Our electronic devices are often blamed -- at times, rightfully so -- for alienating us from our inner lives and from each other. But what if we could use them to cultivate self-compassion, not distraction? Technology expert Chris Dancy suggests how. I’m sorry to tell you, there's no app for instant inner peace. If you have depression or anxiet...

Welcome to "Dear Guy," TED's advice column from NYC psychologist Guy Winch. Twice a month, he'll answer your questions about life -- about your relationships, your job (or jobs), your family (or families), your passions, fears and more. Please send your questions to dearguy@ted.com; to read his previous columns, go here. Dear Guy: I'm incre...

You have a choice: You can read this blog post, or not. Simple. Or you can read one of 80 other blog posts from this conference. Which to choose? At TED we're no strangers to the paradox of choice, but today Slovene philosopher Renata Salecl takes a different look at choice, chance and how they lead to a denial of social change. In our po...

Anxiety could be the price that we have to pay for freedom, suggests psychologist Steven Pinker. When it comes to happiness, many people are underachievers. Americans are laggards among their first-world peers, and their happiness has stagnated in the era sometimes called the American Century. The Baby Boomers, despite growing up in peace and p...

For Morgana Bailey, it was nerve-wracking enough to step on the TED stage and reveal that she is a lesbian — a fact she’d kept hidden for 16 years. But walking into a viewing party to watch the talk with her co-workers? That brought a whole new level of anxiety. “I live in a very conservative community,” explains Bailey, who directs State...

Jon Ronson is the author of The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry, an exploration of what defines a psychopath. At TED2012, he told a part of that story on stage -- how he met a man named Tony who was held for years in a psychiatric prison because he faked mental illness too well, and about how Ronson himself became tra...

While we were working with Jarrett J. Krosoczka on his list of “10 children’s books destined to become classics,” he let us in on a shocking fact: that he wrote his TED Talk in less than four hours. “I was invited to give the talk that very afternoon! I had four hours to prepare my talk,” he said. “I literally put my Keynote file into a D...

Last night, four authors stepped onto an Edison-bulb-lit stage in our New York office to share the bold ideas at the center of their books. “Tonight will bring to life the nonfiction section of the library,” promised the evening’s host, June Cohen, Executive Producer of TED Media. From a new vision for healthcare, to a peek inside the minds ...

Most kids will suffer for a short time after a marriage ends, but what exacerbates and extends their stress and anxiety is when they feel torn between two parents, says communication researcher Tamara Afifi. Fifteen years ago, I was doing field research for one of my first studies on divorce (TEDxUCSB Talk: The impact of divorce on children) an...

To keep our ancestors alive, our brains evolved an ongoing internal trickle of unease. It’s the little whisper of worry that keeps you scanning your inner and outer worlds for signs of trouble. This background of unsettledness and watchfulness is so automatic to most people that we can forget it’s there. See if you can tune in to a tension...

Our unresolved, unacknowledged feelings can lead us into anxiety, arguments and worse. Some educators believe it’s time to give our kids emotional instruction along with their ABCs. Who taught you how to identify and manage your emotions, how to recognize them when they arose and navigate your way through them? For many adults, the answer is: N...

Most of us know the story all too well — you have a big project that you've been dreading and a looming deadline. But instead of working on it and checking it off your to-do list, you put it off by watching hours of YouTube videos or color-coding your bookshelves. If that's you, first, know you’re in good company. In fact, revered author Marg...

By more clearly identifying our feelings or by recategorizing them, we can reduce suffering (yes!) and increase well-being, says neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett. “He’s an angry person”; “I’m a very anxious person.” We’ve all made statements like these. They point towards the belief that emotions are hardwired in our brains or automatically ...

When you’re anxious, one of the best things you can do is slow down and focus on your breath. But what can you do when you’re so anxious or worried that this doesn’t work or simply feels impossible to do? Below, I'll share a simple but effective trick that brings in more of your senses and helps cut through the anxiety so you can access more ...

Writer, cartoonist and New York City transplant Nathan W. Pyle is the creator of the street-savvy, GIFed-out NYC Basic Tips and Etiquette. Lubna Batool, an 11th-grade New Yorker, is a big admirer of his work, which gives newcomers to the city the little tips no one else will—like that one $20 umbrella will outlast four $5 umbrellas and that ...

Lon Hodge and his labradoodle, Gander, are at a McDonald’s near the Naval Station Great Lakes in Illinois, a quick stop for a bite as they travel across the United States. “He never leaves my side,” Hodge explains to a curious woman, patting Gander on the flank. “He’s special.” Hodge and Gander are on the road interviewing the families of...

Several members of the TED community are popping in the news this week. Below, some highlights: Dan Berkenstock’s Skybox Imaging, which uses small satellites to create close to real-time imagery of the planet, has been bought by Google. The internet giant’s website explains, "Skybox’s satellites will help keep our maps accurate with up-to-d...

Alice Dreger gave a powerful talk at TEDxNorthwestern on how our changing perception of anatomical differences is also changing our democracy. She was in New York today, so we invited her to the TED office for a live Q&A, where she posed this question: The recent passage of gay marriage rights in New York demonstrates what I talked about in...

Via the TEDx Blog: Patrick Newell, organizer of TEDxTokyo, has been collecting and sharing news from TEDx communities affected by the recent tragic events in Japan. He sends this report: The effects of the earthquake that struck the Tohoko region of Japan on Friday, March 11, has had an impact all around the world. Here in Tokyo, thousa...

Years ago, I listened to an episode of the podcast On Being where Krista Tippett interviews writer and Buddhist teacher Sylvia Boorstein. This interview has ended up being a touchstone for me -- and one that I continue to come back to --  because of all the generous wisdom that Boorstein shares. But there’s one moment in particular that came ...

A weekly round-up of interesting, weird and useful reads from around the interwebs. In "The wrong kind of Caucasian," Sarah Kendzior critiques the media for its tendency to demonize an entire country based on the violent acts of a few individuals. [Al Jazeera] "The Internet: A Warning from History," or how the Internet ruined everything. J...

Each week, TEDx chooses four of our favorite talks, highlighting just a few of the enlightening speakers from the TEDx community, and its diverse constellation of ideas worth spreading. Below, give this week’s talks a listen. Why you hate math: Laura Overdeck at TEDxWestVillageWomen When dining out, how often do you slide your check acros...

If you think your contraception is making you anxious or depressed, you’re not imagining things. Evolutionary psychologist Sarah E. Hill explains what happens to your brain on birth control. Most women know at least one or two other women who have had a bad reaction to the pill. In fact, the question that many of us have about the pill: “Why do...

Uri Alon, a physicist turned systems biologist, admits that while studying for his Ph.D., he had a bit of a meltdown. His research was going in loops, all paths leading to dead ends. Because he'd always assumed that his work in science would be a straight line from question to answer, and because scientists don’t talk about the strong emotions t...

Most of us have been in its grip before -- the alarm goes off, our mind starts whirring away, and before we know it, we've done a freefall into worry. Neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett has been there, too, and she tells us how we can stop the spiral. This post is part of TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which contains a piec...

The runner’s high is often held up as a lure for reluctant exercisers, described in terms that can strain credulity. In 1855, Scottish philosopher Alexander Bain described the pleasure of a fast walk or run as “a species of mechanical intoxication” that produces an exhilaration akin to the ancient ecstatic worship of Bacchus, the Roman god of wi...

The establishment of dozens of “healing forests” is part of South Korea’s surprising prescription to improve its citizens’ health and wellbeing. Journalist Florence Williams takes a walk in the woods to learn more about this intriguing approach to public health. Park Hyun-Soo didn’t look like a man on chemotherapy. Forty-one and with a full hea...

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic's unprecedented impact on education systems worldwide, TED's award-winning youth and education initiative TED-Ed is focused on providing free, high-quality educational resources to millions of families around the globe. TED-Ed's existing library of free, video-based lessons has been built by a network of ...

Particle physics. To some, the words may produce anxiety. And while, yes, it is complicated -- it is far from incomprehensible. On May 3, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, better known as CERN, held its first TEDx event, an illuminating look at how particle physics intersects with other disciplines. As part of TEDxCERN, physicists...

In the final session of TEDSummit 2019, the themes from the week -- our search for belonging and community, our digital future, our inextricable connection to the environment -- ring out with clarity and insight. From the mysterious ways our emotions impact our biological hearts, to a tour-de-force talk on the languages we all speak, it's a ...