Interpersonal relationships thrive on a generosity of interpretation, where people choose to see the best in each other, give credit for mistakes, and refrain from immediate judgment. However, this generosity is becoming rare due to the influence of social media and digital technologies. Society tends to reward criticism and perfectionism, often ignoring the positive aspects. It's crucial to understand that genuine generosity can coexist with mixed motivations, and we should refrain from critiquing every act of generosity. Instead of being cynical, we should strive to find the generous interpretation in people's actions.
If you’ve ever opened up social media in the hopes that it would cheer you up only for it to leave you upset, angry, or tired, you are not alone. So what if we could turn that special power the internet has to change our emotions – and use it for good? The head of TED, Chris Anderson, joins Chris Duffy to talk about why he believes in what he calls infectious generosity. Join the two Chrises as they discuss how we can turn outrage back into optimism by tapping into one of the most fundamental human virtues. Chris Anderson’s book, Infectious Generosity, is out now. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts