Linguist and psychologist Steven Pinker's talk at the end of TED2018 Session 1 argued enthusiastically that humanity has, as a whole, made remarkable progress toward prosperity, peace and happiness — backing up his assertions with charts that showed an optimistic trajectory. But is that the whole story? A roundtable of TED Fellows — includin...

Photo: James Duncan Davidson Steven Pinker  is a linguist and psychologist. Rebecca Newberger Goldstein is a philosopher and novelist. The pair are also married, and they have taken to the TED stage, in front of a dinner table with several luminaries, to have a very public argument, or, in their rather more academic terms, a Socratic dial...

After his mainstage talk on the opening night of TED, psychologist Steven Pinker sat down with Chris Anderson to dive into his new book, Enlightenment Now. The two examined some criticisms of the book and the thesis behind it, dug into the data, and then threw the floor open for questions, in a session that offered the luxury of time to real...

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...

I want to give you the back story behind today's TED Talk and make the case that it's one of the most significant we've ever posted. And I'm not just talking about its incredible animation. I'm talking about its core idea. Two years ago the psychologist Steven Pinker and the philosopher Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, who are married, came t...

TED Talks cover an incredible breadth of topics -- from mathematical origami to self-repairing architecture to personalized medicine. Some talks explore what lies at the very essence of TED -- the act of talking. The 10 talks below explore the various dynamics of speech -- from phonology to cognition to the socio-cultural role of language in...

With summer dwindling to its last few days, it's time to put away the beach reads and get the mind back in gear with heartier fare. Why not start with some of the amazing books written by recent TED speakers? Here, some picks. Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer Retells the tale of a forgetful writer's journey to becoming U.S. Memory ...

Intriguing reads from around the Internets this week: Two journalists on why the red line on chemical warfare is necessary. [Foreign Affairs] The story of Sara Josephine Baker, a doctor who saved 90,000 inner-city children by the time she died in 1945. [NYRB] "You can't defend the humanities by declaring it off limits to amateurs." ...

In this session, TED is hosting a dinner party on stage, with various TED attendees and some speakers sitting on stage throughout. Seth Godin, Stewart Brand and Sir Ken Robinson are all primed and ready to jump in with discussion of those we are about to hear. Namely: Rebecca Newberger Goldstein writes novels that explore questions of phi...

Are people born violent, or is violence something learned? And what can be done to keep human beings from harming one another? These are questions on our minds as Congress debates gun control measures. Today’s episode of TED Radio dives into this dark end of human nature. In this episode – the fifth in season two --  psychologist Philip Zimba...

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...

Today, we're thrilled to announce the TED2012 speaker program. This year’s conference program includes explorers, storytellers, photographers, scientists, pioneers and educators, visionaries and thinkers from all parts of the globe. Themed “Full Spectrum,” TED2012 will take place from February 27 through March 2 in Long Beach, CA, and Palm S...

The theme of TED2018 is The Age of Amazement, and these speakers’ books are bursting with wonders of every kind: intellectual, scientific, urban, technological, economic, historical, aquatic, even extraterrestrial. TED2018, our biggest conference of the year, takes place April 10 through 14 in Vancouver. The talks from the conference will be re...

Below, just a few of the intriguing headlines involving members of the TED community this week: TED Fellow Antonio Torres is creating a"living" amphitheater in Lake Forest, Illinois. Made from netted straw, wildflowers and vines, it will bloom throughout the summer and fall while it hosts performances. (Read more about Antonio’s work.) Jac...

Let it be noted, says co-host Chris Anderson, that this year's TED started with a roaring cheer and with a scream of anguish. Our job this week is to explore what's amazing, in every sense of the word, from the jaw-droppingly wonderful to the shocking and urgent. So Chris and co-host Helen Walters have decided to kick off Session 1 with a qu...

As usual, the TED community has lots of news to share this week. Below, some highlights. Flip the switch. Sangeeta Bhatia is the senior author on a paper that makes the genome editing power of CRISPR responsive to ultraviolet light. As detailed in academic journal Angewandte Chemie, the researchers developed a system where gene editing oc...

Shakespeare coined new words when he needed -- or merely wanted -- them. Can you guess which words were invented by the Bard? English heading into the sixteenth century was a makeshift, cobbled-together thing. No fewer than eight conquering peoples had added to our vocabulary and shaped our syntax. But the Brits were doing more than just borrow...

Photo: James Duncan Davidason Author and UVA psychology professor Jonathan Haidt kicks off his TED2012 talk with a provocative question: "how many of you think of yourselves as religious?" Some people raise their hands, but not so many. Another question: "Do you think of yourselves as spiritual in any shape or form?" The majority of peopl...

This week, so much TED-related news hit the transom. Below, some of the highlights. Artist Olafur Eliasson (watch his TED Talk) muses on his latest work -- “Little Sun,” a miniature solar-powered lamp that puts five hours of sunlight in your pocket -- in this awesome video from our friends at The Creators Project. The best part: the video b...

How long have you been staring at a screen? Chances are this is not the beginning of your day on your mobile device or computer -- and it’s very unlikely to be the end of it. You reading this blog post is only a moment in your digital day, nestled among Facebook updates, Twitter posts, Tumblr reblogs, YouTube videos and, of course, more arti...

VANCOUVER, BC (April 10, 2018) – TED, the New York-based nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, opens its annual flagship conference here today under the theme The Age of Amazement. TED2018 will host 1,500 attendees from 57 countries for a five-day program of more than 100 speakers and performers, including talks from this year’s 20 new TED...

When TED Radio Hour premieres on Friday, March 1st, a new -- but familiar -- voice will be manning the mic. Guy Raz, the former host of Weekend All Things Considered and the creator of Three-Minute Fiction, is the new host of the show, which is returning for its second season after being named Best New Audio Podcast of 2012 by iTunes the first t...

TED2018, themed "The Age of Amazement," kicked off Tuesday with two eye-opening sessions of talks from this year's TED Fellows -- with tech and science demos, music, dance and comedy -- as well as the opening of exhibits and, of course, a memorable Session 1 full of bold ideas, tough truths and jaw-dropping creative visions. Here are some of ...

By Yasheng Huang Earlier this year, economist Yasheng Huang (watch his 2011 TED Talk) sparred with Eric X. Li in the pages of Foreign Affairs on a similar topic to today's TED Talk. The TED Blog asked Huang to expand on his argument in his ongoing conversation with Li. Imagine confusing the following two statements from a cancer doctor: 1)...

  Summer: the season for cracking open a good book under the shade of a tree. Below, we’ve compiled about 70 stellar book recommendations from members of the TED community. Warning: not all of these books can be classified as beach reads. And we think that is a good thing. Picks from Elizabeth Gilbert, author  The Principles of Uncertainty ...

TED.com video exists to celebrate great speakers, thinkers, doers -- people with ideas that are passionately held and clearly put. For our speakers, putting their videos online has, in many cases, amplified their work beyond imagination, provoking new connections and directions to their careers and even their lives. As we approached the f...

Find repose by exciting the mind. Some of the world's leading thinkers offer the books that inspired them and their work. Skim the list for your favorite speakers, or get nerdy on a topic you've always wanted to know more about. Below find 52 books, recommended by TED speakers. Creativity Creative Confidence, by Tom Kelley and David Kelley Cr...