Is empathy always good? | Bill Nye, Alan Alda, Paul Bloom & more | Big ThinkIs empathy always good?
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Empathy is a useful tool that allows humans (and other species) to connect and form mutually beneficial bonds, but knowing how and when to be empathic is just as important as having empathy.
Filmmaker Danfung Dennis, Bill Nye, and actor Alan Alda discuss the science of empathy and the ways that the ability can be cultivated and practiced to affect meaningful change, both on a personal and community level.
But empathy is not a cure all. Paul Bloom explains the psychological differences between empathy and compassion, and how the former can "get in the way" of some of life's crucial relationships.
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TRANSCRIPT:
0:00 Intro
0:30 Bill Nye on the evolution of empathy
1:15 Alan Alda’s empathy exercise
4:52 Empathy in virtual reality
5:55 How empathy backfires
7:36 Empathy vs. compassion
- Why are we empathetic?
- It's something that we can foster and cultivate.
- But if you sink into that feeling and get lost in it then it's no longer a tool. It's something that's working against you.
- Empathy is exhausting. It is unpleasant. It is difficult. And it makes you withdraw.
BILL NYE: Why are we empathetic? Just consider what a tribe would be like, a tribe of humans, would be like without empathy, without ability to feel what someone else is feeling, without ability to see it from another person's point of view. You probably wouldn't be a very successful tribe. You wouldn't take care of each other. You probably wouldn't divide up tasks. You do this and I'll do that. I know that's hard for you, I'll do this. Well, I'm good at this. I know you're good at that, so you do that and I'll do this. I mean, imagine a tribe without empathy. So my claim, which is extraordinary at first, is not only are size and shape determined by the process of evolution but so are our feelings, and empathy is part of that. Our ancestors without empathy were not as successful.
ALAN ALDA: I find, and I think other people who have studied empathy have found that there's more patience associated with empathy. This is an amazing thing. I find other people less annoying. Isn't that's funny? Because I get a little more empathy about what they're going through, or what I think they're going through, or what I can hear from things they say. And instead of being annoyed by them, I think I think I know where this is coming from and it explains it, and just getting the explanation of what might otherwise be annoying behavior or an annoying thing they're saying, the annoyance kind of evaporates. It's not that empathy is making me a better person, it just gives me a little more patience. So in that regard, it probably does make you a little, a little easier to get along with. But I noticed when I get more empathic my voice gets more intimate. My face is more welcoming. And the funny thing is, I think I see that happening on the person I'm talking to. I think they're responding to what's happening to me. And I'm getting from them a more relaxed tone, a more relaxed, accepting visage. This strange thing about empathy is as valuable as it is, we tend to lose it. It tends to evaporate.
It's very easy to lose your touch in making contact with other people. I see it happening to me. I see it happening to other people. So I thought, is there something I can do on my own that would build empathy and keep my empathy thermometer at a high enough temperature? So I started experimenting on myself. I love to experiment on myself. And I thought, okay it has something to do with reading emotions. So why don't I, as I walked down the street as I go into a restaurant or talk to friends, why don't I try to figure out what they're feeling? And maybe it will be really good if I name the feeling. And I was talking to a psychologist about this and he said, "You came up with this by yourself?" I said, yeah. He said, "I'd like to study that." So he did a study where he had people doing this, during the day for a week. He gave them a standard empathy test at the beginning of the week. And at the end of the week, he gave them another empathy test to see if their scores in empathy would go up by doing this exercise. And he had other things they did to control variables. And what was interesting was not only did their scores go up, the more they did it so that the people who only did it twice didn't go up very much. But the people who did it a hundred times during the week their scores went up considerably. Not only that, it wasn't just naming the emotion that they thought they saw in the other person, it was just noticing the other person...
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Online learning could change academia -- for good | Tyler DewittVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
Higher education remains rooted in rigid, traditional structures and tracks -- and it's at risk of getting left behind in favor of expanded access, greater flexibility and tailored learning. Educator Tyler DeWitt explains how innovations in digital content and virtual reality are ushering in the future of learning, emphasizing why academia must adapt to this new reality and embrace an approach to education that works with students' needs -- not against them.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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How to have constructive conversations | Julia DharVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
"We need to figure out how we go into conversations not looking for the victory, but the progress," says world debate champion Julia Dhar. In this practical talk, she shares three essential features of productive disagreements grounded in curiosity and purpose. The end result? Constructive conversations that sharpen your argument and strengthen your relationships.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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How synthetic biology can improve our health, food and materials | Emily LeproustVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
What if we could use biology to restore our balance with nature without giving up modern creature comforts? Advocating for a new kind of environmentalism, scientist and entrepreneur Emily Leproust rethinks modern sustainability at the molecular level, using synthetic biology to create green alternatives. From lab-developed insulin and disease-resistant bananas to airplanes made of super-strong spider silk, she explains how reading and writing DNA can lead to groundbreaking innovations in health, food and materials.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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4 lessons the pandemic taught us about work, life and balance | Patty McCordVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way we work for good. Can it also change it for the better? Consultant Patty McCord reviews four key insights employers and employees alike gleaned from their shift to working from home -- and shares how companies can use what they learned in lockdown to creatively and innovatively rethink how we do business.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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What is deep tech? A look at how it could shape the future | Antoine GourévitchVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
How do companies like SpaceX make sudden breakthroughs on decades-old challenges? Emerging tech expert Antoine Gourévitch explains how deep tech -- a new approach to innovation that merges science, engineering and design thinking -- is unlocking solutions to problems in space exploration, biology, energy and more. As Gourévitch says: "[deep tech] is changing what was once considered impossible into something actively possible, today."
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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Retrain your brain for long-term thinking | Roman Krznaric | Big ThinkRetrain your brain for long-term thinking
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Roman Krznaric, philosopher and author of the book "The Good Ancestor: A Radical Prescription for Long Term Thinking," says that there are two parts of the human brain that are driving our decisions and ultimately determining what kind of legacy we leave behind for future generations.
Short-term thinking happens in the marshmallow brain (named after the famous Stanford marshmallow test), while long-term thinking and strategizing occurs in the acorn brain. By retraining ourselves to use the acorn brain more often, we can ensure that trillions of people—including our grandchildren and their grandchildren—aren't inheriting a depleted world and the worst traits that humankind has to offer.
"At the moment we're using on average 1.6 planet earths each year in terms of our ecological footprint," says Krznaric, but that doesn't mean that it's too late to turn things around. Thinking long term about things like politics and education can help "rebuild our imaginations of what a civilization could be."
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ROMAN KRZNARIC:
Roman Krznaric is a public philosopher who writes about the power of ideas to change society. His latest book is The Good Ancestor: A Radical Prescription for Long-Term Thinking. His previous books, including Empathy, The Wonderbox and Carpe Diem Regained, have been published in more than 20 languages. After growing up in Sydney and Hong Kong, Roman studied at the universities of Oxford, London and Essex, where he gained his PhD in political sociology. He is founder of the world’s first Empathy Museum and is currently a Research Fellow of the Long Now Foundation.
Check Roman Krznaric's latest book "The Good Ancestor: A Radical Prescription for Long-Term Thinking" at https://amzn.to/3fGPwnF
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TRANSCRIPT:
Our actions today are affecting future generations like at no point in human history. We need to learn to escape the tyranny of the present moment. If you think about the legacies we've inherited from the past, some of them are incredibly positive, like the cities that we now live in, or the medical discoveries that we still benefit from. But there are also a lot of negative legacies that we've inherited. For example, the inheritance of colonialism and slavery and racism. The inheritance of economies that are structurally addicted to endless growth in fossil fuels. So the great question facing humanity is, are we being good ancestors? In other words, are we gonna be remembered well by the generations to come? My name is Roman Krznaric. I'm a public philosopher and author of the book "The Good Ancestor: A Radical Prescription for Long-term Thinking."
Human kind is just an eye blink in the billion-year cosmic story. If you think about it, there are 7.7 billion people alive today. Now cast your mind back over the past 55,000 years. An estimated 100 billion people have been born and died. But both of these are far outweighed by the nearly 7 trillion people who will be born over the next 50,000 years, amongst them are your grandchildren and their grandchildren, the friends and communities on whom they'll depend. What obligations we have to those billions upon billions of people who far outnumber all those alive today. The scales are very much in their favor.
So I think if we're gonna be good ancestors we need to think more about the long term. But there is a struggle going on between the drivers of short-term and long-term. You know, do I party today, or save for my pension for tomorrow? Do I upgrade to the latest iPhone or plant a seed in the ground for posterity? And the part of our brain which drives our short-term behaviors, I call the marshmallow brain. It's part of our neuroanatomy which is all about immediate rewards and instant gratification. And it's named of course after the famous marshmallow test of the 1960s when a marshmallow was put in front of little kids and if they could resist eating it for 15 minutes, they will be rewarded with a second marshmallow. And it turned out the majority of kids couldn't resist and snatched the snack and gobbled it up. And it gave us this idea that we are wired for short-termism.
We also have inside us another part of the brain which I call the acorn brain. This is the part of our neuroanatomy which focuses on long-term thinking and planning and strategizing. It's what's enabled us to build the Great Wall of China, or voyage into space. So what's really happening is that there is a struggle going on between the marshmallow and the acorn and w...
Read the full transcript at https://bigthink.com/videos/long-term-thinking
His Holiness Pope Francis | Our moral imperative to act on climate change [English]Take action on climate change at http://countdown.ted.com.
The global climate crisis will require us to transform the way we act, says His Holiness Pope Francis. Delivering a visionary TED Talk from Vatican City, the spiritual leader proposes three courses of action to address the world's growing environmental problems and economic inequalities, illustrating how all of us can work together, across faiths and societies, to protect the Earth and promote the dignity of everyone. "The future is built today," he says. "And it is not built in isolation, but rather in community and in harmony." (English voiceover by Bruno Giussani. Watch this talk in Italian at go.ted.com/papafrancesco and Spanish at go.ted.com/papafrancisco)
This talk was part of the Countdown Global Launch on 10.10.2020. (Watch the full event: https://youtu.be/5dVcn8NjbwY.) Countdown is TED's global initiative to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis. The goal: to build a better future by cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, in the race to a zero-carbon world. Get involved at https://countdown.ted.com/sign-up
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What if mental health workers responded to emergency calls? | Leslie HerodVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
When you report an emergency in the US, police, firefighters or paramedics answer the call. What if mental health professionals responded, too? Colorado State Representative Leslie Herod shares a straightforward and research-backed approach that brings heart and humanity to criminal justice rather than unnecessary fines and arrests -- and keeps crises from escalating into traumatic, or even deadly, events.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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Love, sorrow and the emotions that power climate action | Knut Ivar BjørlykhaugVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
Picture your favorite place in nature. How would you feel if it disappeared tomorrow? In this love letter to the planet, social worker and environmental activist Knut Ivar Bjørlykhaug invites us to confront the deep, difficult emotions -- love, sorrow and even rage -- born from climate-driven ecological loss in order to act in service of our collective home.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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The electrical blueprints that orchestrate life | Michael LevinVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
DNA isn't the only builder in the biological world -- there's also a mysterious bioelectric layer directing cells to work together to grow organs, systems and bodies, says biologist Michael Levin. Sharing unforgettable and groundbreaking footage of two-headed worms, he introduces us to xenobots -- the world's first living robots, created in his lab by cracking the electrical code of cells -- and discusses what this discovery may mean for the future of medicine, the environment and even life itself. (This conversation, hosted by TED's Chris Anderson, was recorded June 2020.)
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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The myth of bringing your full, authentic self to work | Jodi-Ann BureyVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
Calls for authenticity at work ask for passionate people with diverse, fresh perspectives who challenge old ways of thinking. But too often workplace culture fails to support the authenticity of professionals of color and other underrepresented groups, leading instead to backlash and fewer opportunities. Writer Jodi-Ann Burey outlines steps toward exposing privilege and achieving true equity on the job -- and implores those in leadership positions to accept responsibility for change.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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My mother's final wish -- and the right to die with dignity | Elaine FongVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
After a terminal cancer diagnosis upended 12 years of remission, all Elaine Fong's mother wanted was a peaceful end of life. What she received instead became a fight for the right to decide when. Fong shares the heart-rending journey to honor her mother's choice for a death with dignity -- and reflects on the need to explore our relationship to dying so that we may redesign this final and most universal of human experiences.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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The great free will debate | Bill Nye, Michio Kaku, Robert Sapolsky, Steven Pinker & moreThe great free will debate
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"What does it mean to have—or not have—free will? Were the actions of mass murderers pre-determined billions of years ago? Do brain processes trump personal responsibility? Can experiments prove that free will is an illusion?
Bill Nye, Steven Pinker, Daniel Dennett, Michio Kaku, Robert Sapolsky, and others approach the topic from their unique fields and illustrate how complex and layered the free will debate is.
From Newtonian determinism, to brain chemistry, to a Dennett thought experiment, explore the arguments that make up the free will landscape.
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TRANSCRIPT:
- Well, you ask one of the deepest philosophical questions of physics. The question of free will.
- For billions of years on this planet, there was life, but no free will. Physics hasn't changed, but now we have free will.
- The brains are automatic, but people are free.
- Our ability to choose is often confused.
- Human choices will not be predictable in any simple way.
- In reality, I don't think there's any free will at all.
DANIEL DENNETT: For billions of years on this planet there was life, but no free will. Physics hasn't changed, but now we have free will. The difference is not in physics. It has to do with, ultimately, with biology. Particularly evolutionary biology. What has happened over those billions of years, is that greater and greater competences have been designed and have evolved. And the competence of a dolphin, or of a chimpanzee, the cognitive competence, the sort of mental competence, is hugely superior to the competence of a lobster, or a starfish. But ours dwarfs the competence of a dolphin or a chimpanzee, perhaps to an even greater extent. And there's an entirely naturalistic story to say, to tell about how we came to have that competence, or those competences. And it's that, "Can do." It's that power that we have which is natural, but it's that power which sets us aside from every other species. And the key to it is that we don't just act for reasons. We represent our reasons to ourselves and to others. The business of asking somebody, "Why did you do that?" And the person being able to answer, it is the key to responsibility. And in fact, the word, "responsibility," sort of wears its meaning on its sleeve. We are responsible because we can respond to challenges to our reasons. Why? Because we don't just act for reasons, we act for reasons that we consciously represent to ourselves. And this is what gives us the power and the obligation to think ahead, to anticipate, to see the consequences of our action. To be able to evaluate those consequences in the light of what other people tell us. To share our wisdom with each other. No other species can do anything like it. And it's because we can share our wisdom that we have a special responsibility.
That's what makes us free in a way that no bird is free, for instance. There's a very sharp limit to the depth that we as conscious agents can probe our own activities. This sort of superficial access that we have to what's going on, that's what consciousness is. Now, when I say, who's this, "we," who's got this access? That's itself part of the illusion because there isn't a, sort of, boss part of the brain that's sitting there with this limited access. That itself is part of the illusion. What it is, is a bunch of different subsystems, which have varying access to varying things and that conspire in a sort of competitive way to execute whatever projects it is that they're, in their, sort of, mindless way executing.
STEVEN PINKER: I don't believe there's such a thing as free will in the sense of a ghost in the machine, a spirit, or soul that somehow reads the TV screen of the senses and pushes buttons and pulls levers of behavior. There's no sense that we can make of that. I think we are...our behavior is the product of physical processes in the brain. On the other hand, when you have a brain that consists of a hundred billion neurons, connected by a hundred trillion synapses, there is a vast amount of complexity. That means that human choices will not be predictable in any simple way from the stimuli that have impinged on it beforehand. We also know that that brain is set up so that there are at least two kinds of behavior. There's what happens when I shine a light in your eye and your iris contracts, or I hit your knee with a hammer and your leg jerks upward. We also know that there's a part of the brain that does things like choose what to have for dinner, whether to order chocolate, or vanilla ice cream. How to move the next chess piece...
Read the full transcript at https://bigthink.com/videos/the-great-free-will-debate
How compassion could save your strained relationships | Betty HartVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
When personal relationships and ideological differences collide, the result can lead to strained relations -- or even years of silence and distance. Actor Betty Hart offers an alternative to cold shoulders and haughty hellos: compassion, and a chance for growth and change instead of losing important time with loved ones.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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How video game skills can get you ahead in life | William CollisVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
What does it take to be a pro gamer? Esports expert William Collis charts the rise of the multibillion-dollar competitive gaming industry and breaks down three skills needed to master video games like Fortnite, League of Legends and Rocket League. And watch out, Collis says: these skills can set you up for crushing it at work, too.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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The value of your humanity in an automated future | Kevin RooseVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
To futureproof your job against robots and AI, you should learn how to code, brush up on your math skills and crack open an engineering textbook, right? Wrong. In this surprisingly comforting talk, tech journalist Kevin Roose makes the case that rather than trying to compete with the machines, we should instead focus on what makes us uniquely human.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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The people who caused the climate crisis aren't the ones who will solve it | Angela Mahecha AdrarVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
Corporations and big business have wrecked the environment, but disadvantaged communities living in "sacrifice zones" -- urban areas heavily polluted and poisoned by industry -- are paying the price, says climate justice leader Angela Mahecha Adrar. Explaining why racial and economic justice must be at the center of climate action, she takes us to the frontline communities that are leading the world to clean, innovative and just climate solutions -- like Cooperativa Tierra y Libertad, a local farm co-op in Washington that's disrupting the multibillion-dollar berry business.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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The innovations we need to avoid a climate disaster | Bill GatesTake action on climate change at http://countdown.ted.com.
The single most important thing for avoiding a climate disaster is cutting carbon pollution from the current 51 billion tons per year to zero, says philanthropist and technologist Bill Gates. Introducing the concept of the "green premium" -- the higher price of zero-emission products like electric cars, artificial meat or sustainable aviation fuel -- Gates identifies the breakthroughs and investments we need to reduce the cost of clean tech, decarbonize the economy and create a pathway to a clean and prosperous future for all. (This virtual conversation, hosted by TED Global curator Bruno Giussani, was recorded in March 2021.)
Countdown is TED's global initiative to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis. The goal: to build a better future by cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, in the race to a zero-carbon world. Get involved at https://countdown.ted.com/sign-up
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Are geniuses real? The neuroscience and myths of visionaries | Big ThinkAre geniuses real? The neuroscience and myths of visionaries
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Revolutionary ideas and culture-shifting inventions are often credited to specific individuals, but how often do these "geniuses" actually operate in creative silos?
Tim Sanders, former chief strategy officer at Yahoo, argues that there are three myths getting in the way of innovative ideas and productive collaborations: the myths of the expert, the eureka moment, and the "lone inventor."
More than an innate quality reserved for an elite group, neuroscientist Heather Berlin and neurobiologist Joy Hirsch explain how creativity looks in the brain, and how given opportunity, resources, and attitude, we can all be like Bach, Beethoven, and Steve Jobs.
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TRANSCRIPT:
-There is no such thing as a lone inventor. We want to be as empowered as Ayn Rand. We want to think that we are the fountainhead, so this is how we tell the story. But until you believe that genius is a team sport, you will never give up control.
- It's not just about collecting a bunch of data and knowing a lot of facts, but it's making these novel connections between ideas.
- I think all of us as humans are sort of endowed with the need to make things better. Genius is just an extreme version of that but it represents us as humans in a very fundamental way.
TIM SANDERS: There are myths of creativity and these myths are usually propagated by people that have romantic notions about heroes, romantic notions about eureka moments. And these myths of creativity keep people from collaborating and it causes them to be a lone wolf. And the research says it causes them to fail. So let me talk a little bit about those myths of creativity. In the world of sales and marketing, I battle against three myths. Myth number one, the lone inventor. This is very dangerous because there is no such thing as a lone inventor. As a matter of fact, there's a lot of historical research that has debunked Einstein. Specifically in terms of inventions, Henry Ford, not a lone inventor. Classic example, Thomas Edison. In the invention community, Thomas Edison is a brand. It stands for 14 people. Yes, there was a figurehead named Thomas Edison. His name is on 10,000 patents. He did not invent a single thing. He marshaled people together and knew how to spot innovations and put people together like, a creative soup, if you will. Here's a classic example, Steve Jobs, you ask the average person, say a millennial who uses a lot of Apple technology, "Who's one of the greatest inventors of our time?" They'll say Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs once said, "I never created anything. "All I did was notice patterns "and put people together to finish projects." So think about it. If he doesn't have Wozniak, there is no original Apple, right? If he doesn't have Ive, there is no iPod. If he doesn't have Tony Fiddel, there is no iPhone. And the list goes on and on.
Got a good friend of mine, David Berkus, who wrote a really wonderful book about the myths of genius. And he was telling me that it's a romantic notion. And I remember when I first read this research years ago, no lone inventor, it did kind of hurt my feelings. I'm a musician in my past. I thought I wrote a lot of songs but according to the research, I'd never wrote a song. I always collaborated with somebody, the song that actually made it to the record and made it on the radio had 15 to 50 hands on it. When I talked to David, I said, "When I read your research, it kind of hurt my feelings." And he goes, "It's a romantic notion because we want to be heroes." We want to be as empowered as Ayn Rand. We want to think that we're the Fountainhead. So this is how we tell the story. But until you believe that genius is a team sport, you will never give up control. And this is the problem for a lot of people in sales. They don't want to cede any level of control over their process to somebody outside of sales world because they don't value those voices enough. But the research is clear on this, Miller Heiman Institute researched the difference between good and great. They call it world-class organizations. They win, they sell 20% more than their nearest competitor. The only thing they have in common is they've broken this myth and they understand that every deal is about rapid problem solving and no one person can solve the problem on their own.
Quickly, the other two myths of creativity that must be dispelled is the eureka moment. There is no such thing as a big idea that changes the world. I know this is another one of those hurtful, but very true based on empirical research...
To read the full transcript, please visit https://bigthink.com/videos/the-myth-of-genius?
Why there's no such thing as objective reality | Greg AndersonVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
In the grand scheme of history, modern reality is a bizarre exception when compared to the worlds of ancient, precolonial and Indigenous civilizations, where myths ruled and gods roamed, says historian Greg Anderson. So why do Westerners today think they're right about reality and everybody else is wrong? Anderson tears into the fabric of objective reality to reveal the many universes that lie beyond -- and encourages a healthy reimagining of what other possible ways of being human could look like.
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"Aliens built the pyramids" and other absurdities of pseudo-archaeology | Sarah KurnickVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
Aliens have invaded ancient history: they've cropped up in humanity's past through popular television and movies, displacing facts with absurd yet commonplace beliefs like "aliens built the pyramids." Archaeologist Sarah Kurnick illustrates why these misconceptions perpetuate racist and xenophobic notions of history and culture -- and demonstrates how you can help debunk these dangerous, outlandish myths.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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Meditations on the intersection of humanity and technology | Olivia ArthurVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
Documentary photographer Olivia Arthur has been exploring a new frontier: the evolution of the blurring line between humanity and technology. In this meditative talk, she shows her work documenting the remarkable ways humans have merged with machines -- from bionics and motorized limbs to synthetic muscles and strikingly realistic robots -- and offers wisdom on the complexity, adaptability and resilience of the human body.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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How theater weathers wars, outlasts empires and survives pandemics | Cara Greene EpsteinVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
When catastrophe strikes, art prevails -- and has done so for centuries. In this fascinating talk, writer and director Cara Greene Epstein places the closing of theaters during the coronavirus pandemic in a historical context, exploring how we can use this intermission to imagine a more just, representative and beautiful world, onstage and off.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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How to think smarter about failure | Tim Ferriss, Ethan Hawke & more | Big ThinkHow to think smarter about failure
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What does it mean to be a failure? Failing is typically seen as moving in the opposite direction of a specific goal, when in reality, most achievements in history were made possible by a series of non-successes.
"The very concepts of success and failure are words that never really meant anything," says astronomer Michelle Thaller. She and others argue that successes and failures are inextricably linked, and that how we define them for ourselves is what matters.
As Ethan Hawke, multidisciplinary filmmaker Karen Palmer, entrepreneurs Steve Case and Tim Ferriss, executive coach Alisa Cohn, and others explain, finding personal success means taking risks, being willing to fail, and recognizing when—and why—things are not working. "Most things will fail, but that doesn't mean you're a failure," Steve Case says. "That just means that idea failed. And what can you learn from that idea and then move forward."
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TRANSCRIPT:
Do something where it's going to go bad. Where you know that ahead of time. 'Cause like what's the worst that can happen?
You have to try a lot of things. Most things will fail, but that doesn't mean you're a failure. That just means that idea failed. And what can you learn from that idea? And then move forward.
The very concepts of success and failure I think are words that never really meant anything. And actually, I strongly suspect they have a lot to do with privilege.
MICHELLE THALLER: I often get questions from young students, and they say, well, how did you become a success? Or another great question these days is how did you overcome failure? And the funny thing is I found myself really kind of at a loss because the very concepts of success and failure I think are words that never really meant anything. And actually, I strongly suspect they have a lot to do with privilege. That if you can make yourself in the model of a research professor of 100 years ago, that's defined as a success. And if you do something different it's defined as a failure. There's never been any time in my life where, even after having received an award, or having been on a television show, I sat back and said, boy, I really feel like a success. It was always wrapped up in feelings of I should've done something differently, I should've had a different career path. There's never been a time where I felt like a success. And at the same time the idea that you ever really fail at something. There are plenty of times that, I very nearly failed differential equations in calculus, there were things that I was not very good at. But I eventually got them on, say, the third or fourth try. And the problem was just staying around and telling yourself that I really want to learn this, and I'm just not gonna leave until I do. There wasn't any really true failure either. It was always kind of twisted up with things I was proud of, that I was actually working through and trying to learn. So this idea that at some point in your life you're going to stop and feel like a success. Yes, I am successful now. I get very, very nervous when people ask me about that, about how did you become a success. I wanna sit them down and tell them all the things I screwed up, and all the things I did wrong, and all the reasons I'm not a success. And at the same time, when anybody calls me a failure, it's like, I wanna sit you down and explain why what I'm doing is actually getting your money and your funding for the rest of science. I'm not a failure either.
Everything in life is gonna be a flow between those two things. Everything is gonna be a jumble of success and failure. Your personal life, your professional life, the way you feel about yourself. And it's a strange model we give young people. Try to be a success, try to overcome failure. All I can do is just kind of breathe and just realize that at no point in my life am I gonna separate those two.
ARI SHAFFIR: So I was maybe a year or two years into comedy. Went home to this job, came back, and was over-- I haven't thought about this in a while—I was overcome by fright. I couldn't get back on stage. I couldn't do it. I would drive from my apartment in West LA, 30 minutes towards The Comedy Store. Find parking, get out of my car, walk to The Comedy Store. Because you get an employee spot every week, and I was an employee, so you get your three minutes, and it was the highlight of your week. And I would park, go in, turn around, get back into my car, and go home without getting on stage. I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it. I didn't know what to do. So what I did...
Read the full transcript at https://bigthink.com/videos/think-smarter-about-failure
I let algorithms randomize my life for two years | Max HawkinsVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
What if everything in your life was randomized: from the food you ate to the things you did and the places you traveled? Computer scientist Max Hawkins created algorithms to make decisions like these for him -- and got hooked on the experience for two years. He shares how relinquishing choice sent him across the world and opened him up to the beautiful complexity and richness of life. It makes you wonder: What lies just outside your comfort zone?
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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The hidden history found in your teeth | Carolyn FreiwaldVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
Your teeth carry secrets: centuries of history about your ancestors, from where they lived to what they ate and where they traveled. Bioarchaeologist Carolyn Freiwald traces the story of human migration across the Americas -- from Mayan royalty and Belizean buccaneers to rural Appalachian farmers -- to illustrate what ancient teeth can reveal about you.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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The promise of quantum computers | Matt LangioneVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
What if tiny microparticles could help us solve the world's biggest problems in a matter of minutes? That's the promise -- and magic -- of quantum computers, says Matt Langione. Speaking next to an actual IBM quantum computer, he explains how these machines solve complex challenges like developing vaccines and calculating financial risk in an entirely new way that's exponentially faster than the best supercomputers -- and shares why industries should prepare now for this new leap in computing.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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How to get everyone to care about a green economy | Angela FrancisVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
How do you get the environment to the top of everyone's priority list? You can't, says climate advocate Angela Francis -- but you can get them to care about improving their lives. In this pragmatic talk, she shares her playbook for helping even the most skeptical among us see the benefits of a greener economy on their health, wealth and well-being.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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Skepticism: Why critical thinking makes you smarter | Bill Nye, Derren Brown & more | Big ThinkSkepticism: Why critical thinking makes you smarter
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It's not always easy to tell the difference between objective truth and what we believe to be true. Separating facts from opinions, according to skeptic Michael Shermer, theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss, and others, requires research, self-reflection, and time.
Recognizing your own biases and those of others, avoiding echo chambers, actively seeking out opposing voices, and asking smart, testable questions are a few of the ways that skepticism can be a useful tool for learning and growth.
As Derren Brown points out, being "skeptical of skepticism" can also lead to interesting revelations and teach us new things about ourselves and our psychology.
Read Michael Shermer's latest book "Skeptic: Viewing the World with a Rational Eye" at https://amzn.to/3c7vP58
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TRANSCRIPT:
LAWRENCE KRAUSS: I like to keep an open mind but not so open that my brains fall out. And that's the key point. We have to skeptically assess the information we receive. We can't be gullible because when we get a lot of information, it's absolutely certain that some of that information is wrong. And so we have to always filter what we get. And we have to ask ourselves the following question: "How open does my brain have to be to accept that information? Does it have to fall out?" And by that, I mean when someone tells you something you have to ask "Is this consistent with my experience? Is it consistent with the experience of other people around me?" And if it isn't, then probably there's a good reason to be skeptical about it; it's probably wrong. If it makes predictions that also appear to be in disagreement with things that you observe around you, you should question it.
And so we should never take anything on faith. That's really the mantra of science, if you want, that faith is the enemy of science. We often talk about a loss of faith in the world today. You don't lose anything by losing faith. What you gain is reality. And so skepticism plays a key role in science simply because we also are hard-wired to want to believe. We're hard-wired to want to find reasons for things. In the savanna in Africa, the trees could be rustling and you could choose to say, "Well, there's no reason for that." Or, "Maybe it's due to a lion." And those individuals who thought there might be no reason, never lived long enough to survive to procreate. And so it's not too surprising, we want to find explanations for everything. And we create them if we need to, to satisfy ourselves, because we need to make sense of the world around us. And what we have to understand is that what makes sense to the universe, is not the same as what makes sense to us. And we can't impose our beliefs on the universe. And the way we get around that inherent bias is by constantly questioning both ourselves and all the information we receive from others. That's what we do in science and it works beautifully in the real world as well.
MICHAEL SHERMER: The problem is this. None of us has the truth. The only way to find out if you're deceiving yourself or not, if you've gone off the rails, if you're wrong in some way, is to listen to other people who disagree with you. I started encountering other people that disagreed with me. You know, we-never-went-to-the-moon people, conspiracy people, whatever. And I thought, "Okay, so how do we know, if I don't know what's coming down the pike say in 10 years from now, if I was gonna teach my students how to think critically, what are the key points, like just basic questions they could ask?" So, it begins with one: How reliable is the source of the claim? Here's the claim, how reliable is it? What's the evidence for it? What's the quality of the evidence? Where does it come from? Who said that? Is this some fake news, alternative site thing, or is it The Wall Street Journal or The New York Times? The source really matters. Has anyone tried to disprove the claim? This is super important because everybody thinks they're right and every website has testimonials about this product or that idea. The question is not "What do your supporters think?" but "What do the people who don't agree with you think?" Because that's what I wanna know. Has anyone run an experiment to try to disprove your theory? And so in science, this is as basic as it gets. Karl Popper called this the Principle of Falsification. That is, we can't ever prove a theory correct, but we can disprove it by having an experiment that shows it's wrong.
So, if you can't falsify it, what are you really doing? And my favorite story on...
Read the full transcript at https://bigthink.com/videos/critical-thinking-skills
How bad data keeps us from good AI | Mainak MazumdarVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
The future economy won't be built by people and factories, but by algorithms and artificial intelligence, says data scientist Mainak Mazumdar. But what happens when these algorithms get trained on biased data? Drawing on examples from Shanghai to New York City, Mazumdar shows how less-than-quality data leads to AI that makes wrong decisions and predictions -- and reveals three infrastructural resets needed to make ethical AI possible.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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A concrete idea to reduce CO2 emissions | Karen ScrivenerTake action on climate change at http://countdown.ted.com.
Concrete is the second most-used substance on Earth (behind water), and it's responsible for eight percent of the world's carbon footprint. Cement researcher Karen Scrivener shares the research behind a pioneering new kind of cement known as LC3, which could slash carbon emissions from this crucial building material by 40 percent, if adopted at scale.
This talk was part of the Countdown Global Launch on 10.10.2020. (Watch the full event here: https://youtu.be/5dVcn8NjbwY.) Countdown is TED's global initiative to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis. The goal: to build a better future by cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, in the race to a zero-carbon world. Get involved at https://countdown.ted.com/sign-up
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10 steps to boost your financial health -- that you can do in a day | Your Money and Your MindYou take vacation days, sick days and mental health days; now it's time to add a financial health day to that list! What to do on it? Behavioral psychologist Wendy De La Rosa shares 10 simple steps you can take to spend less, save more -- and stress less.
Managing your money can feel scary and complicated, but it doesn't have to be. In this TED series, behavioral scientist Wendy De La Rosa explains why we spend too much and save too little -- and shares easy steps to help us achieve a more secure financial future. (Made possible with the support of Wells Fargo)
Watch Your Money and Your Mind with Wendy De La Rosa at https://go.ted.com/yourmoneyandyourmind
Why talking to your friends can help you save money | Your Money and Your MindWhat convinced British citizens to send in their taxes on time — and resulted in San Diego residents reducing their energy consumption? Learning that their neighbors were doing it. Behavioral psychologist Wendy De La Rosa shares the surprising power of our peers and how we can use it to improve our financial habits.
Managing your money can feel scary and complicated, but it doesn't have to be. In this TED series, behavioral scientist Wendy De La Rosa explains why we spend too much and save too little -- and shares easy steps to help us achieve a more secure financial future. (Made possible with the support of Wells Fargo)
Watch Your Money and Your Mind with Wendy De La Rosa at https://go.ted.com/yourmoneyandyourmind
3 sneaky tactics that websites use to make you spend | Your Money and Your MindOnline retailers resort to all kinds of strategies to separate you from your hard-earned money. Behavioral scientist Wendy De La Rosa names three tactics to look out for -- and shares how you can keep yourself from falling for them.
Managing your money can feel scary and complicated, but it doesn't have to be. In this TED series, behavioral scientist Wendy De La Rosa explains why we spend too much and save too little -- and shares easy steps to help us achieve a more secure financial future. (Made possible with the support of Wells Fargo)
Watch Your Money and Your Mind with Wendy De La Rosa at https://go.ted.com/yourmoneyandyourmind
A simple 2-step plan for saving more money | Your Money and Your MindSaving money is like working out or eating right -- it's easier said than done. Behavioral scientist Wendy De La Rosa streamlines the process with two quick tips that can help you achieve your goals.
Managing your money can feel scary and complicated, but it doesn't have to be. In this TED series, behavioral scientist Wendy De La Rosa explains why we spend too much and save too little -- and shares easy steps to help us achieve a more secure financial future. (Made possible with the support of Wells Fargo)
Watch Your Money and Your Mind with Wendy De La Rosa at https://go.ted.com/yourmoneyandyourmind
How vulnerability makes you a better leader | Tracy YoungVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
As the founder of a startup, Tracy Young often worried that employees and investors valued male CEOs more -- and that being a woman compromised her position as a leader. In this brave, personal talk, she gives an honest look at the constraints women face when trying to adapt to a male-dominated business culture -- and shares how she developed the courage and vulnerability to lead as her complete, raw self. (This talk contains a graphic story. Discretion is advised.)
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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Technology can't fix inequality -- but training and opportunities could | 'Gbenga SesanVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
Centuries of inequality can't be solved with access to technology alone -- we need to connect people with training and support too, says tech inclusionist 'Gbenga Sesan. Sharing the work behind the Paradigm Initiative, a social enterprise in Nigeria that's empowering young people with digital resources and skills, Sesan details a vision for creating life-changing opportunities for generations of people across Africa.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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My journey mapping the uncharted world | Tawanda KanhemaVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
Significant pieces of the globe are literally not on the map: they're missing from the most widely used mapping platforms, like Google Street View, leaving communities neglected of vital services and humanitarian aid. In this globetrotting talk, photographer Tawanda Kanhema takes us along on his journey to map 3,000 miles of uncharted areas in Zimbabwe, Namibia and northern Canada -- and shows how we can all contribute to building a more connected world.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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3 ways to upgrade democracy for the 21st century | Max RashbrookeVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
Democracy needs an update -- one that respects and engages citizens by involving them in everyday political decisions, says writer and researcher Max Rashbrooke. He outlines three global success stories that could help move democratic systems forward and protect society against the new challenges this century is already bringing.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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How technology changes our sense of right and wrong | Juan EnriquezVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
What drives society's understanding of right and wrong? In this thought-provoking talk, futurist Juan Enriquez offers a historical outlook on what humanity once deemed acceptable -- from human sacrifice and public executions to slavery and eating meat -- and makes a surprising case that exponential advances in technology leads to more ethical behavior.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat -- and the rise of bite-sized content | Qiuqing TaiVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
Short videos -- 60 seconds or less, made and shared on apps like TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram -- are more than just a fun way to pass the time; they've transformed how we work, communicate and learn. Digital strategist Qiuqing Tai explores the explosive rise of bite-sized content and forecasts its promise as an economic and social force.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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How a geospatial nervous system could help us design a better future | Jack DangermondVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
What if we could better understand the world's biggest challenges simply by looking at a map? Jack Dangermond, a pioneer in geographic information system (GIS) technology that powers the digital maps people around the world use every day, speaks with TED technology curator Simone Ross about how his team is building a geospatial nervous system: a global, interconnected GIS network that reveals patterns, visualizes trends -- and could transform the way we make decisions about nearly everything.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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Has political correctness gone too far? | Jim Gaffigan, Slavoj Zizek & more | Big ThinkHas political correctness gone too far?
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Political correctness is often seen as a debate between two extremes, but there are nuances in the middle of the spectrum. Is there such a thing as being too PC, and if so, where is that line?
While philosopher Slavoj Žižek, comedian Lewis Black, and actor Jeff Garlin acknowledge that some topics can be hurtful or even oppressive and should thus be approached with "good taste and self-restraint," they also argue that PC culture has tipped the scales far beyond being balanced. "If we continue to move in that direction," says Black, "then we're going to be living between uptight and stupid and there'll be no in between."
Simultaneously, others—including Paul F. Tompkins, Jim Gaffigan, and Martin Amis—argue that political correctness aims to change things for the better, especially for groups who have been marginalized and discriminated against, and that not being sexist and racist, for example, is not actually a heavy lift. "The fact of the matter is these people are the people of today and you might be a person of yesterday if you can't adjust and you can't be in tune with what people think is funny anymore," says Tompkins.
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TRANSCRIPT:
SLAVOJ ŽIŽEK: I know that there is a lot of sexual harassment, racism, and so on in our lives. And I don't doubt that the majority of people who promote political correctness mean it sincerely. I am not saying that. I am not saying in the way of right-wing paranoia that they are evil people who want to destroy the American way of life. I'm just saying that the way they approach the problem is that instead of resolving it, the predominant effect is just to keep it under check and allowing the true problem—racism, sexism—to survive in a more covered up version and so on and so on. Of course, racist jokes and so on can be extremely oppressive, humiliating, and so on. But the solution, I think, is to create an atmosphere or to practice these jokes in such a way that they really function as that little bit of obscene contact which establishes true proximity between us. And I'm talking from my own past political experience, ex-Yugoslavia. I remember when I was young, when I met with other people from ex-Yugoslav Republic—Serbs, Croat, Bosnians and so on—we were all the time telling dirty jokes about each other, but not so much against the other. We were, in a wonderful way, competing who will be able to tell a nastier joke about ourselves. These were obscene, racist jokes, but their effect was a wonderful sense of shared obscene solidarity. It works.
So you see this ambiguity, that's my problem with political correctness. You know. It's just a form of self-discipline which doesn't really allow you to overcome racism. It's just oppressed, controlled racism.
I am not an idiot. I am well aware this doesn't mean we should just walk around and humiliate each other. It's a great art how to do it. I'm just saying that's my hypothesis. Without such a tiny exchange of friendly obscenities, you don't have real contact with another. It remains this cold respect and so on, you know. We need this, we need this to establish real contact.
LEWIS BLACK: Political correctness has a tendency to jump the gun before you get to bigotry. Political correctness has no sense of humor so it doesn't know. I will mention guns in my act, and not that this is politically correct, it's the same sort of thing. I'll say guns and then you immediately feel the audience get uptight because I've said nothing but 'guns'. They don't know what I'm going to say, they have no idea, they've got no clue and they jump on it. So what happens in a politically incorrect joke is they hear the first part and they stop listening. So they don't know what the god damn joke is about. I have little or no time for it. And if you have trouble with that, what you do is you laugh. If you think a joke was mean or bad or something that was politically incorrect, you still laugh at the joke then you go 'Ha ha' and later on, you go 'That was bad. I was bad to laugh at that.' Do it on your own time.
I would go to a college campus. The last one I went to was Penn State. They had just gone through the year of Sandusky and Paterno, my opening act had even done Sandusky, jokes about him. And we thought, well, we can't do that because these kids have just been, you know, and when you got on stage you realize these kids are shell shocked because they're not even laughing at what they normally would laugh at. Afterward, when we avoided the topic completely, the...
Read the full transcript at https://bigthink.com/videos/political-correctness-debate
The US is back in the Paris Agreement. What’s next? | John Kerry and Al GoreTake action on climate change at http://countdown.ted.com.
On his first day as president, Joe Biden signed a letter of acceptance that set in motion the 30-day process for the United States to re-join the Paris Agreement on climate. On the day the US returns to the accord, John Kerry, the US Special Envoy for Climate, sits down with Nobel Laureate Al Gore to discuss the make-or-break decade ahead of us. Listen as Kerry lays out how the US fits into the global plan to get to net-zero emissions, explains why the COP26 UN climate conference could be humanity's "last best hope" to build international momentum and explores the role of business and youth activists in promoting environmental justice. (This interview features an introduction from Christiana Figueres, the principal architect of the Paris Agreement.)
Countdown is TED's global initiative to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis. The goal: to build a better future by cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, in the race to a zero-carbon world. Get involved at https://countdown.ted.com/sign-up
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When the world is burning, is art a waste of time? | R. Alan BrooksVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
Is art worth it? "Hell yeah," says graphic novelist R. Alan Brooks -- art has the power to scare dictators, inspire multitudes and change hearts and minds across the world. Reflecting on his journey to become an artist at a time when the world felt like it was burning, Brooks shares how creating something from a place of sincerity and passion can positively impact people in ways you may never know.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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How to avoid catching prickly emotions from other people | Jessica WoodsVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
Difficult emotions can get under your skin if you're not careful. Sport and performance consultant Jessica Woods calls this the "jumping cholla effect," inspired by a sneaky kind of cactus that detaches and burrows its spines into unsuspecting passersby. In this empowering talk, she shares four mood-regulating strategies to help you gain self-awareness of your feelings, avoid catching other people's emotions and perform at your peak -- whatever the prickly situation may be.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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A stealthy reimagining of urban public space | Elizabeth DillerVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
Cities are becoming increasingly privatized: commercial real estate dominates the streets, carving up open space that once belonged to the public and selling it as a commodity to the highest bidder. Architect Elizabeth Diller explores the causes and effects of this growing threat -- and takes us on tour of her groundbreaking projects aimed at creating landscapes for the public to enjoy, from the High Line in New York City to Zaryadye Park in Moscow.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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How leaders influence people to believe | Michael Dowling | Big ThinkHow leaders influence people to believe
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What does it take to be a leader? For Northwell Health president and CEO Michael Dowling, having an Ivy League degree and a large office is not what makes a leader. Leadership requires something much less tangible: influence.
True leaders inspire people to follow and believe in them and the organization's mission by being passionate, having humility, and being a real part of the team. This is especially important in a field like health care, where guidance and teamwork save lives.
Authenticity is also key. "Don't pretend, be real," says Dowling. "Accept your vulnerabilities, accept your weaknesses, know where your strengths are, and get people to belong."
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MICHAEL DOWLING:
Michael J. Dowling is president and chief executive officer of Northwell Health, New York's largest health care provider and private employer, with 23 hospitals, more than 800 outpatient locations, and 75,000+ employees. One of health care's most influential executives, Mr. Dowling has received numerous awards, including the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, an honorary degree from the prestigious Queen's University Belfast and his selection as the Grand Marshal of the 2017 St. Patrick's Day Parade in NYC. He also serves as chair of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
Read his book titled "Leading Through a Pandemic: The Inside Story of Humanity, Innovation, and Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Crisis" at http://amzn.to/3oXBArp
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TRANSCRIPT:
MICHAEL DOWLING: Well, leadership, in many ways, is about influence. It's about getting people to believe in what you believe in. I fundamentally believe that people want to follow if they believe. If they feel there's a connection between what you're selling and what they believe in themselves.
And health care, of course, is an extraordinary place for that because what we do all the time is we're trying to keep people well. We're trying to help people that get sick. We're trying to save people, bring families back together, bring children into the world, take care of all the people at the end of life.
There is nothing more fundamental and human than that. But you've got to be able, as any leader, irrespective of what you're working in, you've got to be able to influence the behavior of people and get them to believe.
My view is the first thing you do to make that happen is you've got to believe it yourself. If you're passionate yourself about what you believe in, it is serious, it's just not a job, it's something that's inherent in you, that this is what you really care for.
If people know that it is innate to your being and that you really care for this, and that you're compassionate yourself, and that you feel for it, it resonates. It gets people to connect. It's not a thing you're selling, it's a feeling you're selling, it's a belief system you're selling. It's about connections.
It's also about humility. It's also about not taking yourself too seriously, and what I mean by that is, especially if you're a CEO, what is a CEO? You're a part of a team. You're the captain. But you have to be a player. You're not a title. The captain who's on a team that is not a player and nobody respects—the title means nothing.
I know I was fortunate to play sports. Games are won in the locker room, the feeling of camaraderie among players. That feeling is about "I'm for you, you're for me. We go down together, we go up together. We win together, we lose together."
But if I'm the captain, the "CEO" in that locker room, and I consider myself so important, you know, I work and I live in a big office, and my desk is huge and I drive a big car and I live in a nice neighborhood and look where I got my degree from. And I meet people like this, "Oh, look where I got my degree from. I'm top of my class." And quite frankly, I could care less. Are you a team player? Are you respected? Are you appreciated? Can you influence? Will people follow you?
I mean, if you're going down the road and you look back and there's nobody following, you're not a leader. It's when you look back and you have followers. Leadership is about followership. If you have no followers, you're not a leader.
And you gain respect by your authenticity. Don't pretend, be real, you know? Accept your vulnerabilities, accept your weaknesses, know where your strengths are, and get people to belong.
People want to belong to a cause. Engage people, just don't direct them, just don't talk to them. Engage them. It's a participatory process.
For more info, please visit https://bigthink.com/Northwell-Health/leadership-influence
7 dimensions of depression, explained | Daniel Goleman, Pete Holmes & more | Big Think7 dimensions of depression, explained
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According to the World Health Organization, more than 264 million people suffer from depression. It is the leading cause of disability and, at its worst, can lead to suicide. Unfortunately, depression is often misunderstood or ignored until it is too late.
Psychologist Daniel Goleman, comedian Pete Holmes, neuroscientist Emeran Mayer, psychiatrist Drew Ramsey, and more outline several of the social, chemical, and neurological factors that may contribute to the complex disorder and explain why there is not a singular solution or universal "cure" that can alleviate the symptoms.
From gaining insight into how the brain-gut connection works and adopting a more Mediterranean diet, to seeking help from medical or spiritual practitioners, depression is a personal battle that requires a personalized strategy to keep it at bay, as well as more research and understanding.
Check Drew Ramsey's book "Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety: Nourish Your Way to Better Mental Health in Six Weeks" at
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TRANSCRIPT:
JOHANN HARI: When I feel depressed, like loads of people, I say I feel down, right? And as I was learning about the causes of depression and anxiety for my book, "Lost Connections," I started to realize, I don't think that's a metaphor. There is this amazing Professor at Stanford called Robert Sapolsky who in his early '20s went to live with a troop baboons in Kenya. And it was his job to figure out when are baboons most stressed out. So his job was to hit them with little tranquilizer darts and then take a blood test and measure something called cortisol, which is a hormone that baboons and us release when we're stressed. And baboons live in this hierarchy, so the females don't interestingly but the men live in a very strict hierarchy. So if there's 30 men, number one knows he's above number two, number two knows he's above number three, number 12 knows he's above number 13. And that really determines a lot. It determines who you get to have sex with, it determines what you get to eat, it determines whether you get to sit in the shade or you're pushed out into the heat. Yeah, it's a really, really significant where you are in the hierarchy.
And what Professor Sapolsky found is baboons are most stressed in two situations. One is when their status is insecure. So if you're the top guy and someone's circling which comes for you, you will be massively stressed. And the other situation is when you feel you're at the bottom of a hierarchy, you've been kind of humiliated. And what Professor Sapolsky found is when you feel you've been pushed to the bottom, what you do is you show something called submission gesture. Baboon will put its body down physically or put its head down, it will put its bottom in the air and it will cover its head. So it clearly seems to be communicating, "Just leave me alone, you've beaten me. Okay, you've beaten me." And what lots of scientists, people like Professor Paul Gilbert in Britain and Professor Kate Pickett and Professor Richard Wilkinson also in Britain have really developed is this idea that actually what human depression is in part, not entirely, but in part, is a form of a submission gesture. It's a way of saying, I can't cope with this anymore, right? Particularly people who feel they've been pushed to the bottom of hierarchies or who feel remember the other stressful situations when you feel your status is insecure it's a way of just going, "Okay, can I retreat?" "I don't want this fight anymore." "You've beaten me." It's a kind of very strong evolutionary impulse where you feel you're under attack to just submit in the hope that the stress and anxiety will then go away. The sources of the stress and anxiety will then go away.
And one thing that is so important, Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson really developed this, is they've shown so as inequality grows, depression and anxiety grow. They've shown, this is very robust effect, right? This helps us to explain it. One in five Americans will take a psychiatric drug, one in four middle-aged women in the United States is taking a chemical antidepressant in any given year. And I began to think, could it really be that just so many people are just mysteriously lacking a specific chemical in their brain? Why does it seem to be rising so much if that's the cause? If you live in Norway, your status is relatively secure, right? No one's that high, no one's that low, movement between where you are is not so extreme. If you live in the United States, especially today which is we're now at the...
Read the full transcript at https://bigthink.com/Northwell-Health/leadership-influence
What COVID-19 revealed about US schools -- and 4 ways to rethink education | Nora FlanaganVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
The abrupt shift to online learning due to COVID-19 rocked the US education system, unearthing many of the inequities at its foundation. Educator Nora Flanagan says we can reframe this moment as an opportunity to fix what's long been broken for teachers, students and families -- and shares four ways schools can reinvent themselves for a post-pandemic world.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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The joy of shopping -- and how to recapture it online | Nimisha JainVisit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
Shopping is about more than just what you buy: it's a treasure hunt to discover something new, a negotiation to get a great deal, a time to catch up with friends and family. But for many, online shopping has turned the experience into an impersonal, unsatisfactory event. Is there a way to bring back the magic? With exciting examples from companies in India, Thailand and China, consumer expert Nimisha Jain introduces us to "conversational commerce," a new retail model that combines the convenience of a digital experience with the personalized touch of a real, human interaction.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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TED's videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization/our-policies-terms/ted-talks-usage-policy). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com
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