Even though we’re not always inclined toward empathy and generosity or to live out our best ideals, perhaps the biggest blessing we all share is that we live in a world where so many people really do care for one another.

In the United States, the “No Child Left Behind” program demands that schools best their previous achievement levels year after year. If we cared less about national rankings on standardized test scores and more about human achievement and fulfillment in the real world, we might discover a huge “missing curriculum” that would remain relevant long after graduation.

Sometimes it’s by reaching out to others in their time of need that we find a profound sense of meaning and fulfilment for ourselves. But doing so entails taking a risk — the risk of allowing ourselves to be ‘touched’ by another’s story and in doing so, becoming vulnerable to the emotional rollercoaster that may follow.

Now that the Chilean miners have again seen the light of day, a lot of fighting is about to break out. But what if all the various investigations and arguments we’re about to witness were approached with the same level of spirit and cooperation the world saw so clearly during the rescue effort itself?

How do you deliver ‘placebo therapy’ to a client? By being deliberately hostile? Quantative scientific methods may not be the best ways to measure psychotherapy outcomes. But those who have the power and the money are increasingly using research results to legitimise a few techniques which are easy to measure, to the detriment of clients and therapists.

Are modern traffic flow devices a good application of science and technology to tame what ultimately comes down to human behavior — or are they just getting our blood pressure up?

You’ve heard of accidentally ‘enabling’ the maladaptive behavior of others. But to what extent is our collection of technological gadgetry ‘enabling’ our own inclination to live overly-complicated, unsustainably fast-paced lives that are ultimately damaging to our well-being?