i just want to leave you with this one final thought. empathy may be the cause of good, however it is up to you to act upon it. next time you see the opportunity to help someone, no matter how small the task may be, don't just ignore it. embrace it. we only live once, might as well make it enjoyable for everyone

my final illation

there are many causes for good, and many words to go along with the act of doing good. everything from altruism to selflessness can be attributed to why people do good in this world. however when i ask myself why people do good in the world, i look towards one underlying cause that seems to be a part of everything. empathy.

you can't be philanthropic or altruistic or selfless or anything else without having empathy. it is the root cause of all good in the world. one must be able to sympathize with another human being. empathy is what helps us relate to others, and their emotions and pain. we can get into their state of mind and all of a sudden their feelings are somehow affecting your feelings. it has a profound affect on you, and this is what triggers us to do good. the second we know that others are suffering, then we can help others.

yes, i do think that everyone has a sense of individualism that makes them somewhat egoistic. they do think of themselves before others, but empathy is what breaks us out of that state. we hate suffering, and to know that we could be just like another person who is suffering appeals to our better half. in many cases we want to help them because we ourselves would want others to help us when we are in need.

not just an idea...

these causes are not just ideas or theories that have no relevance in today's modern reality. there has been plenty of research in looking towards empathy scientifically. last year for instance, the university of chicago released a study about how brain scans show children are naturally prone to empathy. they used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to scan brains of children from ages 7 to 12, and compared those images to that of s. the results showed that both children and s respond to other peoples pain in the same area of the brain.

another case i found to be very inquisitive on the subject is from just a few weeks ago. this article from "medical news today" discusses how researchers have found a link between our genes and empathy. basically, every person has one of three different variations of oxycotin genes in there body (AA. AG, and GG). AA and AG are statistically the same, however those who have GG have increased levels of empathy. a study conducted by these researchers showed that 22.7% of the GG group were less likely to make a mistake on the test for empathy (the "Reading the Mind in Eyes" test)....

is this coincidence? does genetics and biology have anything to do with a person's empathy? i believe it does, and these kinds of studies are important to help prove this. it shows that empathy is not purely nurture, it is nature too. it is part biological. we are born with it, however it is our upbringing and environment that helps put this empathy to use in the real world.

“the most valuable things in life are not measured in monetary terms. the really important things are not houses and lands, stocks and bonds, automobiles and real state, but friendships, trust, confidence, empathy, mercy, love and faith.”

- bertrand russell

"so now i'm asking all of you, to help us save some lives"

March 25, 1971. western pakistan carries out operation searchlight and the atrocities of bangladesh ensue. reports vary on the exact number, however upwards of 3 million people of east pakistan (now bangladesh) die. as Time magazine reported, these bangladesh atrocities "[were] the most incredible, calculated thing since the days of the Nazis in Poland."

the events that took place were not overly talked about over seas and not much was being done at all to stop the violence. to protect the millions of fleeing refugees. however not everyone ignored their struggle. George Harrison, formly a member of the beatles, teamed up with Ravi Shankar two organize two benefit concerts to aid the bengali refugees of the bangladesh liberation war. the event was the first benefit concert of it's magnitude in world history.

the concert hosted an all-star line-up of some of the biggest names in music at the time. there were performances by george harrison, bob dylan, eric clapton, billy preston, ringo starr, leon russell, and badfinger. the concert raised nearly $250,000 and all profits of the album and dvd made of the shows continue to benefit george harrison's fund for UNICEF.

why would george harrison do any of this? no, he didn't live there. no, he didn't know anyone there.... however that doesn't mean he shouldn't care. he was human, and had human traits. he was empathetic and selfless. he was compassionate and philanthropic (goodwill towards one's fellow man). but most of all, he had altruism in his soul. he had that concern for others that all people in the world should have. altruism seems to me to be something that everyone should value highly in their lives. we are all in this world together. we are born and we die, but in between the two could be a lot less horrible, painful, and heartbreaking if we all were more like george harrison, and people like him. we should care about the well-being of all others living in this world and try to help them when they are in need.

and as george harrison so simply wrote...

"now it may seem so far from where we all are, it's something we can't neglect"

Fighting for Peace, Even After Death

Here is a story about a fallen hero. Capt. Benjamin Sklaver was an american soldier who did more than just fight for his country, Sklaver believed his life's purpose was to serve others and to help people. One way he did this, aside from serving in the military, was by providing aid and service to a civil-war torn Uganda. -you can watch the full story here-

john lennon - instant karma

so i guess instead of having songs play in the background of my blog i'll just have to put up a video when i discuss each one individually.

the first song i wanted to talk about is "instant karma" by john lennon. released in 1970, "instant karma" has an interesting take on the hindu and buddhist belief of karma. in this song, karma, the belief that your actions in this life will affect your next life (good deeds have positive consequences, bad deeds have negative consequences), is now instant. it is about the here and the now. lennon knows that life is fragile and special and often times much too short. his idea of instant karma is a more immediate form of the concept. that your actions will have immediate consequences and repercussions. this ideal is basically just like the saying "what goes around, comes around" as lennon says...

"instant karma's gonna get you
gonna knock you right in the head
you better get yourself together
pretty soon you're gonna be dead."

if you do a bad deed in this life, you don't see the consequences in your next life... you are punished in this life. lennon was a huge peace activist in the years prior to his death in 1980, and this song is one to his message. he believes that everyone should think about how they act and how they would like others to act. he believes that everyone should be doing good things for one another, to live in a peaceful world without confrontation and oppression and violence.

"instant karma's gonna get you
gonna hit you right in the face
you better get yourself together darling
join the human race"

just a little background info.

okay, before i start rambling about what i believe to be the causes of goodness in the world i think we should look at a few quick terms...


According to merriam-webster's dictionary, selflessness is having no concern for one's self.

this to me is one of the most important aspects of doing good. selflessness. you have more regard for others than you do for yourself. this non-egoistic part of ourselves is not something you can just turn on and off like a light-switch. it is a part of who we are, but knowing how we came to be this way is the real question. what makes some people completely selfless, while others are only concerned with themselves?


another good term to keep in mind is empathy. according to dictionary.com, empathy is the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.


so what does this mean? it is basically when you sympathize and relate to the feelings and emotions of another person. you take their thoughts into deep consideration and try to appeal to their experiences. you share whatever is going on with them. their emotions are you emotions, and when you put yourself in their shoes in this way you are not only helping them cope with troubles, but you are now in a better position to help them. you are able to help them rise above their hardships because you have a better understanding of what's going in in their life. and don't confuse empathy with pity. people who pity others feel bad for their situation but end their involvement at that. an empathetic person will attempt to help you overcome whatever is making you feel down.