**Picked by Bill Gates for his summer reading list**Recent years have been tough on optimists.
Hopes that the Internet might bring people together have been crushed by the ills of social
media. Is there a way back? Chris Anderson the head of TED believes that we can turn outrage
back into optimism. It all comes down to reimagining one of the most fundamental human virtues:
generosity. What if generosity could become infectious generosity? Consider: ¿ how a London
barber began offering haircuts to people experiencing homelessness - and catalysed a movement ¿
how two anonymous donors gave $10 000 each to 200 strangers and discovered that most recipients
wanted to 'pay it forward' with their own generous acts ¿ how TED itself transformed from a
niche annual summit into a global beacon of ideas by giving away talks online allowing
millions access to free learning In telling these inspiring stories Anderson offers a playbook
for how to embark on our own generous acts - whether gifts of money time talent connection
or kindness - and to prime them thanks to the Internet to have self-replicating
world-changing impacts.
