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Dr. Jamil Zaki is a professor of psychology at Stanford University and the director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab. Jamil trained at Columbia and Harvard, studying empathy and kindness in the human brain, and I\u2019ve been a mega-fan for years, after interviewing him for his first book, The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World, in 2019. His latest book, Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness, is a must-read. It\u2019s a love letter of sorts, a collaboration through the veil with his late colleague Emile Bruneau, who also studied compassion, peace, and hope.\xa0\nI would love for every single person to read this book as it paints a more accurate, data-driven portrait of who we are, which is mostly good, and mostly aligned in our vision for the future. Jamil explains what happens to us when fear and cynicism intervene and the way we come to see each other through a distorted lens. He busts some other significant myths as well, namely that we glorify cynicism as being \u201csmart\u201d\u2014you know, no dupes allowed\u2014but cynicism actually makes us cognitively less intelligent. Yes, you heard that right. I loved this conversation, which we\u2019ll turn to now.\n\nMORE FROM JAMIL ZAKI, PhD:\nHope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness\nThe War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World\nFollow Jamil on X and Instagram\nJamil\u2019s Lab\u2019s Website\n\nRELATED EPISODES:\nAmanda Ripley, \u201cNavigating Conflict\u201d\n"Calling In the Call-Out Culture with Loretta Ross"\n \nTo learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy\n \n Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices