thanks to social media, every day is a new bombardment of bad news, terrible behaviour, cruelty, threats and attacks, and challenges against systemic safeguards of personal rights and freedoms. it's a heavy era for everyone. for those with heightened empathy and sensitivity, maintaining these traits and exerting them has, perhaps, become more difficult. for those highly attuned to others, how do we continually muster enough for everyone who is in need?
in its execution, however, goldman's book was a slog. i did not feel goldman was effective in bridging his personal crisis with his study of empathy. instead of the feeling of pursuing a curiosity to gain a better understanding and/or change behaviours, the book felt very ego-driven, with goldman centring himself at every step. he certainly met some lovely, kind people along his way - it was interesting learning about them and how they choose to exist in the world. it is reassuring to read about regular people just doing their thing. truly, the people profiled in this book are excellent humans, but are they exceptional? i don't think so - which is both great: it's in reach for everyone, and sad: have we really come to a point in time where the basics of kindness and empathy being shown are the exception, not the norm? (i'd like to think not... yet here we are even considering the question.)
there were a few experiences goldman had that stood out for me:
a) seeing roots of empathy in action - this is a nonprofit organization geographically located very close to where i live. i've known about this wonderful organization for years and it is rewarding to know how much it has grown, globally, because of the efforts (initially) of one woman, mary gordon. i feel i would have been better off reading her book, Roots of Empathy: Changing the World Child by Child, so it's now on my reading list.
b) witnessing the positive results of validation therapy in a care home for people living with dementia. apparently a controversial method, as goldman explains it in this book, it seems a kinder, gentler approach to handling the confusion and challenges of dementia. care staff are not lying to patients or repeating the same unhelpful responses over and over again; rather, they use redirection or distraction to change the course of the concerns. for example, if a widow is experiencing agitation, wanting to know where his wife is, when she will arrive, and when he can go home, a staff member might ask what they are missing about their wife at the moment, or what they want to tell her if she was here. the do not say things like, 'you live here now. she died and is no longer here.' the hope is a a more content person who experiences a lessening of the distress symptoms dementia causes. (the new yorker ran a longread feature on dementia care in late-2018, if you're interested.)
my takeaway from reading this book is that while the idea of empathy is super interesting to me, and is a very complex human quality, goldman's execution of his work here is clunky and simplistic, with a clichéd nod to the wizard of oz at its close. bummer.
June 11, 2018
This is a nice meander through the current science of empathy. We meet some very nice people and we witness the author beat up on himself a little because he doesn't think he's empathetic enough. That part was a little weird, and the conclusion was straight out of an eighties movie. ("The empathy was in you all along!")
Each chapter visits some nice people doing important work: either regular work in an empathetic manner, or work that directly relates to empathy (like building empathetic robots, or teaching caregivers how to use empathy to help people with dementia).
The most interesting takeaways for me were (a) that Japanese people are more chill about robots than Westerners because of the animist roots of their culture – they are already comfortable with the idea of objects having a soul so they don't tie themselves up in knots about robots being "too human"; and (b) that a key ingredient of empathy is the ability to be in the moment with someone and focus on them properly.
Each chapter visits some nice people doing important work: either regular work in an empathetic manner, or work that directly relates to empathy (like building empathetic robots, or teaching caregivers how to use empathy to help people with dementia).
The most interesting takeaways for me were (a) that Japanese people are more chill about robots than Westerners because of the animist roots of their culture – they are already comfortable with the idea of objects having a soul so they don't tie themselves up in knots about robots being "too human"; and (b) that a key ingredient of empathy is the ability to be in the moment with someone and focus on them properly.
January 27, 2019
Unfortunately, I feel like I can only give this book 1 star.
Nearer to the beginning, I encountered some interesting information and found some of his examples of what they call a “successful psychopath” to be true in what I’ve encountered with several people, and that was helpful.
However, it got increasingly harder to read through so much detail-heavy writing, chapters that lasted forever, medical reasons for everything we encounter in people, and just some overall clashes in thinking, for example:
Being psychotic is more than a mental problem, it's a spiritual one.
Yes, it has physical defects.
But it isn't something you train someone out of, it's something they need deliverance from.
I didn’t expect this book to address the spiritual side of all these things, but its funny because the more you read him trying to explain psychotic behaviours as “a lack of a certain kind of brain wiring” the more aparent it is that its not just something you can blame on a mental defect. Part of it is, some of the time, but that’s not the whole story.
The chapter 'Psychopaths, Narcissists & Machiavellians’ gives the impression that we all could be psychotic just cuz, and that knowing what type of person you are is really based on medical testing. Are you psychotic or not? Let's take a test! Are you autistic? Let's see! Are you colourblind? Let's do another test! You could be any disease of disorder and you would never know! Oh, and if you've dealt with depression or anxiety, your chances are even higher. Not really a fan of that thinking...
I found the stories he shared to be very hard to engage with, and I found myself frustrated with the way he wrote them. It wasn’t that the stories didn’t matter, or that I wouldn’t feel profound empathy and compassion for the people who went through them if I was sitting next to them, listening as they told their stories, but I just couldn’t seem to connect while reading. Maybe the issue was that he was TELLING instead of SHOWING...I don’t know.
But by the time we got to chapters about robots with empathy and virtual reality games, I was just out.
I’m glad I pushed myself to read something I wouldn’t normally read, and I did get a nugget or two of good information, but I think I’ll have to look elsewhere if I want to really feel like I’m learning something new and true about empathy.
Nearer to the beginning, I encountered some interesting information and found some of his examples of what they call a “successful psychopath” to be true in what I’ve encountered with several people, and that was helpful.
However, it got increasingly harder to read through so much detail-heavy writing, chapters that lasted forever, medical reasons for everything we encounter in people, and just some overall clashes in thinking, for example:
Being psychotic is more than a mental problem, it's a spiritual one.
Yes, it has physical defects.
But it isn't something you train someone out of, it's something they need deliverance from.
I didn’t expect this book to address the spiritual side of all these things, but its funny because the more you read him trying to explain psychotic behaviours as “a lack of a certain kind of brain wiring” the more aparent it is that its not just something you can blame on a mental defect. Part of it is, some of the time, but that’s not the whole story.
The chapter 'Psychopaths, Narcissists & Machiavellians’ gives the impression that we all could be psychotic just cuz, and that knowing what type of person you are is really based on medical testing. Are you psychotic or not? Let's take a test! Are you autistic? Let's see! Are you colourblind? Let's do another test! You could be any disease of disorder and you would never know! Oh, and if you've dealt with depression or anxiety, your chances are even higher. Not really a fan of that thinking...
I found the stories he shared to be very hard to engage with, and I found myself frustrated with the way he wrote them. It wasn’t that the stories didn’t matter, or that I wouldn’t feel profound empathy and compassion for the people who went through them if I was sitting next to them, listening as they told their stories, but I just couldn’t seem to connect while reading. Maybe the issue was that he was TELLING instead of SHOWING...I don’t know.
But by the time we got to chapters about robots with empathy and virtual reality games, I was just out.
I’m glad I pushed myself to read something I wouldn’t normally read, and I did get a nugget or two of good information, but I think I’ll have to look elsewhere if I want to really feel like I’m learning something new and true about empathy.
April 26, 2019
This was a really readable book about the ways that empathy shows up in our lives and specifically, the things that can create or strengthen it. I especially loved the chapters on technology: how virtual reality is opening up empathic opportunities by actually placing people in someone else’s digital shoes and the (lack of) limits our empathy has as shown by people’s reactions to AI robots being developed in Japan. I was also hugely touched by the chapter on how the Validation technique has radically altered the way health care workers interact with patients with dementia and even allow them to process unresolved trauma or losses. Really excellent read for anyone interested in social psychology.
May 6, 2018
This book is not about physicians or patients, it is about all of us, as a society, as humans. Kindness is an expression of empathy, and being kind is a choice we make. Goldman explores neuroscience, psychology, narratives from across the globe, and himself to finds answers within himself. Although the book is a page turner, it takes time to reflect on the content and to find some answers how one will practise kindness within one's own life.
August 30, 2018
Not what I had hoped for. Will the MRI mapping of the brain be the new phenology? Should we celebrate the kindness shown to those who are the same as we are (a good start, but maybe not really as noble as we hope)? Can empathy and kindness be taught (actually some good thoughts here). And no real discussion of the contrast between empathy and compassion. Still worth a quick read.
July 27, 2018
What a slog. Get to the point already!
October 14, 2022
Title:
The Power of Kindness: Why Empathy Is Essential in Everyday Life
Author: Brian Goldman
Genre: Non Fiction
Rating: 2.5
Pub Date: April 24, 2018
T H R E E • W O R D S
Simple • Underwhelming • Insightful
📖 S Y N O P S I S
In The Power of Kindness, Dr. Brian Goldman leaves the comfortable, familiar surroundings of the hospital in search of compassion. Focusing on his own experiences and personality, he also travels the planet in search of empathetic people in order to explore and study human empathy.
💭 T H O U G H T S
The idea behind this book was so interesting to me, but in my opinion it was extremely poorly executed. It felt self-centered and like reading a research article. The audio came across as more of a podcast. In all honesty, it was a slog to get through. At times, the author seemed to contradict his opinions and what he was writing, often failing to tie things together.
The one aspect I didn't really like were the stories we shared. I will always enjoy reading stories of humans doing altruistic things to help others.
The Power on Kindness wasn't at all what I had hoped for and I don't know that I came away having gained anything.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• anyone studying empathy
⚠️ CW: residential schools
Author: Brian Goldman
Genre: Non Fiction
Rating: 2.5
Pub Date: April 24, 2018
T H R E E • W O R D S
Simple • Underwhelming • Insightful
📖 S Y N O P S I S
In The Power of Kindness, Dr. Brian Goldman leaves the comfortable, familiar surroundings of the hospital in search of compassion. Focusing on his own experiences and personality, he also travels the planet in search of empathetic people in order to explore and study human empathy.
💭 T H O U G H T S
The idea behind this book was so interesting to me, but in my opinion it was extremely poorly executed. It felt self-centered and like reading a research article. The audio came across as more of a podcast. In all honesty, it was a slog to get through. At times, the author seemed to contradict his opinions and what he was writing, often failing to tie things together.
The one aspect I didn't really like were the stories we shared. I will always enjoy reading stories of humans doing altruistic things to help others.
The Power on Kindness wasn't at all what I had hoped for and I don't know that I came away having gained anything.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• anyone studying empathy
⚠️ CW: residential schools
March 25, 2021
Are you a kind person? How do you know?
Through an epic journey that takes him all over the world, Dr. Brian Goldman seeks to find his own lost compassion by meeting the kindest and most empathetic people in the world. He meets incredible individuals including neuroscientists, researchers, a woman and the homeless poet she calls her soulmate, androids and their makers, a business owner who hires people with disabilities, a therapist who works with dementia patients, virtual reality storytellers, bartenders, and a teacher. The result is a collection of stories that uncover what empathy is, why some people seem to have more fit, and how we can cultivate it.
Brian Goldman, a veteran emergency physician in Toronto, has worked to demystify health care and confront medical mistakes to create a safer culture for patients throughout his illustrious career. He’s the host of the award-winning radio show “White Coat, Black Art,” and he’s worked as a health reporter, senior production executive, public speaker… all in the effort to improve medical culture and practice. He’s also the author and narrator of this book (among others).
His career alone speaks to his empathy and kindness. But Goldman starts this book questioning his own kindness: “I need to know why I can’t be kind more often. Was I born without the wiring inside my brain? Or did I have it and lose it?"
The question of “why can I be more [blank]?” is a relatable one. I got the sense that Goldman is a bit of a perfectionist… like me. Perhaps that’s why I enjoyed the book: I was able to have empathy for him and his fears because of our similarities. See, through this book, I learned that who we empathize with is biased in favor of those who look and act like us. When we can find common ground with someone, we can have empathy for them. Some people are finding common ground when there appears to be none.
I have so many favorite parts of this book. First, there’s the practical, yet compassionate plea for business owners to hire more people with disabilities from Mark Wafer, who at one time owned six Tim Hortons restaurants. Why? Because it just makes financial sense, according to him.
As an American, I couldn’t help but tear up when Goldman met Mike Keane and Paul Mackin bartenders and co-owners of O’Haras Irish Pub, which has become the bar many cops and firefighters visit each 9/11 anniversary. Also, I loved the heartfelt and compassionate Shalla Monteiro who found her soulmate in Raimundo Arruda Sobrinho, a homeless poet. She admired him so much that she created a Facebook page for him to share his poems, and it went viral.
In Japan, the acceptance of robots (uncommon in western culture) lead to human robot interaction solutions to the problem of Japan’s rapidly aging population. I was fascinated by the concept of sonzai-kan , which refers to the presence that is created by another human… or robot. Perhaps the woman who grabbed my heart the most was Naomi Feil, who developed a method of interacting with people suffering from dementia called Validation that has beautiful results.
To me, Goldman’s kindness was never in question. It was always right there, and so the conclusion of the book in all its simplicity just felt very natural. The audiobook was read by the author, and I always appreciate that in nonfiction. His narration style was engaging and vulnerable though still steeped in research and investigation. I loved reading this audiobook in the morning while getting ready. It was an excellent way to start my day on a positive note, and it inspired me to look for ways to be kinder in my everyday life.
If you’re like me and you love books with facts and stories and science that blow your mind, then pick this up!
You will have tons of moments to geek out and share interesting facts with your friends. I’m not particularly science-inclined. So it was nice that there were very few—if any—moments in this book that went over my head. If you’re a little more knowledgable on these subjects, then I would imagine this is more of a primer and it could point you in the right direction to do further reading. This book offers an overview of the many kinds of empathy and what it can look like and do.
In the end, I felt a mix of optimism and inspiration. It’s encouraging to hear incredible stories of empathy, and I find I want to join in the work. I want to connect to others and be kinder.
Through an epic journey that takes him all over the world, Dr. Brian Goldman seeks to find his own lost compassion by meeting the kindest and most empathetic people in the world. He meets incredible individuals including neuroscientists, researchers, a woman and the homeless poet she calls her soulmate, androids and their makers, a business owner who hires people with disabilities, a therapist who works with dementia patients, virtual reality storytellers, bartenders, and a teacher. The result is a collection of stories that uncover what empathy is, why some people seem to have more fit, and how we can cultivate it.
Brian Goldman, a veteran emergency physician in Toronto, has worked to demystify health care and confront medical mistakes to create a safer culture for patients throughout his illustrious career. He’s the host of the award-winning radio show “White Coat, Black Art,” and he’s worked as a health reporter, senior production executive, public speaker… all in the effort to improve medical culture and practice. He’s also the author and narrator of this book (among others).
His career alone speaks to his empathy and kindness. But Goldman starts this book questioning his own kindness: “I need to know why I can’t be kind more often. Was I born without the wiring inside my brain? Or did I have it and lose it?"
The question of “why can I be more [blank]?” is a relatable one. I got the sense that Goldman is a bit of a perfectionist… like me. Perhaps that’s why I enjoyed the book: I was able to have empathy for him and his fears because of our similarities. See, through this book, I learned that who we empathize with is biased in favor of those who look and act like us. When we can find common ground with someone, we can have empathy for them. Some people are finding common ground when there appears to be none.
I have so many favorite parts of this book. First, there’s the practical, yet compassionate plea for business owners to hire more people with disabilities from Mark Wafer, who at one time owned six Tim Hortons restaurants. Why? Because it just makes financial sense, according to him.
As an American, I couldn’t help but tear up when Goldman met Mike Keane and Paul Mackin bartenders and co-owners of O’Haras Irish Pub, which has become the bar many cops and firefighters visit each 9/11 anniversary. Also, I loved the heartfelt and compassionate Shalla Monteiro who found her soulmate in Raimundo Arruda Sobrinho, a homeless poet. She admired him so much that she created a Facebook page for him to share his poems, and it went viral.
In Japan, the acceptance of robots (uncommon in western culture) lead to human robot interaction solutions to the problem of Japan’s rapidly aging population. I was fascinated by the concept of sonzai-kan , which refers to the presence that is created by another human… or robot. Perhaps the woman who grabbed my heart the most was Naomi Feil, who developed a method of interacting with people suffering from dementia called Validation that has beautiful results.
To me, Goldman’s kindness was never in question. It was always right there, and so the conclusion of the book in all its simplicity just felt very natural. The audiobook was read by the author, and I always appreciate that in nonfiction. His narration style was engaging and vulnerable though still steeped in research and investigation. I loved reading this audiobook in the morning while getting ready. It was an excellent way to start my day on a positive note, and it inspired me to look for ways to be kinder in my everyday life.
If you’re like me and you love books with facts and stories and science that blow your mind, then pick this up!
You will have tons of moments to geek out and share interesting facts with your friends. I’m not particularly science-inclined. So it was nice that there were very few—if any—moments in this book that went over my head. If you’re a little more knowledgable on these subjects, then I would imagine this is more of a primer and it could point you in the right direction to do further reading. This book offers an overview of the many kinds of empathy and what it can look like and do.
In the end, I felt a mix of optimism and inspiration. It’s encouraging to hear incredible stories of empathy, and I find I want to join in the work. I want to connect to others and be kinder.
December 12, 2024
2.25/5
In theory, this book has an interesting premise. A quest to understanding empathy and it's importance in our day to day is very much a concept that feels more and more necessary in today's climate.
I learned a lot while reading this book, mostly on the science behind empathy and all the different schools of thought relating to it. What I loved about this book was the stories of the people Dr. Goldman meets on his journey. Learning about every day individuals and how they show empathy and help others is beyond heartwarming. Their stories is what I will be mostly taking away from my reading experience.
However, Dr. Goldman bringing these stories of these amazing people in with his own personal crisis made this book feel... very ego driven. Here are all these amazing people but what about me? Am I empathetic? How can I prove that I am, scientifically or otherwise? Like bro, I don't care. I feel like this book did not need his personal side quests to prove the point it was trying to make and that is what irritated me about it. It made it feel really disingenuous. I just felt such a disconnect between the parts about his journey and the stories he was sharing about these people.
Another thing was the implication that kindness and empathy are synonymous? You can be empathetic and unkind. Compassion plays a big role in that. But in no way did I find that this book explored this dynamic at all. It felt very, these people have empathy and they are kind. The end. If this book is about the power of kindness, I would have expected there to be a bit more effort exploring these as individual concepts and how they can come together (but also not) and how that plays into the premise of the book.
All in all, I read it fairly quickly. I enjoyed learning about the people he met but overall, the execution of the book fell short.
In theory, this book has an interesting premise. A quest to understanding empathy and it's importance in our day to day is very much a concept that feels more and more necessary in today's climate.
I learned a lot while reading this book, mostly on the science behind empathy and all the different schools of thought relating to it. What I loved about this book was the stories of the people Dr. Goldman meets on his journey. Learning about every day individuals and how they show empathy and help others is beyond heartwarming. Their stories is what I will be mostly taking away from my reading experience.
However, Dr. Goldman bringing these stories of these amazing people in with his own personal crisis made this book feel... very ego driven. Here are all these amazing people but what about me? Am I empathetic? How can I prove that I am, scientifically or otherwise? Like bro, I don't care. I feel like this book did not need his personal side quests to prove the point it was trying to make and that is what irritated me about it. It made it feel really disingenuous. I just felt such a disconnect between the parts about his journey and the stories he was sharing about these people.
Another thing was the implication that kindness and empathy are synonymous? You can be empathetic and unkind. Compassion plays a big role in that. But in no way did I find that this book explored this dynamic at all. It felt very, these people have empathy and they are kind. The end. If this book is about the power of kindness, I would have expected there to be a bit more effort exploring these as individual concepts and how they can come together (but also not) and how that plays into the premise of the book.
All in all, I read it fairly quickly. I enjoyed learning about the people he met but overall, the execution of the book fell short.
September 22, 2019
I loved this book, I didn’t have much time to read this week so it took me a while to get through it but because each chapter is so different it lent well to being neglected. I almost didn’t keep reading after the first few pages because chapter one is so clinical but I’m really glad I did.
July 3, 2020
Broad range of interviews that circle back to self determination in regards to kindness
December 29, 2021
Didn't really like this book. Found myself forcefully reading the chapters and not learning anything profound.
I do appreciate that Goldman brought forward a lot of scientific facts and information regarding empathy. I also liked that he provided real examples of empathetic people and their opinions on their perceptions of empathy. I was particularly moved by Shalla Montiero who uses her empathic ability to help the homeless in Brazil and Theodore Fontaine the former Sagkeeng First Nation Chief who was also a residential school survivor. Truly remarkable stories and individuals in their own regard.
However, some parts were uncomfortable to read... especially when the facts given were contradicted by his own personal opinions. This lack of correlation made some of the chapters seem all over the place and mismatched.
Overall, I felt pretty underwhelmed and unsatisfied with this book.
I do appreciate that Goldman brought forward a lot of scientific facts and information regarding empathy. I also liked that he provided real examples of empathetic people and their opinions on their perceptions of empathy. I was particularly moved by Shalla Montiero who uses her empathic ability to help the homeless in Brazil and Theodore Fontaine the former Sagkeeng First Nation Chief who was also a residential school survivor. Truly remarkable stories and individuals in their own regard.
However, some parts were uncomfortable to read... especially when the facts given were contradicted by his own personal opinions. This lack of correlation made some of the chapters seem all over the place and mismatched.
Overall, I felt pretty underwhelmed and unsatisfied with this book.
October 4, 2019
I took this book personally as a medical student and as an aspiring doctor. It was shocking to me as well that more experienced medical workers are less empathetic they have become in order to "adapt"to their work environment in which they constantly see patients in pain. I had studied about empathy and some of tests such as fMRI scan in my psychology class and thus it was quite easy to read through the book. The chapter I personally liked the most was the one about the bar closest to the Ground Zero. I was moved how survivors and those who took parts in aftermath of 9/11 came to cope with their losses as well as the respect fellow firefighters and alike paid at the bar. I visited the 9/11 Memorial Museum this past March, and I remembered the exhibition there including the photos of those who lost their lives in the attack and of the piled debris while reading this chapter. As a Japanese, it was surprising to learn that only Japanese seem to have the idea of sonzaikan, aura of presence, because we use the term and idea a lot in daily conversation yet I found it difficult to define it exactly. Adaptation of robots into nursing elderly is hot in Japan right now as the society is experiencing ever rising population of those in need for care with decreasing birth rate simultaneously. I personally think assistive robots should be used once the technology reaches to the certain level of safety. Old people were traditionally taken care of by younger members of their families, usually by the wives of their sons who live with or close to them. However, as discussed in the book, many old people in urban areas today have abandoned their hometowns and often their families when they moved to cities in search of opportunities and thus have nobody to rely on. Old people in rural areas are most often those who are left behind when their children moved out to cities for better education and work. The younger generation that have founded their lives in cities are unlikely to return to their hometowns and to their parents', leaving the aged parents by themselves. Even if a family decided to live traditionally with grandparents and the family of their son, the wife of the son usually work during the day to support the family, so there is no one to take care of the grandparents during the day. It seems like the demand for care takers is ever so high yet the occupation pays so little that there is constant scarcity of caretakers in the country. The idea of bringing in workers from abroad hits the high barrier of language and cultural difference particularly with old people. Thus, I think introducing robots to assist caretakers can be the solution to the current situation we are in. Even though the author traveled around the world in search for empathy he felt to have lost in his career, the conclusion that he found it within himself was a little disappointing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 30, 2021
The Power of Kindness: Why Empathy is Essential in Everyday Life by Dr. Brian Goldman, chronicles the journey of a veteran emergency room physician, as he searches for empathy in those around him and, ultimately, himself.
I found this book to be an enlightening and inspiring read that expanded my knowledge of the various concepts related to empathy and kindness (ex. emotional empathy, cognitive empathy, and effective concern). The book highlighted the stories of many empathetic individuals who are revolutionizing their respective fields. Some of these stories include those of a Tim Horton's manager who credits his business success to his employment of those with disabilities, individuals using virtual reality technology to bring awareness to social issues such as Syrian refugees and the lasting impact of Indigenous residential schools, and healthcare professionals transforming the way seniors with dementia are treated using validation therapy.
The book was engaging and enjoyable to have read by Dr. Brian Goldman. The way in which he told his stories left me captivated. However, I found that the book did not meet the expectations that I had, as a reader, after viewing the cover and reading the book summary. I learned about how complex the concept of empathy can be, and how difficult it is to quantify. I was inspired by the stories of individuals who have let their empathy play a pivotal role in their lives, but I felt that the book highlighted the stories of extraordinary individuals and did not really address why empathy is essential to everyday life or how the average individual can foster that kind of behaviour. Overall, it was an excellent book, I just don't believe the book was marketed in a way that highlighted its many strengths.
I would like to thank NetGalley and ECW Press for my copy of this audiobook.
I found this book to be an enlightening and inspiring read that expanded my knowledge of the various concepts related to empathy and kindness (ex. emotional empathy, cognitive empathy, and effective concern). The book highlighted the stories of many empathetic individuals who are revolutionizing their respective fields. Some of these stories include those of a Tim Horton's manager who credits his business success to his employment of those with disabilities, individuals using virtual reality technology to bring awareness to social issues such as Syrian refugees and the lasting impact of Indigenous residential schools, and healthcare professionals transforming the way seniors with dementia are treated using validation therapy.
The book was engaging and enjoyable to have read by Dr. Brian Goldman. The way in which he told his stories left me captivated. However, I found that the book did not meet the expectations that I had, as a reader, after viewing the cover and reading the book summary. I learned about how complex the concept of empathy can be, and how difficult it is to quantify. I was inspired by the stories of individuals who have let their empathy play a pivotal role in their lives, but I felt that the book highlighted the stories of extraordinary individuals and did not really address why empathy is essential to everyday life or how the average individual can foster that kind of behaviour. Overall, it was an excellent book, I just don't believe the book was marketed in a way that highlighted its many strengths.
I would like to thank NetGalley and ECW Press for my copy of this audiobook.
March 18, 2021
💫 Book review 💫
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 by 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘮𝘢𝘯
Not everyone will enjoy this. It’s definitely one that I listened to as a podcast and to learn more about myself. I’m forever a student. Learning with each book.
The first takeaway: Sympathy is different from Empathy. And the different kinds of empathy:
𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐲: feel emotions of others . Which is baked in the DNA. It’s what motivates us to help others.
𝐂𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐲: perspective taking. The ability to see something from that persons
perspective. I venture into assuming a lot of bibliophiles are in this category. It’s why we push ourselves to read anything: even stuff out of our comfort zone or books that hold triggering events in our own lives.
𝐀𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧: This is the motivation that you find teachers and firefighters in. Doctors could he lumped into here. Clearly I’m generalizing as not every profession has the same personality in it. But I think for the majority.. what makes a fireman walk into a fire when it’s not his or her family inside. Doctors scrambling to find cures for someone who shows up in their ER.
I find myself enjoying hearing some positives stories around the globe as the author introduces people who have shown kindness to others without expecting anything in return. One of my top stories was actually about a Tim hortons owner who hires young adults/adults who would have been deemed challenged somehow in the past but ended up being his strongest workers.
The stories will make your heart grow when all we hear is negative these days. Ps. Enjoyed the audiobook version. It “reads” like a podcast you can pick up whenever
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 by 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘮𝘢𝘯
Not everyone will enjoy this. It’s definitely one that I listened to as a podcast and to learn more about myself. I’m forever a student. Learning with each book.
The first takeaway: Sympathy is different from Empathy. And the different kinds of empathy:
𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐲: feel emotions of others . Which is baked in the DNA. It’s what motivates us to help others.
𝐂𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐲: perspective taking. The ability to see something from that persons
perspective. I venture into assuming a lot of bibliophiles are in this category. It’s why we push ourselves to read anything: even stuff out of our comfort zone or books that hold triggering events in our own lives.
𝐀𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧: This is the motivation that you find teachers and firefighters in. Doctors could he lumped into here. Clearly I’m generalizing as not every profession has the same personality in it. But I think for the majority.. what makes a fireman walk into a fire when it’s not his or her family inside. Doctors scrambling to find cures for someone who shows up in their ER.
I find myself enjoying hearing some positives stories around the globe as the author introduces people who have shown kindness to others without expecting anything in return. One of my top stories was actually about a Tim hortons owner who hires young adults/adults who would have been deemed challenged somehow in the past but ended up being his strongest workers.
The stories will make your heart grow when all we hear is negative these days. Ps. Enjoyed the audiobook version. It “reads” like a podcast you can pick up whenever
July 9, 2020
I completed a Brian Goldman double-header by reading his recent work on empathy. He travels the world trying to identify the causes and consequences of kindness, from working with the homeless people in Rio de Janeiro to working with victims of Canada’s residential schools to an Irish pub at Ground Zero in New York City. He introduces us to many “ ordinary” people doing extraordinary things! We meet Mark Wafer, a Tim Horton’ franchisee who is deaf, and made it a company policy to hire people with disabilities. It proved to be a winning and empathetic strategy. We meet Shalla Monteiro who works with the homeless in Rio. These are radiant examples of acts of human kindness.
I found Goldman’s search to see if he is personally empathetic less convincing. He fears that his long service in the ER has made him somehow jaded. As a fan of his work on CBC radio, and respectful of people working our health system, I found these sections less compelling. But I share his conclusions, that it is the human links that can provide answers to this questions. We can do brain scans to test certain reactions, but at the end of the day some introspection and conversations with those people closest in your life are the best measures of empathy.
I found Goldman’s search to see if he is personally empathetic less convincing. He fears that his long service in the ER has made him somehow jaded. As a fan of his work on CBC radio, and respectful of people working our health system, I found these sections less compelling. But I share his conclusions, that it is the human links that can provide answers to this questions. We can do brain scans to test certain reactions, but at the end of the day some introspection and conversations with those people closest in your life are the best measures of empathy.
October 7, 2018
Like the author, I am in a job where kindness is important but can be difficult to muster up at times. I definitely related to the author and his journey to find out more about whether kindness is innate or nurtured. This is not a "self-help" book that "teaches" you how to be kind, and is obvious through the author's quest to learn more about kindness.
I like how the book takes different approaches, ranging from research done in scientific laboratories to more practical hands-on programs that work directly with people. Different approaches will resonate with different people; while I found myself a little bored with some parts of the book, there were other parts of the book I found myself teary-eyed because it struck a chord.
The ending was a little anti-climatic; he presented many examples of what kindness looks like and he should have capitalized on this as the central message of the book. The capacity to be kind is innate but something that is heavily dependent on our experiences as humans; the way we channel our kindness is tied closely to these experiences and will take on different shapes and form.
I like how the book takes different approaches, ranging from research done in scientific laboratories to more practical hands-on programs that work directly with people. Different approaches will resonate with different people; while I found myself a little bored with some parts of the book, there were other parts of the book I found myself teary-eyed because it struck a chord.
The ending was a little anti-climatic; he presented many examples of what kindness looks like and he should have capitalized on this as the central message of the book. The capacity to be kind is innate but something that is heavily dependent on our experiences as humans; the way we channel our kindness is tied closely to these experiences and will take on different shapes and form.
June 9, 2020
I heard Brian Goldman speak two years ago at a literary festival, and bought this book. (Thanks to the pandemic, I'm now getting through a few of the books by my bedside.) In the beginning, I thought it was going to be filled with feel-good stories. But then there's a chapter on residential school survivors, followed by one on homeless in Brazil. There's actually quite a variety of subjects, including researchers in Japan who are trying to build robots with empathy!
One of the lessons that will stay with me is the use of the validation technique when dealing with people with dementia. I would have thought you would try to correct them gently and bring them into the present. But Naomi Feil, author of Validation: The Feil Method, shows how that is not helpful. You have to acknowledge what they are saying and ask them questions about it, i.e. start a conversation.
Goldman's motivation for writing the book is that after many years working as an ER doctor, he felt he wasn't as kind as he used to be. But I often listen to his radio program on medicine, and have never thought he lacked empathy...
One of the lessons that will stay with me is the use of the validation technique when dealing with people with dementia. I would have thought you would try to correct them gently and bring them into the present. But Naomi Feil, author of Validation: The Feil Method, shows how that is not helpful. You have to acknowledge what they are saying and ask them questions about it, i.e. start a conversation.
Goldman's motivation for writing the book is that after many years working as an ER doctor, he felt he wasn't as kind as he used to be. But I often listen to his radio program on medicine, and have never thought he lacked empathy...
August 3, 2019
I purchased this book at Word on the Street after listening to the author speak on it, and he was kind enough to autograph it for me.
Dr Goldman was a very compelling speaker and he talked about his experiences in the emergency room as well as what he observed in the health care workers around him. I found his talk fascinating and was hoping to read an expanded version of that talk in his book.
Rather than that though, the book explores empathy in action by telling the stories of a variety of people around the world. We meet a woman who befriends homeless people, a restaurant owner who employs disabled workers, a woman who works with dementia patients and so on.
What was surprising was the chapters interspersed that looked at empathic research using virtual reality, artificial intelligence, fMRI's and questionnaires. I found these sections much more interesting than the chapters profiling the kindest people the author met in his travels.
Dr Goldman was a very compelling speaker and he talked about his experiences in the emergency room as well as what he observed in the health care workers around him. I found his talk fascinating and was hoping to read an expanded version of that talk in his book.
Rather than that though, the book explores empathy in action by telling the stories of a variety of people around the world. We meet a woman who befriends homeless people, a restaurant owner who employs disabled workers, a woman who works with dementia patients and so on.
What was surprising was the chapters interspersed that looked at empathic research using virtual reality, artificial intelligence, fMRI's and questionnaires. I found these sections much more interesting than the chapters profiling the kindest people the author met in his travels.
dnf
September 24, 2020There were some interesting stories in here but then the author would randomly drop in opinions that contradicted a lot of what he had written and/or that warranted more investigation. For instance, in a chapter on hiring workers with disabilities, the author suddenly at the end of the chapter, claimed that raising the minimum wage to a living wage was likely to harm these employees by eliminating jobs. The author offered no real evidence for such a claim aside from the opinion of the boss he was profiling in that chapter, who, supposedly, is a master of empathy, yet can't imagine what it's like to live below the poverty line. When this same kind of non-sequitor was dropped in a couple more times in other chapters I gave up on the book.
March 21, 2021
Thank you Netgalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
I enjoyed this book . Brian Goldman started out talking about my favorite subject...empathy and the brain. He broke it down to 3 different types of empathy, 1. Emotional empathy which people if they so have it...its encoded in their DNA. Psychopaths so not have Emotional empathy...but do have the 2nd kind 2. Cognitive empathy Psychopaths need to know if your afraid because that fear is what feeds them.
3. Affective concern is a situation where a firefighter might go into a burning building with no concern of his own safety but focus on safety of others.
The rest of the book was examples of people who were so very kind to others and made a huge impact on their lives. This was a very uplifting positive book.
I enjoyed this book . Brian Goldman started out talking about my favorite subject...empathy and the brain. He broke it down to 3 different types of empathy, 1. Emotional empathy which people if they so have it...its encoded in their DNA. Psychopaths so not have Emotional empathy...but do have the 2nd kind 2. Cognitive empathy Psychopaths need to know if your afraid because that fear is what feeds them.
3. Affective concern is a situation where a firefighter might go into a burning building with no concern of his own safety but focus on safety of others.
The rest of the book was examples of people who were so very kind to others and made a huge impact on their lives. This was a very uplifting positive book.
September 2, 2018
A nicely balanced book that is easy to read and compelling in parts that makes it hard to put down and go to sleep when you know your kids will be up early in the morning. I liked that the book explores the perimeters of empathy and kindness while leaving the main question of "how do I develop empathy" mostly untouched. To have tackled that question head on would have made this a self-help book and relegated it to the annuls of most of today's self-help books ... 12 easy steps to xxxx. Yawn. Instead, the stories and suggestions felt more like a forshpyz to a next wave of thinking and research around kindness and empathy.
July 8, 2020
Skimmed/DNF. 2.5 stars. Enjoyed the framing chapters about fMRI scans and what they can show about empathy, and how medical professionals can suffer from lack of empathy based on their years of service, but found the vast majority of the middling chapters a bit long winded and uninteresting. For a doctor, I was hoping for more of a science-based approach instead of an interview/anecdotal one, but he is also a journalist I suppose!
The conclusion was literally “I had the empathy in me the whole time!” - so I don’t feel the book had a strong takeaway message.
The conclusion was literally “I had the empathy in me the whole time!” - so I don’t feel the book had a strong takeaway message.
December 3, 2022
A little disappointed. I am a fan of Dr. Goldman but the book was a bit of a fail. He wrote it for himself - not a bad thing but unsure if it needed to be published. He suggested that you gain more empathy by experiencing similar circumstances however empathy is exactly what allows us to connect when we haven't experienced the same things. He doesn't really answer his own thesis - The Power of Kindness and he focusses on empathy rather than kindness which are two different things. Not a bad read but not what I was expecting.
August 19, 2023
I thought this book was okay. The stories were very heartwarming and enlightening, but some chapters were just way too long and repetitive. The author kind of come across as arrogant which is ironic, but that’s the vibe I picked up. The overall message of being more empathic and kind and having evidence made this book an okay read. I do hope to be more empathic with people, and I want to practice how. This book didn’t really give much tips on how to practice it, it was mostly just in the story of others and why they are empathic. I probably won’t be reading this again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 2, 2023
There is a lot of good information in this book and it is well written. But it also has a big problem that makes it hard to enjoy. There are some parts of the book which are very difficult to understand and are very confusing. There are many words that the author uses in the text that are only known to doctors or people who know a lot about medicine. The meaning of these words is not explained in the book, so I have to look them up on the internet or guess what they mean. There are a few medical terms that I wish the author would have explained more clearly or used simpler words.
June 7, 2018
I have always liked listening to Dr. Goldman’s radio show, “White Coat, Black Art”. This book gives me another reason to appreciate how he presents himself as a physician and a person, and his ideas. I too have questioned myself as a physician especially, “Am I empathetic enough?” It is difficult to know precisely an answer, but I believe it says a lot to the affirmative when one even asks oneself the question.
September 23, 2018
Despite some detours off into stories that were less than compelling, this book does a good job of showing many different sides of empathy. Through interviews with people who show extreme empathy towards others, the author takes the reader to meet many different people who are living lives that show an appreciative understanding of others’ situations.
Like the Tim Horton’s franchisee who employs people with disabilities, the woman who pioneered a program of how to work empathetically with Alzheimer’s patients, a bar owner near Ground Zero, a developer of artificial Intelligence robots that speak to lonely people.
Not so much the author’s own quest to find out if his career as an ER doc has dulled his empathy.
Definitely worth checking out.
And more brain research on this topic keeps building my understanding.
Like the Tim Horton’s franchisee who employs people with disabilities, the woman who pioneered a program of how to work empathetically with Alzheimer’s patients, a bar owner near Ground Zero, a developer of artificial Intelligence robots that speak to lonely people.
Not so much the author’s own quest to find out if his career as an ER doc has dulled his empathy.
Definitely worth checking out.
And more brain research on this topic keeps building my understanding.
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