The patterns of preferences, drives, and styles we call personality are the result of complex interactions of genetics and our environment that are unlikely to fit perfectly into any theoretical model.

In our encounters both with our own species and the diverse others with whom we share this special planet, certain things matter: our intentions, our environment, and our instincts.

Empathy is not imagining how you would feel if you were a bat. Empathy is understanding what it is like for the bat to be a bat. More accurately, it is doing your best to understand, and at the same time knowing that ultimately you cannot.

While Karl Deisseroth's case studies describe relatively severe mental health problems, his insights from both his research and his clinical practice are broadly applicable.

You behave badly because you are a bad person. I behave badly because I am in a difficult situation. You won because you got lucky. I won because I practiced harder.

We never know who is in the room. We can be sensitive to the reality that many of the people we live and work with have experienced trauma.