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Being kind and volunteering one's time are selfish acts. Research has shown that helping others through volunteer work actually increases one's overall sense of well-being, including building emotional resilience and reducing stress levels. The effects are so powerful that volunteering is recommended to those going through mourning or wanting to beat an addiction.
"I call it 'give and glow,' or sometimes 'the giver's glow,'" says Dr. Stephen Post of the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love and the author of Is Ultimate Reality Unlimited Love? "It's a side effect or byproduct, and I always like to emphasize that you're helping others because it's the good thing to do, you know, it's the golden rule and all that. But as it turns out in general it's a very healthy way to go."
Are you having trouble with a teen in your family? Maybe volunteering a few hours of his time reading to residents of a nursing home is just what he needs. Volunteering promotes a healthy lifestyle, reduces cholesterol, and combats stress among teens.
For those looking to overcome alcohol dependency through the program Alcoholics Anonymous, studies have found that volunteering during the first year of the program doubled the chances of recovery. "It's good to be good, and science says it's so," says Post.
For more on the benefits of being kind and volunteering, watch this clip from Big Think's interview:
Stand up against religious discrimination – even if it’s not your religion
As religious diversity increases in the United States, we must learn to channel religious identity into interfaith cooperation.
- Religious diversity is the norm in American life, and that diversity is only increasing, says Eboo Patel.
- Using the most painful moment of his life as a lesson, Eboo Patel explains why it's crucial to be positive and proactive about engaging religious identity towards interfaith cooperation.
- The opinions expressed in this video do not necessarily reflect the views of the Charles Koch Foundation, which encourages the expression of diverse viewpoints within a culture of civil discourse and mutual respect.
How expectation influences perception
These prior beliefs help us make sense of what we are perceiving in the present.
For decades, research has shown that our perception of the world is influenced by our expectations. These expectations, also called "prior beliefs," help us make sense of what we are perceiving in the present, based on similar past experiences.
NASA's idea for making food from thin air just became a reality — it could feed billions
Here's why you might eat greenhouse gases in the future.
- The company's protein powder, "Solein," is similar in form and taste to wheat flour.
- Based on a concept developed by NASA, the product has wide potential as a carbon-neutral source of protein.
- The man-made "meat" industry just got even more interesting.
Where the evidence of fake news is really hiding
When it comes to sniffing out whether a source is credible or not, even journalists can sometimes take the wrong approach.
- We all think that we're competent consumers of news media, but the research shows that even journalists struggle with identifying fact from fiction.
- When judging whether a piece of media is true or not, most of us focus too much on the source itself. Knowledge has a context, and it's important to look at that context when trying to validate a source.
- The opinions expressed in this video do not necessarily reflect the views of the Charles Koch Foundation, which encourages the expression of diverse viewpoints within a culture of civil discourse and mutual respect.
