"Our compassion has to be backed up by our wallets.Jessica M. Vaughan, Director of Policy Studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, on the costs of aiding Syrian refugees.
Watch the full Intelligence Squared US debate here.

We speak to guest editors Stephan Lewandowsky, Chair in Cognitive Psychology, University of Bristol and Richard Pancost (Professor of Biochemistry) about their Philosophical Transactions examining the relationship between scientific uncertainty about climate change and knowledge from physical, economic and social perspectives.

Roman Krznaric is a cultural thinker and writer on the art of living. This talk is basedon his new book Empathy: A Handbook for Revolution. Empathy can be taught and he references the organization, Roots of Empathy.  

He urges us to step into the shoes of even our enemies to increase our level of tolerance, increase our curiousity about strangers to challenge stereotypes and develop programs such as the Human Library. 

Roman is a founding faculty member of The School of Life in London, and advises organisations including Oxfam and the United Nations on using empathy and conversation to create social change. He is also founder of the world's first Empathy Library. He has been named by The Observer as one of Britain's leading lifestyle philosophers. Published on Jan 28, 2014

TEDxAthens is a world-class conference about Innovation, Creativity and Ideas based in Athens, Greece. 

Simon Baron-Cohen is Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at the University of Cambridge and Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge. He discusses the social factors that erode empathy including obedience to authority, idealogical beliefs, stereotyping and de-humanizing a group as an enemy.  

He is Director of the Autism Research Centre (ARC) in Cambridge. His books include Mindblindness (MIT Press, 1995), The Essential Difference (Penguin UK/Basic Books, 2003), Prenatal Testosterone in Mind (MIT Press, 2005), Zero Degrees of Empathy (Penguin UK/Basic Books, 2011) and Autism and Asperger Syndrome: The Facts (OUP, 2008). He is a Fellow of the BPS and the British Academy. Published on Sep 12, 2012 by TEDxHousesofParliament.

Dr. Riess has devoted her career to research on the neuroscience and art of the patient-doctor relationship and teaching psychiatry residents and medical students. Her research team conducts translational research based on the neuroscience of emotions. The effectiveness of Dr. Riess's empathy training approach has been demonstrated in several studies including a randomized controlled trial. 

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. 

TEDxMiddlebury

Watch Dr Brené Brown's full talk 'The Power of Vulnerability' here
Dr Brené Brown is a research professor and best-selling author of "Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead" (Penguin Portfolio, 2013).  She has spent the past decade studying vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame.  To order her book from Amazon, just click on the image or visit your local bookstore. Thank you.

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Voice: Dr Brené Brown
Animation: Katy Davis (AKA Gobblynne)