Infectious Generosity
The Ultimate Idea Worth Spreading
Published on 25. January 2024
Book
Hardback
272 pages
978-0-7535-6049-5 (ISBN)
Description
**Picked by Bill Gates for his summer reading list**
Recent years have been tough on optimists. Hopes that the Internet might bring people together have been crushed by the ills of social media. Is there a way back?
Chris Anderson, the head of TED, believes that we can turn outrage back into optimism. It all comes down to reimagining one of the most fundamental human virtues: generosity. What if generosity could become infectious generosity? Consider:
* how a London barber began offering haircuts to people experiencing homelessness - and catalysed a movement
* how two anonymous donors gave $10,000 each to 200 strangers and discovered that most recipients wanted to 'pay it forward' with their own generous acts
* how TED itself transformed from a niche annual summit into a global beacon of ideas by giving away talks online, allowing millions access to free learning
In telling these inspiring stories, Anderson offers a playbook for how to embark on our own generous acts - whether gifts of money, time, talent, connection, or kindness - and to prime them, thanks to the Internet, to have self-replicating, world-changing impacts.
Recent years have been tough on optimists. Hopes that the Internet might bring people together have been crushed by the ills of social media. Is there a way back?
Chris Anderson, the head of TED, believes that we can turn outrage back into optimism. It all comes down to reimagining one of the most fundamental human virtues: generosity. What if generosity could become infectious generosity? Consider:
* how a London barber began offering haircuts to people experiencing homelessness - and catalysed a movement
* how two anonymous donors gave $10,000 each to 200 strangers and discovered that most recipients wanted to 'pay it forward' with their own generous acts
* how TED itself transformed from a niche annual summit into a global beacon of ideas by giving away talks online, allowing millions access to free learning
In telling these inspiring stories, Anderson offers a playbook for how to embark on our own generous acts - whether gifts of money, time, talent, connection, or kindness - and to prime them, thanks to the Internet, to have self-replicating, world-changing impacts.
Reviews / Votes
This book is a masterpiece, and an important one. It is not only about generosity, but is itself an act of generosity, profound and compelling. I want everyone I know to read this - and everyone I don't know, too * Andrew Solomon, NYT-bestselling author of Far From the Tree, Wellcome Book Prize winner, National Book Award winner and 2002 Pulitzer Prize finalist * This book was a much-needed gift to my weary and news-battered heart. Chris Anderson presents an inspiring body of evidence to support the tremendous and transformative power of generosity - that most beautiful of human impulses. Infectious Generosity is a combination of inarguable data and incredibly moving stories... I flew through these pages with an increasing sense of joy, and was left inspired and hopeful * Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love * Concise and profound * Alain de Botton, author and philosopher * Warning: reading this book may give you an irresistible urge to get up, and take action. Infectious generosity has the potential to spread far and wide, and radically change the world. Simply a wonderful book * Rutger Bregman, bestselling author of Humankind * Truly inspiring! It will change the way you see the world around you * Elizabeth Dunn, Professor of Social Psychology * A beautiful book-lucid, warm, intelligent, and persuasive * Steven Pinker, author and Professor of Psychology, Harvard University * An inspiring, timely book about how to bring out the best in people . . . A joyful road map away from a polarized, selfish society to the hopeful, humane place where we should be * Kirkus, starred review *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Ebury Publishing
Dimensions
Height: 238 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
458 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7535-6049-5 (9780753560495)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
01/2024
Virgin Digital
€14.99
Available for download
Person
After a career in journalism and publishing, Chris Anderson became the curator of the TED Conference in 2001 and has developed it as a global platform for identifying and disseminating ideas worth spreading. His TED mantra - 'ideas worth spreading' - continues to blossom on an international scale, with more than one billion TED Talks viewed annually. He lives in New York City and London.