Dan Gilbert: Why we make bad decisions
Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness and a noted behavorial psychologist, explains in his TED talk how we are terribly accurate in making poor decisions.
Our Favorite Talks
Information overload: Separating the signal from the noise
Today, information flows fast. In recent years, this trend has only accelerated. The Internet serves as a perfect conduit for delivering information at an incredibly high velocity. News from all corners of the globe accumulates rapidly and is for the most part readily accessible. The sheer speeds at which information is captured and put to use can have a measurable impact on the course of events.
How play allows us to be more creative
In his TED talk ‘Tales of creativity and play’, Tim Brown discusses the inherent difficulties of encouraging creativity in the workplace. Brown suggests that trust, more than anything else, allows people to harness their creative faculties. Faced with the dullness of a cubicle office or a workplace brimming with artful spontaneity, most people will choose the latter.
How do we get people to care about their government? Ask Nike
In his TED Talk, Dave Meslin argues that people aren’t tuning out their local government, rather they are being shut out (either intentionally or unintentionally) of the process. What he categorizes as “intentional exclusion” many local governments make it exceedingly difficult for people to 1.) understand what is going on at the municipal level and 2.) actively participate in the process of governing.
Are you experienced? Exploration in the digital age
Technology, namely the Internet, has both its benefits and cons. As Ben Saunders says in his TED talk, we are now able to retrieve information about the world around us at an incredible speed and with minimal effort. Checking the weather doesn’t mean stepping outside, it means pulling out your smartphone. Discovering a new book doesn’t mean meeting a friend for coffee, but relying on an algorithm. What effect is this easy access having on our sense of fulfillment in life? To paraphrase something a certain musician once said: Are you experienced?
How I Discovered TED
My name is Linnea Hjelm, and I’m going to be a senior at Biotechnology High School in Freehold, NJ. I discovered TED probably around my freshman or sophomore year at school, but I feel like I’ve had the greatest exposure to TED talks in the past year or so. My teachers were the ones who […]
MOOC’s and the future of education
I recently read a great article in the Sunday Review section of the Times about the pros and cons of MOOCs, massive online open courses. I feel the discussion about the value of this way of learning and what it means to education in general will be heating up in a big way in the […]
From Adversity to Aesthetic
I stumbled upon her TED talk from 2009, switching through television channels one late evening. I had missed the set up and stopped because this lovely woman was talking about the art and function of prosthetics. Dying to find out what she had overcome, I waited, never realizing that the beautiful legs in high-heeled pumps were prosthetic.