Test Trust of you

The Trust Molecule

Why are some of us caring and some of us cruel, some generous and some greedy? Paul J. Zakon the new science of morality— and how it could be used to create a more virtuous society.

By PAUL J. ZAK

Why are some people trustworthy, while others lie, cheat and steal? Part of the answer may reside in a hormone called oxytocin. Claremont Graduate University's Paul Zak talks with WSJ's Gary Rosen about how a "vampire wedding" helped him understand how this chemical works to control trust, empathy and virtue.

Could a single molecule—one chemical substance—lie at the very center of our moral lives?

Research that I have done over the past decade suggests that a chemical messenger called oxytocin accounts for why some people give freely of themselves and others are coldhearted louts, why some people cheat and steal and others you can trust with your life, why some husbands are more faithful than others, and why women tend to be nicer and more generous than men. In our blood and in the brain, oxytocin appears to be the chemical elixir that creates bonds of trust not just in our intimate relationships but also in our business dealings, in politics and in society at large.

Known primarily as a female reproductive hormone, oxytocin controls contractions during labor, which is where many women encounter it as Pitocin, the synthetic version that doctors inject in expectant mothers to induce delivery. Oxytocin is also responsible for the calm, focused attention that mothers lavish on their babies while breast-feeding. And it is abundant, too, on wedding nights (we hope) because it helps to create the warm glow that both women and men feel during sex, a massage or even a hug.

Titanic more

Photo from collection of : The Father Frank Browne SJ.

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Titanic

Titanic was one of three 'Olympic Class' liners commissioned by the White Star Line to be built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. Construction began on the first of these great ships, Olympic, on 16 December 1908. Work on Titanic started soon after, on 31 March 1909. These magnificent vessels were the industrial marvels of their age and Titanic was to be the biggest, fastest and most luxurious liner yet.

After just three years, Titanic was finished - a floating city, ready to set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. On board was a collection of passengers comprising millionaires, silent movie stars, school teachers and emigrants, in search of a better life in the United States.

By the fifth day of its journey, Titanic was making swift progress across the Atlantic. Although Captain Edward Smith had plotted a new course upon hearing earlier reports of ice from other liners, there were many more communications that day of ice in Titanic's path. On the night of Sunday 14 April 1912, the sea was flat calm, the sky clear and moonless, and the temperature was dropping towards freezing. In such conditions, sea ice is very hard to spot.

Titanic remain

Titanic survivors and casualties
Category	Number on board	Number of survivors	Number of dead
First class	325	201	124
Second class	284	118	166
Third class	708	178	530
Crew	908	216	692

The captain of the Carpathia, which saved hundreds of lives when it came to the aid of the Titanic, is to be recognised in Southampton ahead of the 100th anniversary of the disaster.

Sir Arthur Rostron changed course after the ship's wireless operator picked up the distress call "we've struck ice, come at once".

It set off a full speed and reached the Titanic two hours after it had sank, saving many lives.

Captain Rostron retired in 1931 and lived in West End, Southampton, where a blue plaque will be placed on 15 April, the 100th anniversary of the sinking.

The wireless operator who tell the captain first time about the disaster of Titanic is : Harold Cottam, he received the Morse code of Titanic like : CQD CQD this is Titanic require assistance.

Source : BBC Worldwide / Radio.

Titanic hero

12 April 2012 Last updated at 03:48 GMT

Jack Phillips: Boy from Godalming became Titanic hero

By Sally Nancarrow

BBC News, Surrey

For a young man from a Surrey village, being promoted to chief wireless telegraphist on the new luxury liner Titanic was a source of great pride.Continue reading the main story

The son of a draper, Jack Phillips operated the most modern and powerful wireless equipment of any merchant ship of the time.

Jack Phillips by Martin Ellis. Picture: Godalming Town Council

But before the doomed vessel sailed, he told a friend he would have preferred to be aboard a smaller ship - for Jack had a dread of icebergs.

Nonetheless his actions in the early hours of 15 April 1912, as Titanic sank in the Atlantic, ensured that he was remembered as a hero of the disaster.

He stayed at his post, sending out the distress calls and advising on the latest position of the ship until it foundered.

His last message was picked up by another ship, the Virginia, at 02:17, three minutes before the stern sank.

His body was never found and it is believed he went down with the liner.

"He was a tremendous hero at the time," said Alison Patterson, curator of an exhibition about Phillips at Godalming Museum.

"His messages brought the Carpathia to people in the lifeboats.