Article
Dmanisi: Challenging Our Understanding of Early Human Expansion
An introduction to the five early human skulls found at Dmanisi, including Skull 4 and evidence that its owner may have depended on care from others.
Nutcracker Man
Chapter 3· 19 resources
History of Kindness
Explore evidence of compassion across human evolution, ancient civilisations, philosophical traditions and defining moments in modern history.
You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.
Early Humanity
Traces of care, cooperation and empathy reaching back to our earliest ancestors.
Website
Dmanisi Skull 4
A visual reference and reproduction of Dmanisi Skull 4.
Bone Clones
Article
Ancient Cave Art and Early Human Expression
BBC reporting on prehistoric cave art and what it may reveal about symbolism, connection and community.
BBC News
ArticleFeatured
What Cave Art Tells Us About Human Empathy
University of York research associated with Professor Penny Spikins on empathy and the emotional lives of early humans.
University of York
Podcast
Health Care Let Neandertals Punch Above Their Weight
A podcast exploring evidence that care and cooperation helped Neanderthal communities survive.
Scientific American
Book2015 · ISBN 978-1-7815-9310-3
How Compassion Made Us Human
Penny Spikins examines the evolutionary origins of tenderness, trust and morality.
Penny Spikins / Pen & Sword Archaeology
Ancient Civilisations
How early societies wrote kindness into ritual and belief.
Article
The Egyptian Book of the Dead
An overview of the funerary texts intended to guide a deceased person through the underworld and into the afterlife.
Wikipedia
Philosophical Traditions
The great thinkers who wrestled with how we ought to treat one another.
Article
Do You Repay Evil with Kindness?
A discussion of kindness, justice and leadership in relation to the saying attributed to Confucian thought.
Medium
Karma and Karuna
Compassion as a guiding principle across Eastern thought.
Video
A Tattoo Artist's Perception of Karma
The embedded YouTube video from the old Chapter 3 page.
YouTube
Video
Keanu Reeves and Random Acts of Kindness
The embedded video about Keanu Reeves quietly performing acts of kindness.
YouTube
Article
Karuna and Its Implications for Human Development
A reflection on the Buddhist concept of karuna and the need to understand people's genuine needs.
Scientific Research Publishing
Kindness Through History
Ordinary people who chose courage and care in extraordinary moments.
WebsiteFeatured
The Plague at Eyam
The story of the Derbyshire village whose residents isolated themselves to reduce the spread of plague.
Eyam Village
Museum
Titanic: The True Stories
Museum stories documenting courage, sacrifice and kindness aboard Titanic.
National Museums Liverpool
Museum
The Story of Margaret “Molly” Brown
The story of the activist, philanthropist and Titanic survivor remembered for helping other passengers.
Molly Brown House Museum
ArticleFeatured
The Real Story of the Christmas Truce
The Imperial War Museums' account of the informal ceasefires on parts of the Western Front in December 1914.
Imperial War Museums
Modern Acts of Courage
Twentieth-century stories of rescue, sacrifice and quiet heroism.
WebsiteFeatured
Nicholas Winton and the Kindertransport
The story of Sir Nicholas Winton and the rescue of 669 children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia.
Nicholas Winton
VideoUK TV licence and BBC account may be required
Holocaust Hero Nicholas Winton on That’s Life
The BBC programme in which Nicholas Winton is reunited with some of the children he helped rescue.
BBC iPlayer
Video
Nicholas Winton Meets the Children He Rescued
An abbreviated version of the emotional television reunion.
YouTube
Social
Remembering Firefighter Paddy Brown
A memorial post remembering FDNY Captain Patrick Brown, who died while trying to rescue people from the North Tower.
9/11 Memorial / Instagram