Infectious Generosity

 
　　人們曾想像運用網路，就能將世界各地的人串連成地球村，如今卻因為社群媒體上產生的各種弊端而破滅。透過網路創造美好的社會，仍然是可能的嗎？
 
　　作為TED的負責人，Chris Anderson親眼目睹世界上各個大膽的思想家們，是如何分享他們那些激勵人心的觀點。受到這些人的啟發，Chris Anderson相信我們每個人都具有將憤怒轉化為樂觀的力量，而這一切，都必須回歸到人類最基本的核心美德－－「慷慨」。如果我們想讓「慷慨」變得具有影響力，那該如何執行呢？我們可以先想想以下幾個例子：

　　・一位倫敦的美髮師，將為遊民義剪的行為，推廣成為一項運動。
　　・兩位匿名的捐贈者，將一萬美金分別捐給了200位陌生人後，卻發現多數的受贈者選擇將這份慷慨傳遞給下一位陌生人。
　　・TED如何將演講資源免費分享給上百萬人，進而從一個小眾的高峰會，發展成全球思想的領航中心。
 
　　Chris Anderson不僅僅分享這些鼓舞人心的案例，也同時提供了讀者一份「手冊」，告訴我們如何透過自己的慷慨行為，無論那是運用金錢、時間、才能、關係，甚至是一份承裝著善意的小小禮物，藉由網路來進行複製，進而一步步去影響全世界，引發變化。(文/博客來編譯)

　　From the bestselling author, media pioneer, and curator of TED, an inspiring book about one of humankind’s defining but overlooked impulses, and how we can super-charge its potential to build a hopeful future
　　Recent years have been tough on optimists. Hopes that the Internet might bring people together have been crushed by the divisiveness of social media. But as head of TED, Chris Anderson has had a ringside view of the world’s boldest thinkers sharing their most uplifting ideas. Inspired by them, he believes there's a pathway back from outrage to optimism. It all comes down to reimagining one of the most fundamental human virtues—generosity. What if generosity could become infectious generosity?

　　Anderson shows how the same technologies that have bred negativity can also be mobilized as an exponential force for good, to create chain reactions of generous behavior. Gifts of money, time, talent, connection, and kindness have always been part of what it is to be a good human. But today—when stories of these acts are shared online—they can have world-changing, self-replicating impact, not to mention make people happier in the process. Consider:

　　The story of London-based hairstylist Joshua Coombes who began offering haircuts to people experiencing homelessness. By telling their stories online, Coombes inspired an entire movement.
　　The story of the “Mystery Experiment”: How two anonymous donors gave ＄10,000 each to 200 strangers and discovered that the recipients overwhelmingly “paid it forward” with their own generous acts.
　　The story of how TED itself transformed from an annual summit into a global beacon of ideas by giving away its TED Talks online, allowing millions access to free learning.

　　In Infectious Generosity, Anderson tells these and other inspiring stories, offering a playbook to fine-tune your actions to take generosity from invisible to transformative, and challenging readers to ensure that they are giving more to the world than they take from it.