If you're lucky enough to live without want, it's a natural impulse to be altruistic to others. But, asks philosopher Peter Singer, what's the most effective way to give? He talks through some surprising thought experiments to help you balance emotion and practicality -- and make the biggest impact with whatever you can share. NOTE: Starting at ...

Compassion is a balancing act — something that must actively practiced in order to thrive. Learn to foster altruism and compassion in your communities with these quiet, yet powerful talks.

Of all the problems facing humanity, which should we focus on solving first? In a compelling talk about how to make the world better, moral philosopher Will MacAskill provides a framework for answering this question based on the philosophy of "effective altruism" -- and shares ideas for taking on three pressing global issues.

Ryan Coogler, director of "Creed" and "Fruitvale Station," picks his 6 favorite talks.

The little things that you (yes, you) can do now (yes, now) to make a difference.

Liv Boeree investigates how we make better decisions in an uncertain world.

Will MacAskill is a cofounder of the effective altruism movement, a philosophy that tries to answer the question: How can we do as much good as possible?

Moral philosopher Peter Singer starts the last session of TED2013, "A Ripple Effect?" with a shocking video of a 2-year-old girl in China who was hit by a van -- and then a second van -- and ignored by passers-by as she lay dying in an alley. He asks of the audience: Would you have stopped and helped this girl? Not surprisingly, the unanimou...

If you're lucky enough to live without want, it's a natural impulse to want to try and help others. But what's the most effective way to give? This was the question philosopher Peter Singer asked in his 2013 TED Talk, given in Long Beach, California, and he shared some surprising thought experiments to help balance emotion and practicality. This...

Every day, most of us do something morally indefensible -- we go about our lives without sending help to the 6.9 million children under the age of 5 who will die this year from poverty-related disease. In today’s talk, philosopher Peter Singer makes the case that ignoring these kids is as inhumane as ignoring a child who's been hit by a car on...

A good story can make a campfire that much eerier. A good story can flip a conversation at a party from completely awkward to wonderful. A good story can glue your nose to a book. And, on screen, a good story can rivet generation after generation. So, uh, how do you tell one? Andrew Stanton, the Pixar writer and director behind both Toy St...

Sally Kohn had a point to make in her TED Talk. During her career as a progressive lesbian talking head at Fox News, she'd get letters from people who really, really didn't like what she said, or objected to her very existence. To make this attitude crystal-clear, onstage at TED@NYC Kohn read out the kind of letter she received during the course...

The past few weeks have seen some extraordinary TED-relevant news items, both happy and sad. Below are some highlights. This year’s TEDGlobal included a new simulcast event, TEDxVilniusLive, which featured a livestream of the conference, a TEDxYouShare audience session, and a Maker Fair that showed off plenty of innovative local work. Lith...

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...

About this event: You are cordially invited to the next TEDxTheHague salon! Our December edition — themed Doing Good Better — is curated by TEDxTheHague regular: "While most of us want to make a difference, we often decide how to do so based on assumptions and emotions rather than facts. As a result, our good intentions often lead to ineffective, sometimes down...

It's safe to say that economic inequality bothers us. But why? Harvard philosopher T. M. Scanlon offers four reasons we should tackle -- and fix -- the problem. The great inequality of income and wealth in the world, and within the United States, is deeply troubling. It seems, even to many of us who benefit from this inequality, that somethin...

Session 5, hosted by TED Curator Chris Anderson and astrophysicist and TED Fellow Jedidah Isler, is called “space to dream.” As Isler points out, we’re not just talking about outer space -- it’s also about "the right to take up space, to dream, to do.” Seven dreamers, doers and designers offer a variety of ways to look at this theme. Lear...

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely Ariely (TED Talk: How to change your behavior for the better), a professor of psychology and behavioral economics, reveals through many studies why we so often behave in a way that totally contradicts logic. While reading it, I had to smile many times because I cou...

Buying gifts? It is HARD. Especially when so many gift guides offer up ideas for what to get your dad, co-worker or sister without taking into account what actually interests those specific people in your life. A better way to locate the perfect gift? Think about what captures a person’s curiosity, and then seek ideas from people in that field. ...

The security of Western democracies depends on our welcoming displaced people, not deporting or demonizing them, says refugee advocate David Miliband. Crisis is an overused word, but the massive forced displacement we see today, the sheer number of people driven from their homes by war or oppression, deserves that description. This is a global ...

40+ TED speakers recommend the books you need to read right now. OK, so it's not summer everywhere right now. But whatever the weather, it's always time to read a good book. So we compiled summer reading recommendations from TED speakers, and then organized them according to the various situations in which you might find yourself now or through...

TEDGlobal 2014 is themed “South!,” and it will be the first official TED conference held in South America. Focusing on themes emerging around the world, this conference will take a bold look at the ideas flowing from the Global South, discussing innovation as well as social and political issues, art as well as education, resources as well as tec...

There are over 100 billion animals in the global food system, taking an enormous collective toll on our health and the environment. In this eye-opening talk, animal advocate and social scientist Jacy Reese makes a compelling argument as to why (and how) we should relegate the factory farming of animals to history's scrap pile.

We asked TED speakers, TED-Ed educators and TED Fellows: “What books would you bring with you to a desert island?” In their deliciously diverse responses, you'll find there's something for every kind of reader. They offered up recommendations -- please use the following links to jump around the sections you're interested in -- for when you're h...

Dean Ornish talks about simple, low-tech and low-cost ways to take advantage of the body's natural desire to heal itself.

Jane Goodall hasn't found the missing link, but she's come closer than nearly anyone else. The primatologist says the only real difference between humans and chimps is our sophisticated language. She urges us to start using it to change the world.