Psychopathy versus altruism: the neuroscience of caring about others (w/ Abigail Marsh)
How to Be a Better Human
TED
4.2 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 12 May 2025
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Why is American culture so fascinated with psychopathic people and true crime stories? Why don’t billionaires give more? What makes some people so generous that they’d undergo surgery to donate an organ to a complete stranger? These are the kinds of questions that Abigail Marsh, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Georgetown University, studies. Chris and Abigail discuss the brain differences between extreme altruists and psychopathic individuals, why psychopathic traits do not necessarily correlate with aggression, how parents can support children with behavioral issues, and what we can all do to train ourselves to be more altruistic.
Follow
Host: Chris Duffy (Instagram: @chrisiduffy | chrisduffycomedy.com)
Guest: Abigail Marsh PhD (LinkedIn: @abigail-marsh)
Links
Bookshop.org: The Fear Factor
TED Talk: Why some people are more altruistic than others
Subscribe to TED
Instagram: @ted
YouTube: @TED
TikTok: @tedtoks
LinkedIn: @ted-conferences
Website: ted.com
Podcasts: ted.com/podcasts
For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts
Want to help shape TED’s shows going forward? Fill out our survey here!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Rollbacks back at ASDA |
| 0:01.7 | With thousands of prices |
| 0:03.0 | Rollback across the store and online |
| 0:04.7 | Like Philadelphia original 165 grams |
| 0:07.3 | Was £2.8 now just £116 |
| 0:09.3 | A 10 pack of heck chicken Italia sausages |
| 0:11.6 | was £318, now just 237 |
| 0:14.0 | And Robinson's Apple and Blackcurrant squash |
| 0:15.9 | 750 mil was £2.24 now just 94p |
| 0:19.5 | Rollback's back |
| 0:20.6 | Check out thousands of savings now. |
| 0:22.9 | That's ASDA price. Selected stores and lines subject to availability may exclude |
| 0:26.2 | Asher Express in small stores. See ASDA.com slash small stores. Online charges may apply. |
| 0:30.5 | Believe it or not, your next holiday starts here. Collect avios on your everyday spending |
| 0:37.1 | and you could soon be jetting off to somewhere special. |
| 0:40.6 | Sign up to the British Airways Club and start collecting avios on groceries, online shopping and |
| 0:45.9 | even your daily commute. You can spend avios on flights, car hire, hotels, experiences and more. |
| 0:52.7 | Your everyday can pay for your holiday. Start collecting today. |
| 0:57.5 | Search Avios. T's and Cs Apply. |
| 1:04.4 | You're listening to How to Be a Better Human. I'm your host, Chris Duffy. What makes us care about |
| 1:12.1 | other people? What makes us hurt them? These are really big questions, and they're questions that |
| 1:17.1 | today's guest, Abigail Marsh, has been studying as a psychologist, as a neuroscientist, and as a |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 8 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from TED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of TED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.