What drives us to carry out acts of kindness for total strangers?

In honor of World Kindness Day — we’ve partnered with the Humankind team at USA TODAY for a deeper exploration on the topic of compassion. What drives us to carry out acts of kindness for total strangers and how can we actively cultivate this selflessness as a society? Abigail Marsh, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Georgetown University, joins The Excerpt to talk about empathy and altruism — why we help, even when it costs us.  Have feedback on the show? Please send us an email at [email protected].   Episode transcript available here.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.