TED Talks
Ruth Chang: How to make hard choices
Here's a talk that could literally change your life. Which career should I pursue? Should I break up -- or get married?! Where should I live? Big decisions like these can be agonizingly difficult. But that's because we think about them...
TED Talks
TED: Our refugee system is failing. Here's how we can fix it | Alexander Betts
A million refugees arrived in europe this year, says Alexander Betts, and "our response, frankly, has been pathetic." Betts studies forced migration, the impossible choice for families between the camps, urban poverty and dangerous...
SciShow
Magic Isn't Magic: It's Psychology
Magicians have a handy ace up their sleeve: Your brain, and they're not the only ones who know how to use it.
TED Talks
TED: 3 ways to make better decisions -- by thinking like a computer | Tom Griffiths
If you ever struggle to make decisions, here's a talk for you. Cognitive scientist Tom Griffiths shows how we can apply the logic of computers to untangle tricky human problems, sharing three practical strategies for making better...
TED Talks
TED: How to read the genome and build a human being | Riccardo Sabatini
Secrets, disease and beauty are all written in the human genome, the complete set of genetic instructions needed to build a human being. Now, as scientist and entrepreneur Riccardo Sabatini shows us, we have the power to read this...
TED Talks
TED: How better tech could protect us from distraction | Tristan Harris
How often does technology interrupt us from what we really mean to be doing? At work and at play, we spend a startling amount of time distracted by pings and pop-ups -- instead of helping us spend our time well, it often feels like our...
TED Talks
TED: The case for stubborn optimism on climate | Christiana Figueres
This decade is a moment of choice unlike any we have ever lived, says Christiana Figueres, the architect of the historic 2015 Paris Agreement. The daughter of Costa Rica's beloved President José Figueres Ferrer, she shares how her...
TED Talks
Barry Schwartz: The paradox of choice
Psychologist Barry Schwartz takes aim at a central tenet of western societies: freedom of choice. In Schwartz's estimation, choice has made us not freer but more paralyzed, not happier but more dissatisfied.
TED Talks
Margaret Gould Stewart: How YouTube thinks about copyright
Margaret Gould Stewart, YouTube's head of user experience, talks about how the ubiquitous video site works with copyright holders and creators to foster (at the best of times) a creative ecosystem where everybody wins.
TED Talks
Tim Leberecht: 3 ways to (usefully) lose control of your brand
The days are past (if they ever existed) when a person, company or brand could tightly control their reputation -- online chatter and spin mean that if you're relevant, there's a constant, free-form conversation happening about you that...
TED Talks
TED: The secret to effective nonviolent resistance | Jamila Raqib
We're not going to end violence by telling people that it's morally wrong, says Jamila Raqib, executive director of the Albert einstein Institution. Instead, we must find alternative ways to conduct conflict that are equally powerful and...
TED Talks
TED: The US needs paid family leave -- for the sake of its future | Jessica Shortall
We need women to work, and we need working women to have babies. So why is America one of the only countries in the world that offers no national paid leave to new working mothers? In this incisive talk, Jessica Shortall makes the...
TED Talks
TED: Do you really know why you do what you do? | Petter Johansson
Experimental psychologist Petter Johansson researches choice blindness -- a phenomenon where we convince ourselves that we're getting what we want, even when we're not. In an eye-opening talk, he shares experiments (designed in...
TED Talks
TED: Can we build AI without losing control over it? | Sam Harris
Scared of superintelligent AI? You should be, says neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris -- and not just in some theoretical way. We're going to build superhuman machines, says Harris, but we haven't yet grappled with the problems...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Would you opt for a life with no pain? - Hayley Levitt and Bethany Rickwald
Imagine if you could plug your brain into a machine that would bring you ultimate pleasure for the rest of your life. The only catch? You have to permanently leave reality behind. Hayley Levitt and Bethany Rickwald explore Robert...
TED Talks
TED: The unexpected challenges of a country's first election | Philippa Neave
How do you teach an entire country how to vote when no one has done it before? It's a huge challenge facing fledgling democracies around the world -- and one of the biggest problems turns out to be a lack of shared language. After all,...
TED Talks
Baba Shiv: Sometimes it's good to give up the driver's seat
Over the years, research has shown a counterintuitive fact about human nature: Sometimes, having too much choice makes us less happy. This may even be true when it comes to medical treatment. Baba Shiv shares a fascinating study that...
SciShow
How Do You Choose Between Two Things?
Choosing between two things can be simple, or it could wrap our brains up in the what-ifs and lists of pros and cons. So how do we eventually come to the decision of choosing one of those two things?
TED Talks
TED: I don't want children -- stop telling me I'll change my mind | Christen Reighter
One in five women in the United States will not have a biological child, and Christen Reighter is one of them. From a young age, she knew she didn't want kids, in spite of the insistence of many people (including her doctor) who told her...
TED Talks
TED: Why I put myself in danger to tell the stories of Gaza | Ameera Harouda
When Ameera Harouda hears the sounds of bombs or shells, she heads straight towards them. "I want to be there first because these stories should be told," says Gaza's first female "fixer," a role that allows her to guide journalists into...
TED Talks
Seth Godin: How to get your ideas to spread
In a world of too many options and too little time, our obvious choice is to just ignore the ordinary stuff. Marketing guru Seth Godin spells out why, when it comes to getting our attention, bad or bizarre ideas are more successful than...
TED Talks
Malcolm Gladwell: Choice, happiness and spaghetti sauce
"Tipping Point" author Malcolm Gladwell gets inside the food industry's pursuit of the perfect spaghetti sauce -- and makes a larger argument about the nature of choice and happiness.
TED Talks
Bjorn Lomborg: Global priorities bigger than climate change
Given $50 billion to spend, which would you solve first, AIDS or global warming? Danish political scientist Bjorn Lomborg comes up with surprising answers.
TED Talks
Sheena Iyengar: How to make choosing easier
We all want customized experiences and products -- but when faced with 700 options, consumers freeze up. With fascinating new research, Sheena Iyengar demonstrates how businesses (and others) can improve the experience of choosing.