9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So, we humans have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 an extraordinary potential for goodness, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but also an immense power to do harm. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Any tool can be used 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to build or to destroy. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 That all depends on our motivation. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Therefore, it is all the more important 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to foster an altruistic motivation[br]rather than a selfish one. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So now, we indeed are facing 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 many challenges in our times. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Those could be personal challenges. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Our own mind can be our best friend[br]or our worst enemy. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 There's also societal challenges: 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 poverty in the midst of plenty, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 inequalities, conflict, injustice. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And then there are the new challenges[br]which we don't expect. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Ten thousand years ago, there was[br]about five million human beings on Earth. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Whatever they could do,[br]the Earth's resilience 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 will soon heal human activities. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 After the Industrial[br]and Technological Revolutions, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that's not the same anymore. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We are now the major agent[br]of impact on our Earth. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We've entered the Anthropocene,[br]the era of human beings. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So in a way, if we were to say 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we need to continue this endless growth, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 endless use of material resources, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 it's like saying if this man was saying, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and I heard the former heads of state,[br]I won't mention who, saying, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "Five years ago, we were at[br]the edge of the precipice. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Today we made a big step forward." 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So this edge is the same 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 which have been defined by scientists 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 as the planetary boundaries, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and within those boundaries,[br]they can carry a number of factors. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We can still prosper, humanity can still[br]prosper for 150,000 years 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 if we keep the same stability of climate 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 as in the Holocene[br]for the last 10,000 years. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But this depends on choosing[br]a voluntary simplicity, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 growing qualitatively, not quantitatively. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So in 1900, as you can see, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we were well within the limits of safety. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Now, in 1950 came the great acceleration. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Now hold your breath, not too long, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to imagine what comes next, now. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We are vastly overrun 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 some of the planetary boundaries. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Just to take biodiversity, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and the current rate, in 2050, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 30 percent of all species on Earth 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 will have disappeared. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Even if we keep their DNA in some fridge,[br]that's not going to be reversible. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So here I am sitting in front 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of a 7,000 meters high,[br]21,000 feet glacier in Bhutan. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 [???], two thousand glaciers[br]are melting fast, faster than the Arctic. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So what can we do in that situation? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Well, however complex, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 politically, economically, scientifically 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the question of the environment is, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 it simply boils down to a question[br]of altruism versus selfishness. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I'm a Marxist of the Groucho tendency. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Laughter) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Groucho Marx said, "Why should I care[br]for future generations? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 What did they do for me?" 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Laughter) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Unfortunately, I heard[br]the billionaire Steven Forbes, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 on Fox News saying exactly the same thing, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but seriously. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He was told about the rise of the ocean, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and he said, "I find it absurd[br]to change my behavior today 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 for something that will happen[br]in a hundred years." 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So if you don't care[br]for future generations, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 just go for it. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So one of the main challenges of our times 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 is to reconcile three time scales. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The short term of the economy, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the ups and downs of the stock market,[br]the end of the year accounts. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The midterm of the quality of life: 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 what is the quality every moment of[br]our life and over 10 years and 20 years? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And the long term of the environment. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 When the environmentalists[br]speak with economists, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 it's like a schizophrenic dialogue,[br]completely incoherent. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 They don't speak the same language. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Now, for the last 10 years,[br]I went around the world 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 meeting economists, scientists,[br]neuroscientists, environmentalists, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 philosophers, thinkers, in the Himalayas, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 all over the place. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It seems to be, there's only one concept 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that can reconcile[br]those three time scales. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It is simply having more[br]consideration for others. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 If you have more consideration for others, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you will be having a caring economics, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 where finances are the service of society 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and not society[br]at the service of finances. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 You will not play at the casino[br]with the resources that people 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 have entrusted you with. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 If you have more consideration for others, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you will make sure[br]that you remedy inequality, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that you bring some kind of well being[br]within the society, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in education, at the workplace. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Otherwise, a nation that is[br]the most powerful and the richest, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 everyone is miserable. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 What's the point? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And if you have more[br]consideration for others, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you are not going to ransack[br]that planet that we have 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and that at the current rate, we don't[br]have three planets to continue that way. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So the question is, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 okay, altruism is the answer,[br]it's not just a novel idea, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but can it be a real, pragmatic solution? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And first of all, does it exist, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 true altruism, or are we so selfish? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So some philosophers thought[br]we were irredeemably selfish. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 You know, but are we really[br]all just like rascals? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 That's good news, isn't it. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Many philosophers like Hobbes have said so 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but not everyone looks like a rascal, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 or is man a wolf for man? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But this guy doesn't seem too bad. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He's one of my friends in Tibet. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He's very kind. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So now, we love cooperation. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 There's no better joy than work together. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Isn't it? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And then not only humans. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Then, of course, there's[br]the struggle for life, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the survival of the fittest,[br]Social Darwinism. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But in evolution, cooperation,[br]though competition exists, of course, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 cooperation is much more creative. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 To go to increased level of complexity,[br]we are super cooperators, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and we should even go further. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So now, on top of that, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the quality of human relationships, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you know, the OECD did a survey 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 among 10 factors,[br]including income, everything, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the first one that people said[br]that's the main thing for my happiness 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 is quality of social relationships. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Not only in humans. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And look at those great grandmothers. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So now, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 this idea that we go deep within, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we are irredeemably selfish, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 this is armchair science. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 There is not a single sociological study, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 psychological study,[br]that's ever shown that. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Rather, the opposite. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 My friend [Daniel Batthson??][br]spent a whole life 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 putting people in the lab[br]in very complex situations, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and of course we are sometimes selfish 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and some people more than others, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but he found that systematically,[br]no matter what, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 there's a significant number of people 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who do behave altruistically,[br]no matter what. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Now, if you see someone[br]deeply wounded, great suffering, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you might just help[br]out of empathic distress. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 You can't stand it,[br]so it's better to help 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 than keep on looking at that person. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So we tested all that, and in the end, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 he said, clearly people[br]can be altruistic, so that's good news. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And even further, we should look[br]at the banality of goodness. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Now look at here. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 When we come out, we are going to say,[br]"That's so nice, there was no fistfight 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 while this mob[br]was thinking about altruism." 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 No, we expect that, don't we. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 If there was a fistfight,[br]we would speak of that for months. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So the banality of goodness is something[br]that doesn't attract your attention, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but it exists. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Now, look at this. Look at this. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Okay. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So some psychologists said, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 when I tell them I run[br]140 humanitarian projects 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in the Himalayas[br]that give me so much joy, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they said, oh, I see,[br]you work for the warm glow. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 That is not altruistic.[br]You just feel good. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 You think this guy,[br]when he jumped in front of the train, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 he thought, "I'm going to feel[br]so good when this is over?" 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But that's not the end of it. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 They say, well, but when[br]you interviewed him, he said, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "I had no choice,[br]I had to jump of course." 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He has no choice. Automatic behavior. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It's neither selfish nor altruistic. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 No choice. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Well, of course, this guy's[br]not going to think for half an hour, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 should I give my hand, not give my hand? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He does it. There is a choice,[br]but it's obvious, it's immediate. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And then, also, here they have a choice. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So now, there are people who had choice, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 like Pastor André Trocmé and his wife, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and the whole village[br]of Chambon-sur-Lignon in France. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 For the whole Second World War,[br]they saved 3,500 Jews, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 gave them shelter,[br]brought them to Switzerland, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 against all odds, at the risk[br]of their lives and that of their family. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So altruism does exist. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So what is altruism? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 It is the wish, may others be happy[br]and find the cause of happiness. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Now empathy is the effective resonance[br]or cognitive resonance that tells you, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 this personality is joyful,[br]this person suffers. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But empathy enough is not sufficient. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 If you keep on being[br]confronted with suffering, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 you might have empathic distress, burnout, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 so you need the greater sphere[br]of loving kindness. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 With Daniel Singer at the[br][??] Institute of Leipzig, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we showed that the brain network 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 for empathy and loving kindness[br]are different. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Now, that's all well done, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 so we got that from evolution,[br]from maternal care, parental love, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but we need to extend that. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Can we extend it to other species? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Now, if we want a more altruistic society, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we need two things: 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 individual change and societal change. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So is individual change possible? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Two thousand years[br]of contemplative study said yes, it is. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Now, 15 years of collaboration[br]with neuroscience and epigeneticists 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 said yes, our brains change[br]when you train in altruism. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So I spent 120 hours in an MRI machine. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 This is the first time I went[br]after two and a half hours. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And then, the result 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 -- I've been published[br]in many scientific papers -- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 it shows without ambiguity[br]that there are structural change 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and functional change in the brain 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 when you train the altruistic love. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Just to give you an idea: 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 this is the meditator at rest on the left, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 meditation in compassion meditation,[br]you see all the activity, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and then the control group at rest, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 nothing happened,[br]in meditation, nothing happened. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 They have not been trained. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So, do you need 50,000[br]hours of meditation? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 No, you don't. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Four weeks, 20 minutes a day, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of caring, mindfulness meditation 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 already brings a structural change[br]in the brain compared to a control group. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 That's only 20 minutes a day[br]for four weeks. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Even with preschoolers,[br]we showed in Madison, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 eight weeks program, gratitude,[br]loving kindness, cooperation, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 mindful breathing, you would say,[br]"Oh, they're just preschoolers." 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Look after eight weeks. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The pro-social behavior,[br]that's the blue line, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and then come the ultimate[br]scientific test, the stickers test. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Before, you determine for each child[br]who is their best friend in the class, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 their least favorite child,[br]the unknown child, and the sick child, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and they have to give stickers away. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So before the intervention,[br]they give most of it to their best friend. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Four, five years old, 20 minutes,[br]three times a week. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 After the intervention,[br]no more discrimination. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The same amount of stickers[br]to their best friend 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and the least favorite child. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 You know, that's something we should do[br]in all the schools in the world. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Now, where do we go from there? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Applause) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 When the Dalai Lama heard that,[br]his solution, he said, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 "You go to 10 schools, 100 schools,[br]the U.N., the whole world." 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So now where do we go from there? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Individual change is possible. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Now, do we have to wait[br]for an altruistic gene 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to be in the human race? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 That will take 50,000 years,[br]too much for the environment. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Fortunately, there is[br]the evolution of culture. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Cultures, as specialists have shown, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 change faster than genes. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 That's the good news. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Look at attitudes towards war[br]has dramatically changed over the years. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So now, individual change[br]and cultural change 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 mutually fashion each other, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and yes, we can achieve[br]a more altruistic society. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So where do we go from there? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Myself, I will go back to the East. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Now, we treat 100,000 patients[br]a year in our projects. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We have 25,000 kids in school, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 four percent overhead. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Some people say, "Well,[br]your stuff works in practice, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 but does it work in theory?" 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So there's always the positive deviance. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So I will also go back to my hermitage[br]to find the inner resources 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to better serve others. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But on the more global level,[br]what can we do? 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We need three things. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Enhancing cooperation, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 cooperative learning in the school[br]instead of competitive learning, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 unconditional cooperation[br]within corporations. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 There can be some competition[br]between corporations, but not within. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We need sustainable harmony. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I love this term. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Not sustainable growth anymore. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Sustainable harmony means now[br]we will reduce inequality. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 In the future, we do more with less, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and we continue to grow qualitatively, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 not quantitatively. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We need caring economics. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The old economics cannot deal[br]with poverty in the midst of plenty, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 cannot deal with the problem[br]of the common goods 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of the atmosphere, of the oceans. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We need a caring economics. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 If you say economics[br]should be compassionate, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they say, "That's not our job." 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But if you say they don't care,[br]that looks bad. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We need local commitment,[br]global responsibility. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 We need to extend altruism[br]to the other 1.6 million other species, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 sentient beings [?????], 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and we need to dare altruism. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So long life to the altruistic revolution. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Viva la revolucion de altruismo. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Applause) 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Thank you. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Applause)