Coronavirus framed in a different light: well talk about acts of kindness popping up in communities around the country.

Jamil Zaki, professor of psychology at Stanford University. Director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab. Author of The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World." (@zakijam)

Andrea Asuaje, co-host, co-producer and reporter for Kind World, a radio series and podcast. (@aasuaje)

Exerpt from The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World" by Jamil Zaki

Excerpted from The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World" by Jamil Zaki 2019 by Crown, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Reprinted with the permission of the publisher, Penguin Random House. All rights reserved.

Exerpt fromJamil Zaki's The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World" --"Thankfully, the Roddenberry hypothesisand the centuries of thought it representsis wrong. Through practice, we can grow our empathy and become kinder as a result.

"This idea might sound surprising, but in fact it is supported by decades of research. Work from many labs, including my own, suggests that empathy is less like a fixed trait and more like a skillsomething we can sharpen over time and adapt to the modern world.

"Consider our diet and exercise habits. Humans evolved in an environment where exercise was constant and sustenance was scarce. In response, we developed a taste for fat, protein, and rest. Now many of us are inundated with fast food and rarely required to exert ourselves. If we allowed our instincts to take over, we could indulge ourselves into an early grave. But many of us dont accept this; we fight to stay healthy, adjusting our diets and going to the gym because we know its the wise thing to do.

"Likewise, even if we have evolved to care only in certain ways, we can transcend those limits. In any given moment, we can turn empathy up or down like the volume knob on a stereo: learning to listen to a difficult colleague, or staying strong for a suffering relative. Over time, we can fine-tune our emotional capacities, building compassion for distant strangers, outsiders, and even other species. We can free our empathy from its evolutionary bonds."

The Washington Post: "Social distancing shouldnt mean losing human connection" "Im writing this from home. If you normally work at an office, I bet youre reading it from home. The coronavirus has shut down businesses, schools, movie theaters and festivals. Stanford, where I teach, has temporarily morphed into an online university.

"World events plant new buzz terms into our public consciousness. This time, its 'social distancing' efforts to keep people healthy by keeping them apart. Social distancing can be many things, including canceling NBA games, screening nursing home visitors and urging people to avoid public places when possible.

"All of these are vital strategies for slowing contagion. They also push against our deep instincts for togetherness, and can worsen our emotional well-being during already trying times."

Stanford News: "Instead of social distancing, practice distant socializing instead, urges Stanford psychologist" "Social distancing voluntarily limiting physical contact with other people has been vital to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. But its important that people remain connected otherwise a long-term mental and physical health crisis might follow the viral one, warns Stanford psychologist Jamil Zaki.

"Here, Zaki, an associate professor of psychology in Stanfords School of Humanities and Sciences and director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Laboratory, discusses strategies to stay connected, starting with the reframing of 'social distancing' to 'physical distancing' to highlight how people can remain together even while being apart.

"Zakis research examines how empathy works and how people can learn to empathize more effectively. He recently authored The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World."

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Sing-Alongs, Mask Donations And Food Deliveries: Acts Of Kindness During The Coronavirus Crisis - WBUR