TED

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We need to talk about an injustice

Great inspiring TED talk about identity and injustice by Bryan Stevenson. Bryan Stevenson is the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, fighting poverty and challenging racial discrimination in the criminal justice system.

Bryan Stevenson shares some hard truths about America’s justice system. These issues, which are wrapped up in America’s unexamined history, are rarely talked about with this level of candor, insight and persuasiveness.

23 minutes worth watching!

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Why are we happy?

Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, challenges the idea that we’ll be miserable if we don’t get what we want. Our “psychological immune system” lets us feel truly happy even when things don’t go as planned.

Dan Gilbert believes that, in our ardent, lifelong pursuit of happiness, most of us have the wrong map. In the same way that optical illusions fool our eyes – and fool everyone’s eyes in the same way – Gilbert argues that our brains systematically misjudge what will make us happy. And these quirks in our cognition make humans very poor predictors of our own bliss.

The premise of his current research — that our assumptions about what will make us happy are often wrong — is supported with clinical research drawn from psychology and neuroscience. But his delivery is what sets him apart. His engaging — and often hilarious — style pokes fun at typical human behavior and invokes pop-culture references everyone can relate to. This winning style translates also to Gilbert’s writing, which is lucid, approachable and laugh-out-loud funny. The immensely readable Stumbling on Happiness, published in 2006, became a New York Times bestseller and has been translated into 20 languages.

In fact, the title of his book could be drawn from his own life. At 19, he was a high school dropout with dreams of writing science fiction. When a creative writing class at his community college was full, he enrolled in the only available course: psychology. He found his passion there, earned a doctorate in social psychology in 1985 at Princeton, and has since won a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Phi Beta Kappa teaching prize for his work at Harvard. He has written essays and articles for The New York Times, Time and even Starbucks, while continuing his research into happiness at his Hedonic Psychology Laboratory.

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Great talk about the danger of personalized online filters

As web companies strive to tailor their services (including news and search results) to our personal tastes, there’s a dangerous unintended consequence: We get trapped in a “filter bubble” and don’t get exposed to information that could challenge or broaden our worldview. Eli Pariser argues powerfully that this will ultimately prove to be bad for us and bad for democracy.

“When confronted with a list of results from Google, the average user (including myself until I read this article) tends to assume that the list is exhaustive. Not knowing that it isn’t … is equivalent to not having a choice. Depending on the quality of the search results, it can be said that I am being fed junk — because I don’t know I have other choices that Google filtered out.”
– Aubrey Pek, commenting on Kim Zetter’s “Junk Food Algorithms”:

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Barry Schwartz on using our practical wisdom

In this talk, Barry Schwartz dives into the question “How do we do the right thing?” With help from collaborator Kenneth Sharpe, he shares stories that illustrate the difference between following the rules and truly choosing wisely.

Barry Schwartz studies the link between economics and psychology, offering some great insights into modern life.

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“For Zoe” (1986-2010)

I just heard about this now through this Tweet by Chris Anderson. Zoe Anderson – daughter of Chris Anderson – passed away tragically on December 28, 2010, aged 24. Her Sister Anna Anderson composed a song for her.

I don’t only post it because I respect Chris Anderson for the changes he brought to the world through TED and is other activities. It really is a great song!

R.I.P. Zoe.

This is what Anna wrote below the Youtube video:

On December 28th 2010, my extraordinary, beautiful and inspirational sister aged 24, tragically passed away. We are all heart broken.

I wrote this song the night I found out she had died.

Zoe brought laughter and life wherever she went. She had a rare combination of left and right brain talents, brilliantly creative and insatiably curious. She was artist, photographer, neuroscientist, scuba dive-master, tutor, social connector, loving daughter, hilarious sister, passionate friend.

She always encouraged me to write and sing more songs. She encouraged everyone to reach for the stars, and she is my inspiration.

This song is for her. I love you Zoe. Hope you’re causing havoc up there.

They set up a memorial fund in case you want to donate. Depending on how much is raised it will be used to protect an area of coral reef in her name. 

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The lyrics to the song posted above:

‘For Zoe’

Heads turn where you walk
And when you laugh, the room gets warm
And I will miss your long blonde hair, that’s brighter than the sun.

You had a smile for everyone,
Not a single debate you haven’t won
And I will miss your loving banter, that always makes me laugh.

And every time I think of you,
I know that all the skies are blue, where you are,
There isn’t one thing, that cannot sing of your beauty.
And even though I know it’s sad,
I remember that it’s not all bad, where you are.
So now I thank you, I thank you for giving me the best years of my life

Passion, Passion.
The embodiment of that word
Lives in you, lives in you. You inspire me.

And life was in your eyes,
In your photographs and your smile,
And I will miss your crazy outfits and wonderful style.

And every time I think of you,
I know that all the skies are blue, where you are,
There isn’t one thing, that cannot sing of your beauty.
And even though I know it’s sad,
I remember that it’s not all bad, where you are.
So now I thank you, I thank you for giving me the best years of my life

So raise your glass
And call a toast,
to our families, to this hour, to our Girl that made us who we are.
And here’s to our future,
And here’s to getting stronger
And here’s to Zoe
The queen of living and laughter.

And every time I think of you,
I know that all the skies are blue, where you are,
There isn’t one thing, that cannot sing of your beauty.
And even though I know it’s sad,
I remember that it’s not all bad, where you are.
So now I thank you, I thank you for giving me best years of my life
And I will miss you, I will miss you. I will miss you.

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