The Neuroscience Of Compassion

The prestigious Stanford University is setting up a new Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. The two biggest donors to the project are the neurosurgeon and businessman Jim Doty ($5.5 million) who will also be the center’s director and the Dalai Lama ($150,000). The rest of the money is coming from well-wishers, corporations and foundations. The center’s goals will involve investigating how the brain deals with compassion and altruism and apply those findings to developing ways to improving peoples lives. What a thoroughly worthwhile project! Doty said he hopes the center’s research will help understand and combat childhood bullying and recidivism among prisoners. He also wonders whether the benefits of intense mediation can be more easily achieved by healthcare and corporate workers to prevent burnout, depression and anxiety.
Some scientists have expressed concern with the Dalai Lama’s association with the proposed centre. Several years ago, he gave a keynote address at the Society for Neuroscience’s annual meeting, amid criticism from some members of the society. More than 1000 people signed an on-line petition questioning his credentials, though some of the opposition was probably tied to his views on Tibetan independence rather than his religious status.