How Compassion Changes Our World, According to Science

Offering compassion to ourselves and others is essential for promoting real change for the better. Caren Osten Gerszberg reports on scientific studies of compassion, showing how this innately human quality benefits our health, our communities, and our fractured world.

When I was 19, my parents invited me to visit them in Florida during one of my college breaks. Checking in for my flight, I immediately discovered that I’d gone to the wrong airport—I went to New York’s LaGuardia, instead of JFK. In a fit of panic, I ran to a pay phone (some of you may remember those) to call my parents. Hearing my father’s voice on the other end of the line, I burst into tears, eking out the words to explain my situation, while feeling so ashamed that I’d made such a monumental mistake and would not be able to make my scheduled flight. Without a moment’s hesitation, my father replied, “Congratulations! You messed up!”