What Makes a Hero?

You're the skydiving instructor. You're freefalling through the air while strapped to a first-time diver, and your parachute fails. What do you do?

When Shirley Dygert's parachute didn't open properly, the fifty-four-year-old novice jumper and her instructor, Dave Hartsock, were falling fast from five thousand feet. Hartsock made a fateful decision, pulling on control toggles to place himself directly beneath Dygert. They hit the ground with a sickening crunch. Hartsock was...
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You're the skydiving instructor. You're freefalling through the air while strapped to a first-time diver, and your parachute fails. What do you do?

When Shirley Dygert's parachute didn't open properly, the fifty-four-year-old novice jumper and her instructor, Dave Hartsock, were falling fast from five thousand feet. Hartsock made a fateful decision, pulling on control toggles to place himself directly beneath Dygert. They hit the ground with a sickening crunch. Hartsock was paralyzed from the neck down, while Dygert recovered despite her injuries. Hartsock had sacrificed himself for someone he'd just met.

What makes a hero? Recent breakthroughs in biology and neuroscience reveal that the human brain is primed for selflessness. But how do biology, upbringing, and outside influences intersect to produce altruistic and heroic behavior? And how can we encourage this behavior in corporations, classrooms, and individuals?

Contrary to the lore surrounding our cape-clad icons, heroes are not some set-apart species. We all have the power to unlock our own potential heroism, and there are concrete things we can do to build on our selfless capabilities.

Using dozens of fascinating real-life examples, science journalist Elizabeth Svoboda explains how our genes compel us to do good for others, how going through suffering is linked to altruism, and how acting generously can greatly improve our mental health. She also reveals how we can encourage our most heroic selves to step forward. Svoboda includes inspirational stories such as-

• Jodes Blanco, a victim of childhood bullying whose experiences led her to write a bestselling book about surviving adversity.
• Miep Gies, a secretary whose childhood memories of suffering and hunger moved her to help Anne Frank's family hide from the Nazis.
• Chaim Lazaros, a former film student who created the organization Superheroes Anonymous after being inspired by stories of real-life superheroes patrolling neighborhood streets.

Svoboda argues that heroism and altruism are not simply a matter of biological hardwiring. It's a common misconception that heroes are innately destined to be that way anyone can be a hero if they're committed to developing their heroic potential.