Human behavior is a riddle. In these talks, speakers share psychological studies—from asking kids to wait to eat marshmallows to planting false memories through a single word—that offer possible solutions as well as surprising new twists.

TED Studies, created in collaboration with Wiley, are curated video collections — supplemented by rich educational materials — for students, educators and self-guided learners. In Understanding Happiness, expert explorers of the mind chart our understanding of how happiness is created and cultivated. Their insights challenge our most basic cultu...

From the curator of Understanding Happiness, a brief look at the key facts, the tough questions and the big ideas in his field. Begin this TED Studies subject with a fascinating read that gives context and clarity to the material. An introduction to happiness A few years ago I stumbled upon a question I found both shocking and exhilarating: Supp...

Deepen your comprehension of Understanding Happiness with these carefully crafted educational exercises that let you get the most out of this TED Studies subject. Activity 1 Work with others in your community to put on a Happiness Film Festival. Select films that explore happiness from different angles and create discussion questions that build ...

Tania Luna is an author, cofounder of Scarlet Spark and co-host of the podcast "Talk Psych to Me."

Martin Seligman is the founder of positive psychology, a field of study that examines healthy states, such as happiness, strength of character and optimism.

Paul Bloom explores some of the most puzzling aspects of human nature, including pleasure, religion and morality.

Can you guess someone's political party based on their name? Can you guess how well someone fights just by looking at his face? In my book, Psy-Q, I explore these and other questions through quizzes, puzzles and experiments that are designed to improve your understanding of both your own psychology and psychology in general. Try these three ques...

The end of "Exquisite Enigmatic Us," the last session for today at TEDGlobal 2013, is appropriately rounded out by a former student of psychology, English pop singer Natasha Bedingfield. (Did you know she studied psych at university?) Popular for her hits "Unwritten" and "Pocketful of Sunshine," Bedingfield performs "These Words" and debuts ...

The weekend before a TED conference, each speaker rehearses their talk in the TED theater. It’s a chance for the speakers to get to know the space, for our curators to give last-minute suggestions on talk content, and for our speaker coaches to give advice to help each speaker feel their absolute best the day of their talk. During this time,...

Journalist Glenn Greenwald  has broken many stories on the global surveillance being conducted by the NSA and GCHQ. As one of the first reporters to see Edward Snowden's files, he faced personal repercussions for his professional work -- yet continues to speak publicly about mass surveillance. In this searing talk, Greenwald makes the case f...

In 2026, an unmanned NASA spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at 16 Psyche, a massive, metallic asteroid floating somewhere between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Why is NASA so interested in this heavy metal asteroid? Are we going to mine all that metal, or build a giant space magnet? Linda T. Elkins-Tanton explains how the real answer can be fo...

We're excited about the lineup for TED2019: "Bigger than us". So excited that we compiled a list of websites, links and pages from this year's speakers that you didn't know you needed. But you do. 1. AI Weirdness Adventures in the often hilarious antics of AI algorithms as they try to imitate human datasets, like firework names or Dungeons...

Did you go outside and smile for the camera last Friday, like Carolyn Porco (watch her talk) asked you to, while the Cassini probe snapped a photo of Jupiter with Earth in the background? In this hyper-detailed post from Diary of Numbers, the author calculates the odds that one of your photons is in the shot. And you may be thinking: Oh, ...

The TED Interview How empathy gets in the way of a better world with Paul Bloom April 4, 2024 [00:00:00] Chris Anderson: Hello everyone, this is Chris Anderson. So, in this season of the TED Interview, as I think you know, we're focusing on generosity and especially the many wild and wonderful ways of making it infectious. To make sense of any ...

Sheena Iyengar studies how people choose (and what makes us think we're good at it).

Iain Hutchison is a pioneering oral and facial surgeon; his foundation, Saving Faces, explores the nature of our expressions.

Welcome to "Dear Guy," TED's advice column from psychologist Guy Winch. Twice a month, he'll answer reader questions about life, love and what matters most. Please send them to dearguy@ted.com; to read his previous columns, go here. Dear Guy, When I was a kid and people asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I never knew what to say. My p...

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

Some heartfelt advice from writer Bill Bernat, who’s been there When I lived with severe depression and social anxiety, I found it extremely difficult to talk to strangers. Yet the one conversation that uplifted me more than any other occurred in the dining hall of the mental health wing of a mountain-town hospital. I met a woman who told me th...

ReThinking with Adam Grant The internet doesn't need your opinion on everything with Rebecca Solnit June 4, 2024 [00:00:00] Rebecca Solnit: I think we know ourselves through our conversations. Our, our deepest selves exist in relationship in some ways and not through, you know, our 240 character opinions tossed out to be snapped up or spit out ...

ReThinking with Adam Grant ChatGPT did NOT title this podcast (w/ Allie Miller & Ethan Mollick) March 21, 2023 [00:00:00] AI Adam: Welcome to another episode of ReThinking with Adam Grant! [00:00:05] Adam Grant: Today’s episode is about artificial intelligence chatbots that write and answer questions–ChatGPT, Bing, Bard. So to kick thing...

How to Be a Better Human Why we should rethink what mental health means (w/ Sandy Allen) July 10, 2023 [00:00:00] Chris Duffy: You are listening to How to Be a Better Human. I'm your host, Chris Duffy. Jumping into cold water, talking to a friend (especially if they make me laugh), getting enough sleep, and exercising even the tiniest bit—tho...

How to Be a Better Human Why your brain is an unreliable narrator (w/ Aparna Nancherla) August 21, 2023 [00:00:00] Chris Duffy: You are listening to How to Be a Better Human. I'm your host, Chris Duffy. Sometimes if I think too hard about this podcast, my head starts to spin. Like, who am I to host this show, or to host any show for that matter...

In 1831, Michael Faraday stood in a lecture hall and demoed an idea that changed everything: electromagnetic induction. This work paved the way for widespread use of electricity. On September 29, 2015, in the same lecture hall, attendees gathered for TEDGlobal>London to hear more ideas with the potential to shift reality. Sixteen TED speak...

Re:Thinking with Adam Grant The science of healthy relationships with John and Julie Gottman December 13, 2022 [00:00:00] Adam Grant: Hey everyone, it's Adam Grant. Welcome back to ReThinking: my podcast on the science of what makes us tick. I'm an organizational psychologist, and I'm taking you inside the minds of fascinating people to explor...

ReThinking with Adam Grant The science of performing under pressure with Sian Beilock March 28, 2023 [00:00:00] Adam Grant: Hey everyone, it's Adam Grant. Welcome back to ReThinking, my podcast on the science of what makes us tick. I'm an organizational psychologist, and I'm taking you inside the minds of fascinating people to explore new thou...

Fixable Lola Bakare - "How do I balance what I want to do with what I NEED to do?" May 29, 2023 [00:00:00] Anne Morriss: It's an exciting day on Fixable, Frances. We are talking to our friend Lola Bakare, who we met on Clubhouse. [00:00:08] Frances Frei: Oh, I have such fond memories of Clubhouse. [00:00:10] Anne Morriss: Tell, remind me ...

ReThinking with Adam Grant Is your organization a little culty? with NXIVM whistleblower Sarah Edmondson February 27, 2024 [00:00:00] Adam Grant: Hey everyone, it's Adam Grant. Welcome back to ReThinking, my podcast on the science of what makes us tick with the TED Audio Collective. I'm an organizational psychologist, and I'm taking you inside ...

WorkLife with Adam Grant Tuesday, April 6, 2021 Sharon Preszler: [00:00:00] When I was a little, little kid, I was a four years old on my first airplane ride. And we got to go up front in the cockpit, you know, cause you could kind of do that back then. It was totally dark, no moon over the Atlantic ocean. There is like a billion stars in the sk...