Are we born to be optimistic, rather than realistic? Tali Sharot shares new research that suggests our brains are wired to look on the bright side -- and how that can be both dangerous and beneficial.

These talks reveal how our technology often reflects the unconscious biases and prejudices we hold.

Listening to both customers and colleagues to gather insights and information is a key ability that successful people possess. Tony Salvador shares some strategies for being a better listener: to lose preconceptions, be vulnerable and open to new ideas, and to not be afraid to hear what we'd rather not hear.

We all have bias -- especially the unconscious kind -- and it's preventing us from doing our best work. Gone unchecked, bias can make employees feel resentful, frustrated and silenced, and it can even lead to outright discrimination and harassment. Check out three key ways to reduce bias at work, according to Just Work cofounders Kim Scott and T...

Two decades into his career photographer Levon Biss decided to cast aside humans and focus on a new subject: insects. In this visual talk, Biss explains how he developed a fascinating process using composite macro-photography to capture stunning images of creatures that measure mere millimeters.

Photographer Levon Biss was looking for a new, extraordinary subject when one afternoon he and his young son popped a ground beetle under a microscope and discovered the wondrous world of insects. Applying his knowledge of photography to subjects just five millimeters long, Biss created a process for shooting insects in unbelievable microscopic ...

What if we could build a global waste disposal service for carbon? In this forward-thinking talk, carbon capture advisor Bas Sudmeijer proposes building CO2 networks: partnerships between cities around the world that would share the cost and geological resources needed to trap emissions deep in the earth -- and give us a shot at stalling climate...

MIT grad student Joy Buolamwini was working with facial analysis software when she noticed a problem: the software didn't detect her face -- because the people who coded the algorithm hadn't taught it to identify a broad range of skin tones and facial structures. Now she's on a mission to fight bias in machine learning, a phenomenon she calls th...

Equity expert Sara Sanford offers a certified playbook that helps companies go beyond good intentions, using a data-driven standard to actively counter unconscious bias and foster gender equity -- by changing how workplaces operate, not just how people think.

What shapes our perceptions (and misperceptions) about science? In an eye-opening talk, meteorologist J. Marshall Shepherd explains how confirmation bias, the Dunning-Kruger effect and cognitive dissonance impact what we think we know -- and shares ideas for how we can replace them with something much more powerful: knowledge.

Search engines have become our most trusted sources of information and arbiters of truth. But can we ever get an unbiased search result? Swedish author and journalist Andreas Ekström argues that such a thing is a philosophical impossibility. In this thoughtful talk, he calls on us to strengthen the bonds between technology and the humanities, an...

AI algorithms make important decisions about you all the time -- like how much you should pay for car insurance or whether or not you get that job interview. But what happens when these machines are built with human bias coded into their systems? Technologist Kriti Sharma explores how the lack of diversity in tech is creeping into our AI, offeri...

When Kyle Quinn married his Brazilian wife and brought her home to the United States, he assumed the difficult part was over and that they could forge a happy life together. What he didn't anticipate was a front-row seat to the indignities—big and small—that immigrants face on a regular basis. In a deeply personal talk, he acknowledges how his w...

Our brains create categories to make sense of the world, recognize patterns and make quick decisions. But this ability to categorize also exacts a heavy toll in the form of unconscious bias. In this powerful talk, psychologist Jennifer L. Eberhardt explores how our biases unfairly target Black people at all levels of society -- from schools and ...

WorkLife with Adam Grant Tuesday, May 18, 2021 ADAM GRANT: Hi WorkLifers, a quick warning that in this episode we discuss the murder of George Floyd. TYECE WILKINS: It wasn't until Saturday evening that I allowed the tears to flow. Sitting underneath a cotton candy pink sky. I put on Mali Music's Gonna be all right. And try to let the music ...

Ever have the sneaking suspicion your vote doesn't really matter? Software engineer Brian Olson has designed a powerful algorithm that transforms gerrymandered districts into vibrant, perfectly impartial state maps so that every vote counts.

With his "Microsculpture" series, Levon Biss photographs the incredible details of insects.

How can a super-thin 3-inch disk levitate something 70,000 times its own weight? In a riveting demonstration, Boaz Almog shows how a phenomenon known as quantum locking allows a superconductor disk to float over a magnetic rail -- completely frictionlessly and with zero energy loss. Experiment: Prof. Guy Deutscher, Mishael Azoulay, Boaz Almog, o...

In May 1940, with the German army ready to occupy Paris, Noor Inayat Khan was faced with a difficult choice: stand on the sidelines or join the Allied forces fighting the Nazis. After witnessing the devastation across Europe, she travelled to England to learn the art of espionage. Shrabani Basu details how a pacifist turned spy helped build the ...

At TED2012, filmmaker Karen Bass shares some of the astonishing nature footage she's shot for the BBC and National Geographic -- including brand-new, previously unseen footage of the tube-lipped nectar bat, who feeds in a rather unusual way ...

Educating the poor is more than just a numbers game, says Shukla Bose. She tells the story of her groundbreaking Parikrma Humanity Foundation, which brings hope to India's slums by looking past the daunting statistics and focusing on treating each child as an individual.

BCG's Bas Sudmeijer is a managing director and partner in the firm's London office.

Humanity has always adapted to changing weather and moved to regions that best support cultural lifestyles and livelihoods. However, the rise in extreme weather is endangering coastal communities, and even for those with the resources to take action, the pace and nature of climate change has made it difficult to adapt. Carol Farbotko and Ingrid ...

Joan C. Williams has played a central role in reshaping the conversation about work, gender and class over the past quarter century.

When women lead, bias often follows. Documentarian Robin Hauser dives into the dilemma between competence and likability faced by women in leadership roles, detangling the unconscious beliefs and gendered thinking that distort what it means to be a good leader.

Growing up in the US in predominantly white communities, Canwen Xu struggled to reconcile her American and her Chinese identities. She explains the unique ways that racial bias affects Asian Americans — and shares how she has learned to embrace all of the different parts of her background.

Confirmation bias, loss aversion, the halo effect – inherently, humans face obstacles when making rational decisions. In the future, could purely logical cognitive computers help erase these blind spots? Dario Gil explores what the future of cognitive computers looks like and considers the uneasy question: could technology ever replace humans?

We often think of bias and prejudice as rooted in ignorance. But as psychologist Paul Bloom seeks to show, prejudice is often natural, rational ... even moral. The key, says Bloom, is to understand how our own biases work -- so we can take control when they go wrong.

Robin Hauser explores societal norms through documentary films and public speaking.

Imagine the hottest day you've ever experienced. Now imagine it's six, 10 or 12 degrees hotter. According to climate researcher Alice Bows-Larkin, that's the type of future in store for us if we don't significantly cut our greenhouse gas emissions now. She suggests that it's time we do things differently—a whole system change, in fact—and seriou...