It’s More Important to be Related than Right: Compassion in the Time of Social Media

with Ravi Chandra, M.D.

Humans crave connection. This need for connection is a vital aspect of the psychology behind cults, coercion, and undue influence. Isolation makes people vulnerable and fearful and more likely to be influenced in harmful ways. Psychiatrist Ravi Chandra discusses the psychology of connection, how institutions can take action to encourage empathy and critical thinking, and how social media and fear-mongering news cycles are creating divisions. We need to be focusing on developing trust and community.  

Ravi Chandra is a San Francisco psychiatrist, writer, and compassion educator and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (APA). He writes for Psychology Today and East Wind eZine and has written essays on film for the Center for Asian American Media for 14 years. He regularly teaches for the American Psychiatric Association and other venues. His debut nonfiction book, “Facebuddha: Transcendence in the Age of Social Networks,” won a 2017 Nautilus Silver Award. His debut documentary feature, “The Bandaged Place: From AIDS to COVID and Racial Justice,” was awarded Best Film at the 2021 Cannes Independent Film Festival.