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TED talks on psychology rank as some of the most-watched and highest-rated of all-time, most likely because people are endlessly fascinated with themselves.
Some of the talks deal with happiness and success, and others with memory and motivation. But all of them provide an important window into what makes us tick.
Here are a handful to get you better-acquainted with the organ between your ears.
“The optimism bias” by Tali Sharot
TED Conference/Flickr
Sharot, a cognitive neuroscientist, discussed in her 2012 talk the value of seeing the world through rose-colored glasses. There are three main benefits to optimism, she says.
The first is that high expectations (not low ones) lead to greater happiness, since people tend to believe in themselves and explain away bad outcomes. The second is that anticipation alone makes us happy — we feel good looking forward to something.
Lastly, optimism is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It isn’t just related to success, Sharot says. It leads to success.
“The riddle of experience vs. memory” by Daniel Kahneman
Daniel Kahneman
Psychologist Daniel Kahneman spoke in 2010 about the two ways we find happiness: in the moment and in our memories. People must keep each in mind when trying to create happiness, he says.
For example, according to Kahneman’s research, the experiencing self is twice as happy on a two-week vacation over a one-week vacation, but the remembering self isn’t, since no new memories are being formed.
“What makes us feel good about our work?” by Dan Ariely
TED
Humans aren’t motivated by money or power alone.
As behavioral economist Dan Ariely explained in his 2012 talk, people need to feel like their work is valued and that they’re making progress toward a goal.
Ariely recounted an experiment in which people stopped working far earlier when the researchers destroyed their work before assigning a new task. The takeaway: People are motivated when they feel appreciated.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
