Humanity’s greatest hope

Why expanding our moral circles is key to a better future

with James Kirby, Matti Wilks and Charlie Crimston

The challenges facing humanity cannot be solved by one group or nation alone. They require cooperation and collaboration across borders, cultures, and societies. But to do that, we need to expand our moral horizons. We need leaders who govern for the whole of humanity, not just their tribe. We need communities that can support everyone in need, not just those who are deemed deserving. And we need everyone to act with an understanding of the impact we can have on lives thousands of miles away from our own. Is this possible? New research into moral circles and how they can be expanded suggests it is.

James Kirby

Matti Wilks

Charlie Crimston

This event was held on Thursday, 22nd August 2024.

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Charlie Crimston is a social psychologist at The Australian National University. Her research explores the psychology of moral expansion, societal polarization, and the links between trans identity and well-being.

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Dr. Matti Wilks is a Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh and PI of the Altruistic Minds Lab. She uses methods in social and developmental psychology to understand barriers to and facilitators of moral behaviour. She is interested in questions of moral circle expansion, including the characteristics of unusually altruistic individuals and how children and adults differ in their moral concern towards distant others. She also studies attitudes towards artificial intelligence and novel food technologies (e.g., cultured meat), as well as the natural-is-better bias.

Website & Twitter

James Kirby is a Clinical Psychologist and the Co-Director of the Compassionate Mind Research Group at the University of Queensland. He has broad research interests in compassion, but specifically examines factors that facilitate and inhibit compassionate responding. He also examines the clinical effectiveness of compassion focused interventions, specifically in how they help with self-criticism and shame that underpin many depression and anxiety disorders.

Website & Twitter

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