5 Reasons to Believe in Humanity, From the Creators of Upworthy’s New Book “Good People”

We're living in an era often characterized by divisiveness. At Upworthy, we're proud of the fact that we’ve built a community on the internet rooted in decency, compassion, and kindness. We spread values-driven stories stories that remind us of what we all have in common versus what sets us apart.

And while yes, there are a lot of very serious challenges in the world, it’s important to not forget about the good things, too. Moments of compassion, kindness, empathy, connection, laughter, and joy are happening all the time. We believe it’s important to highlight these moments, because they are what connect us in a positive way. They are what make us proud to be human—to be a part of something beautiful and important. And if you can hold onto that feeling and carry it with you out into the world, you treat yourself and other people better. Ultimately, you start to shape the world in a better way, too.

In our new book, Good People: Stories From the Best of Humanity, we tell stories of human connection that we believe have the potential to make the world a better place. Here are five lessons we learned after reading thousands of these stories. We hope these takeaways will inspire you to believe in humanity, too.

Lesson No. 1: Noticing the good things happening all around you will help you see the best of humanity more often.

Ever notice how once you start looking for something, you see it more often? Well, this happens when it comes to decency, too.

By reflecting on the moments when you’ve witnessed or experienced human decency—when you remember the people who have changed your life for the better or sit with the feeling of connection that happens if you read a story or have nice interaction with somebody—you'll start noticing more decency around you.

One version of this is the “pay it forward” mentality, where you not only look for the good in the world, but you also try to spread it, too. Whatever happened that makes you feel elevated, seen, or taken care of inspires you to make other people feel that as well.

Lesson No. 2: The most important moments and the ones that stick with you are the ones that touch your heart. 

The majority of the stories we share in our new book are rooted in memories that stuck with people for decades. We think that’s because everyone has a story of a moment when someone really lifted them up and made them feel seen and loved.

You have no idea how something you do for someone else might impact that person. It might seem like totally innocuous—sharing something as simple as, “I really like your hair.” We have a story in the book of a woman who was going through cancer treatment who’d lost her hair, and she was self-conscious about it. This woman’s hair had just started to grow back when a group of young girls sitting across from her gave her a simple compliment: “Your hair looks super cute!”  

That comment really meant something to this cancer-survivor given the horrific journey she’d just been on that accosted her sense of identity and beauty and self. That one little comment stuck with her for a long time, undoubtedly because it touched her heart.

Lesson No. 3: It’s often the little gestures that mean the most in another person’s life—and have the power to touch your life, too.

There's a misconception that changing someone's life needs to involve grandiose, over-the-top gestures involving money, time, and energy. In fact, it’s often the littlest gestures—what we call micro moments—that can have the biggest impact.

Simple moments of being kind and decent to someone else, whether it’s holding the door open or letting someone cut in front of you while you’re stuck in traffic, can be powerful interactions that change everything for another person—and for you.

We talk a lot about an idea called the “triple ripple effect.” A small act of kindness not only benefits the recipient of the kind act, but it also benefits the person giving it (because it feels good to be benevolent towards someone else!) and it has a positive effect on the observer.

This is important to remember. Our hope is that with our new book, readers will act as the observer of acts of kindness by reading others’ stories—and it’ll create that triple ripple that has the potential to change many lives.

Lesson No. 4: The future is in great hands, despite what the naysayers claim.

It is in our nature to be good to each other. The countless stories we receive at Upworthy are proof of this, and they help us feel certain that the future is bright. It’s crucial that all of us recognize this and hold on to this belief, because it's going to be impossible for us to rise up to the heights that we need to rise up to as society if we don't think we're part of something that is worth preserving. It’s on all of us to look for the hope and hold on to that empowering feeling.

Lesson No. 5: The world is a beautiful place, and it’s on each of us to discover it.

Our biggest hope is that sharing stories from the best of humanity will inspire others to look for opportunities to be that person for someone else. This doesn't mean you need to do some big, time-consuming, expensive thing for someone else. In fact, it can just involve living your life, and maybe looking up from your phone or taking your headphones our of your ears when walking down the street so you’re more attuned to what’s happening around you. Who knows?  You might overhear a conversation that makes you laugh, or prompts you to help someone, or maybe even just allows you to witness something that really resonates with you.

The truth is that we believe in humanity. And we also believe that we’ll have a better chance of solving the very real problems of our time if we feel elevated, energized, motivated, and if we move through the world with the sense that we're part of something meaningful, important, and worth protecting.

Lucia Knell is the Vice President of Upworthy, where she’s worked since 2014. Gabriel Reilich is the head of content and innovation at GOOD & Upworthy. They are the co-authors of the new book, GOOD PEOPLE: Stories From the Best of Humanity