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Mission statement


What makes us human? What is it about our nature that allows us to create and destroy like no other animal? This site brings together a variety of views on humanity, how we give life to powerful ideas and sometimes use this power to take life away. To reduce human suffering, we must understand why humans, in some situations, cause such suffering, and why victims often lack the resources to fight back. I believe that the mind sciences have much to contribute to this discussion, and much to learn from those working in the humanitarian disciplines. Join the iHumanitarian movement. Nothing could be more important than our universal well-being.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Welcome

What must we understand to improve the welfare of those who suffer from human rights violations?  For humanitarian efforts to work, what do we need to understand about human nature?  To answer these questions, we must open a dialog between those trained in the mind sciences and those trained in the practice of reducing human suffering and ensuring basic human rights. I will post links to relevant news articles as well as academic essays, and occasionally, offer commentary in the hope of starting a conversation.  This is simply the first link in what I hope will be a very long and productive chain of interaction, a forum for ideas to sing, and for productive solutions to emerge.

Here's to the feast that lies ahead.

- Marc
Posted by Marc Hauser at 8:37 AM

2 comments:

  1. UnknownSeptember 15, 2010 at 1:26 PM

    Welcome to the blogosphere!

    Exploring humanitarian efforts through the lens of mind studies is fascinating, but could also be practically fruitful for defining problems, finding optimal solutions and in the end getting more out of less.

    Here's to many conversations!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Marc HauserSeptember 20, 2010 at 6:07 PM

    Agreed! psychologists and economists have already contributed much to the understanding how we dehumanize others, conform to authority, harbor unconscious prejudices and stereotypes, act on short terms gains without waiting for longer term benefits, and seek revenge even when it fails to make us feel better... to name a few. And now, the brain sciences and genetics are beginning to uncover which brain areas are critical to normal functioning, and the kinds of genetic biases that either inoculate us against certain harms or make us more prone. These findings need to be digested by those in the humanitarian area in order to engage in a productive dialog...

    ReplyDelete

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