On the NPR TED Radio Hour, Sunday 2nd August, Newstalk FM

'Just a little nicer':

Compassion is a universal virtue, but is it innate or taught? Have we lost touch with it? Can we be better at it? 

Political pundit Sally Kohn says we shouldn't worry as much about being politically correct, but instead we should try to be emotionally correct.

As a columnist and political commentator at CNN Sally is exposed to hurtful comments on a daily basis through social media. She identifies a "mean streak" in us all, but says that a career in punditry has helped to temper hers.

 "Compassion makes me Cringe"

Journalist and broadcaster Krista Tippett argues that overtly saintly and sappy connotations have made us lose touch with the true meaning of compassion. 

When compassion enters the news, it tends to come in the form of "feel good feature pieces, happy endings and examples of self sacrifice that seem too good to be true." She claims our interpretation of compassion has been "deadened by idealistic images." 

Krista uses her Ted Talk to bring meaning back to the word "Compassion".

The Evolution of Compassion

Author Robert Wright says humans are not only wired to be compassionate but we have evolved to feel compassion out of self-interest.

He claims early human logic honed in on the tendency of getting back what you dish out. "In the environment of our hunter/gather society everyone you saw would be someone you were going to see again, again and again." It became clear early on that an act of compassion could result in a life-saving favour later down the road. 

The result is that while we have compassion, we define those deserving it in a very self serving way.

Other speakers include Karen Armstrong, who tells the story of leaving her life as a nun to become a religious scholar-a new calling that gave her a greater understanding of compassion. 

And Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, examines why we aren't more compassionate more of the time. 

The TED Radio Hour, Sunday's from 6pm on Newstalk. 

Listen Back to TED Radio Hour 'Just a Little Nicer' here.