TED Talks Daily Would you take a pill that made you love everyone? | Meghan Sullivan
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Jan 15, 2026 
Philosophy professor Meghan Sullivan delves into the essence of love and its impact on the good life. She challenges listeners with a thought experiment about a pill that induces universal love, revealing why many refuse it. Sullivan draws from Aristotle, highlighting that love intertwines our virtues and vices, and discusses how Jesus’ teachings show vulnerability can bridge divides. Using social psychology, she demonstrates that vulnerability fosters intimacy even among strangers, making a compelling case for love as a profound ethical virtue.
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Choose Vulnerability To Build Connection
- Try to expand your capacity for love by deliberately choosing vulnerability with others.
- Practice opening up in safe, gradual steps to create deeper connections beyond polite civility.
Student's Fear Of Universal Attachment
- Meghan Sullivan shares a student's story about sleeping with his phone across the room and fearing for his mother.
- He says feeling that intense care for everyone would be unbearable, illustrating love's emotional cost.
Civility Isn't Enough
- Civility is overvalued as a remedy for social conflict, while love is the deeper ethical practice we need.
- Turning down emotions won't build true connection; embracing love's risk does.