Are Babies Racist? Is Empathy Bad for Society? And More with Dr. Paul Bloom

What It Covers

Yale psychologist Paul Bloom argues empathy—feeling others' pain—creates biased, irrational decisions in policy and charity. He advocates for rational compassion over emotional empathy to achieve better outcomes for society.

Key Questions Answered

• •Baby morality research: Infants as young as six months prefer helpful characters over harmful ones and show compassion, but also develop in-group biases based on language and appearance before their first birthday, demonstrating evolution's role in moral foundations.
• •Empathy versus compassion distinction: Empathy means feeling another person's pain, which leads to burnout and biased decisions. Compassion means caring about helping them without absorbing their emotions, which proves more effective and sustainable for caregivers, parents, and policymakers.
• •Policy failures from empathy: The Willie Horton furlough program was shut down after one prisoner committed crimes, despite reducing overall crime rates. Empathy for individual victims overrides statistical evidence, causing policies that increase total harm while addressing visible suffering.
• •Charitable giving strategy: Warm glow altruists spread small donations across multiple charities for emotional satisfaction. Effective altruists research which organizations create measurable impact and concentrate resources there, prioritizing outcomes over personal feelings when helping others.