The Empathy Gap
Building Bridges to the Good Life and the Good Society
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Narrated by:
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J. D. Trout
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By:
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J. D. Trout
About this listen
We are touched when faced with the hardships of others, whether caused by unemployment, poor schools, crime, poverty, poor health, or the financial insecurity of credit and mortgage debt. Some people are strapped because they chose poorly. But millions of ordinary citizens, the author explains, have only bad options in the first place or are ambushed by unconscious cognitive bias. We may want society to insulate people from the damages of bad fortune and yet we don't act. Our empathic wiring evolved to care for our families and close neighbors, less for strangers with unfamiliar customs or for future selves we can only dimly imagine. And so we are left with an empathy gap between people separated by culture, personality, current mood, geography, and time.
Trout travels the leading edge of scientific research on empathy, free will, and decision making, to show how the same science of judgment that improves our decision making can create concrete, realistic, and often money-saving policies to improve human well-being. Decent people can vault the empathy gap, reinforcing cherished American ideals like equality, access to health care, decent education for all, and effective opportunity. Individuals and governments alike can learn to practice this intelligent and responsible empathy.
©2009 J.D. Trout (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Story
We all want to experience pleasure and avoid pain. But there are really two kinds of pleasure and pain that motivate everything we do. If you are promotion-focused, you want to advance and avoid missed opportunities. If you are prevention-focused, you want to minimize losses and keep things working. And as Tory Higgins has found in his groundbreaking research, if you understand how people focus, you have the power to motivate yourself and everyone around you.
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Pain / Pleasure
- By Serena K. on 02-13-17
By: Heidi Grant Halvorson Ph.D., and others
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The Spirit Level
- Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger
- By: Richard Wilkinson, Kate Pickett
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Renowned researchers Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett offer groundbreaking analysis showing that greater economic equality-not greater wealth-is the mark of the most successful societies, and offer new ways to achieve it.
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An Important Book
- By Stephen Schoenberg on 12-19-11
By: Richard Wilkinson, and others
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Willful Blindness
- Why We Ignore the Obvious at Our Peril
- By: Margaret Heffernan
- Narrated by: Margaret Heffernan
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Margaret Heffernan argues that the biggest threats and dangers we face are the ones we don't see - not because they're secret or invisible, but because we're willfully blind. A distinguished businesswoman and writer, she examines the phenomenon and traces its imprint in our private and working lives, and within governments and organizations, and asks: What makes us prefer ignorance? What are we so afraid of? Why do some people see more than others? And how can we change?
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How Not to Be the Blind Leading the Blind
- By Cynthia on 06-29-13
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Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism
- By: Arthur C. Brooks
- Narrated by: Dennis Holland
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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In his controversial study of America's giving habits, Arthur C. Brooks shatters stereotypes about charity in America - including the myth that the political Left is more compassionate than the Right. Brooks, a preeminent public policy expert, spent years researching giving trends in America, and even he was surprised by what he found. In Who Really Cares, he identifies the forces behind American charity.
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Let's talk truth!
- By Jeff on 09-02-12
By: Arthur C. Brooks
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The Rule of Nobody
- Saving America from Dead Laws and Senseless Bureaucracy
- By: Philip K. Howard
- Narrated by: Allen O'Reilly
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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The secret to good government is a question no one in Washington is asking: “What’s the right thing to do?” What’s wrong in Washington is deeper than you think. Sure, there’s gridlock, polarization, and self-dealing. But hidden underneath is something bigger and more destructive. It’s a broken governing system. From that comes wasteful government, rising debt, failing schools, expensive health care, and economic hardship.
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Preachy, redundant, and unpersuasive
- By Jake on 02-05-15
By: Philip K. Howard
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Equal Is Unfair
- America's Misguided Fight Against Income Inequality
- By: Don Watkins, Yaron Brook
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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We've all heard that the American Dream is vanishing, and that the cause is rising income inequality. The rich are getting richer by rigging the system in their favor, leaving the rest of us to struggle just to keep our heads above water. To save the American Dream, we're told that we need to fight inequality through tax hikes, wealth redistribution schemes, and a far higher minimum wage.
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While I agree with most of this book,...
- By Wayne on 12-30-16
By: Don Watkins, and others
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Brainwashed
- The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience
- By: Sally Satel, Scott O. Lilienfeld
- Narrated by: Jean Barrett
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In recent years, the advent of MRI technology seems to have unlocked the secrets of the human mind, revealing the sources of our deepest desires, intentions, and fears. As renowned psychiatrist and scholar Sally Satel and psychologist Scott O. Lilienfeld demonstrate in Brainwashed, however, the explanatory power of brain scans in particular and neuroscience more generally has been vastly overestimated.
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The Overall Message...
- By Douglas on 11-26-13
By: Sally Satel, and others
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What Works
- Gender Equality by Design
- By: Iris Bohnet
- Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Gender equality is a moral and a business imperative. But unconscious bias holds us back, and de-biasing people’s minds has proven to be difficult and expensive. Diversity training programs have had limited success, and individual effort alone often invites backlash. Behavioral design offers a new solution. By de-biasing organizations instead of individuals, we can make smart changes that have big impacts.
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Excellent book every women and executive should read
- By N LI on 05-10-21
By: Iris Bohnet
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The Upside of Your Dark Side
- Why Being Your Whole Self - Not Just Your "Good" Self - Drives Success and Fulfillment
- By: Todd Kashdan, Robert Biswas-Diener
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
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In The Upside of Your Dark Side, two pioneering researchers in the field of psychology show that while mindfulness, kindness, and positivity can take us far, they cannot take us all the way. Sometimes, they can even hold us back. Emotions like anger, anxiety, or doubt might be uncomfortable, but it turns out that they are also incredibly useful.
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Boring and learned nothing
- By Taryn on 07-25-16
By: Todd Kashdan, and others
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In Defense of Troublemakers
- The Power of Dissent in Life and Business
- By: Charlan Nemeth
- Narrated by: Joyce Bean
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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We've decided by consensus that consensus is good. In In Defense of Troublemakers, psychologist Charlan Nemeth argues that this principle is completely wrong: left unchallenged, the majority opinion is often biased, unoriginal, or false. It leads planes and markets to crash, causes juries to convict innocent people, and can quite literally make people think blue is green. In the name of comity, we embrace stupidity. We can make better decisions by embracing dissent. Dissent forces us to question the status quo, consider more information, and engage in creative decision-making.
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A Good Review of Group Thinking
- By J. Justice on 03-20-24
By: Charlan Nemeth
What listeners say about The Empathy Gap
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- reggie p
- 10-15-09
Excellent
This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I found every chapter fascinating and have listened to it several times. I even bought a hard copy of the book. I love the way the author made use of much of the research on behavior published in Scientific American Mind each month to formulate ideas to improve society. This is very cutting edge. Some may call it liberal but they lack an understanding of how the human mind really works. We don't have as much free will as we'd like to think and society's problems aren't just caused by people's laziness. I thought the author had some very workable, intelligent ideas. I only wish our decision makers would take the time to read and understand this book.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Jac-O
- 07-26-16
Important information for any human being
While this book was a little on the technical side and a bit dry, the information was very compelling. Many people might say the author has a liberal agenda, but the main foundation of the book is built upon quality social science data and anyone can learn something important from it. I think excerpts from this book should be taught in civics and humanities classes across the country. In my mind the arguments put forth are good fodder for those who want to be effective and influential citizens in the political process; and J.D. Trout's proposal for increased reliance on hard social science data when creating policy is the most logical political idea I have read in a long time.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- Stephen
- 07-16-09
No personal responsibility
I was hoping to listen to a discussion and concepts on how to be more 'empathetic' to those less fortunate in my thoughts and actions. Instead I heard what can only be described as exceedingly liberal concepts blaming the government, big business and other institutions for all the problems of the needy. In fact, early on, it states it will essentially ignore the issue of personal responsibility of those in need. If you believe that the problems of the needy are caused by government yet government programs are also the means to solve these issues, and if you believe that the needy are all victims and require someone to simply give them benefits, then this is your book. It is a recipe for a well fare state built on the income of those who do work - income redistribution in disguise. This book is propoganda - make no mistake about it.
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4 people found this helpful