This book, written during a period marked by significant global events like the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change urgency, social unrest, and international conflict, posits that **empathy** is a formidable human quality essential for tackling the complex issues facing the world today. The author, David Johnston, shares his perspectives and experiences, proposing that empathy is the deliberate movement from compassion to action, crucial for building a healthier society and a more certain future. The core idea presented here is that empathy is not simply about feeling someone else's emotions. Instead, it involves deeply entering and understanding another person's experience with enough clarity to discern how to effectively help. This contrasts with sympathy, which is described as feeling the same feelings as another, whereas empathy is about appreciating their circumstances accurately enough to provide aid. Historically, the term "empathy" is a relatively recent English word, appearing in the early 1900s as a translation of the German "einfühlung," initially describing the experience of losing oneself in a work of art to fully understand it. This concept of projecting oneself to understand another's world is applied to human relations. The book explores how empathy translates into tangible actions and positive change. It argues that, contrary to cynical views, humans in times of crisis often display outgoing, caring, generous, and supportive behavior. This instinct for selflessness and cooperation is even suggested to have been a significant factor in human survival as a species. Empathy can inspire remarkable acts of kindness and transformation. The text offers numerous examples to illustrate how empathy prompts action: - A young child instinctively comforting a lonely elderly man by sharing her drawing. - The transformative joy experienced through adoption, driven by a deep yearning for family. - Navigating personal struggles with infertility and surrogacy can lead to advocating for and achieving policy reforms that benefit others facing similar challenges. - Innovation is viewed as one of the most helpful applications of empathy. Examples include the duck decoy, the foghorn, the caulking gun, a comprehensive atlas of congenital heart disease, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – all stemming from an empathetic understanding of a widespread need or problem. More recent examples include innovations in battery technology, the Special Olympics movement, accessibility apps, ice monitoring tech, Indigenous education methods, low-barrier employment solutions, digital forensics, and collaborative research approaches. Innovations often share the characteristics of being useful, making things better, and transforming lives. - Public figures, like Dr. Bonnie Henry during the COVID-19 pandemic, can demonstrate empathy publicly, which resonates deeply with people and builds trust. - Charity is presented as an embodiment of empathy, seeing the needs of others and working to provide support. Charities often step in to address needs that governments, due to their broad scope, may miss for specific vulnerable groups. The concept of "charity" traces back to Latin "caritas" and Greek "agapē," referring to love based on esteem for a person's inherent worth and the voluntary giving of help. - Volunteering is likened to climbing a "second mountain," a path of fulfillment found in devotion to family and community, kindness, social responsibility, and sharing, contrasting with the "first mountain" of self-interested professional ambition. Volunteers are seen as "angels" who freely give time, talent, and treasure without expectation of personal gain. Personal stories, like receiving help as a child during a moment of panic or getting new hockey skates, highlight the lasting impact of small acts of kindness. Voluntary blood donation in Canada is presented as a powerful index of empathy and social solidarity, contrasting with a commercial system. - In public life and governance, empathy is crucial for building trust. The historical Roncarelli case established the principle that the state must "walk in the other person’s shoes," particularly for minorities. Justice is seen as the exercise of values underlying the law, requiring fairness and reflecting society's best values. Chief Justice Bora Laskin's actions to stabilize a law school's culture through personal engagement exemplify positive empathy as a transformative force. - The vision of Canada's founder, Samuel de Champlain, is highlighted as being rooted in tolerance, diversity, inclusion, respect, learning, and equality of opportunity – an early form of empathy in action that shaped the country's character. Early voluntary agencies like the Bureaux des Pauvres also demonstrate this. The Citizenship Act is mentioned as reinforcing inclusion. - Independent, high-quality journalism is seen as vital for democracy and building trust by providing unbiased news and ensuring transparency. Awards for public service journalism, like the Michener Award, highlight impactful work that uncovers truth and inspires change. - The principle of "nothing about us without us" is emphasized, particularly in relation to working with Indigenous peoples. This means ensuring their direct participation in all programs, policies, and laws that affect them. Initiatives co-created with Indigenous communities, such as the EleV program and the Arctic Inspiration Prize, are presented as examples of listening, learning, and acting. - Welcoming immigrants is framed as being in Canada's self-interest due to the gifts they bring, and engaging in citizenship ceremonies or sponsoring refugees are suggested actions. The book also provides suggestions for cultivating and acting on empathy in various aspects of life, framed as "Empathetic things to do." These include: - **Learning from the young:** Encouraging patient listening, observing before intervening, supporting rather than advising, and being courageous. - **Being relentless in the pursuit of knowledge:** Asking "why" and "why not" to understand things deeply, reaching "first principles," which enables analysis, optimization, augmentation, and teaching. - **Mastering a subject:** Gaining enough expertise to identify areas for improvement and apply understanding with empathy to help others. - **Being charitable:** Recognizing the gift of life and sharing what one has, acknowledging interdependence, and making a difference. This involves addressing common needs with shared resources, often through institutional efforts like charities, and choosing causes that resonate personally. For charities, being "virtual to be visible" is increasingly important in the digital age, though transparency in online giving requires attention. - **Donating talent:** Committing to community service (climbing the second mountain), sharing skills, and being dependable in contributions. - **Making things smart and keeping them fair:** Thanking those who help others, and ensuring inclusion by inviting diverse perspectives ("Invite everyone"). - **Building a healthy neighbourhood:** Being gracious and reaching out to others with hospitality and encouragement. - **Advancing the well-being of all:** Taking responsibility for one's own health. - **Being in the business of trust:** Recognizing empathy as the foundation of trust, earning trust through consistent action and transparency, and ensuring empathy is practiced throughout an organization, not just externally. Value the long term and see things whole. - **Insisting on collaboration:** Working together in multilateral and interdisciplinary ways to tackle complex problems like climate change. - **Looking ahead but acting now:** Having confidence in the ability to make environmental change and finding personal ways to contribute through actions like reducing, reusing, recycling, and choosing sustainable transport and diet. - **Encouraging diversity of opinion:** Seeking broad input on issues to gain full understanding and identify opportunities and pitfalls. Presuming innocence and avoiding cynicism are also encouraged. - **Protecting the most vulnerable:** Staying informed about issues through deep journalism and debates, encouraging broad citizen involvement, and driving community action through structured phases (thought, trial, action, traction). Political leaders earn trust by fulfilling promises ("Carry through"). - **Doing nothing about us without us:** Specifically regarding Indigenous issues, this requires "unlearning" previous assumptions and learning from Indigenous experiences, actively listening, and acting on what is heard. Bearing witness to difficult truths is presented as an epitome of empathy. The book highlights contemporary challenges such as declining trust in authority, changes in how young people define and engage with community (increasingly online), and the financial barriers that prevent some young people from volunteering. It suggests that understanding these dynamics is key to fostering empathy and action today. Ultimately, the message is that a brighter future requires confronting issues with deliberate and practiced empathy, moving from compassion to action, and building trust and inspiring innovation. It emphasizes the importance of being a "smart and caring nation," combining the wit to solve problems with the heart to know how best to help. While the insights presented here stem from the author's personal journey and perspective, they aim to offer practical ways to harness empathetic instincts for positive change.