The optimism bias
2,738,391 views |
Tali Sharot |
TED2012
• February 2012
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.
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.
This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.
About the speaker
Tali Sharot studies why our brains are biased toward optimism.
Edward C. Chang (Editor) | American Psychological Association, 2001 | Book
Great academic review of work done before the year 2000.
| Explore
You can find all of our scientific papers, media articles, events and videos here.
Tali Sharot | The New York Times, May 14, 2011 | Article
An op-ed about optimism and college graduates.
Dominic D. P. Johnson and James H. Fowler | Nature, September 15, 2011 | Article
An article about optimism and evolution. A computational model for the evolutionary benefits of overconfidence.
Ryan T. McKay and Daniel C. Dennett | Behavioral and Brain Sciences, December 2009 | Article
Insightful piece about common misbeliefs. McKay and Dennett conclude that positive biases are the only misbeliefs for which there is a clear evolutionary advantage.
Ajit Varki | Nature, August 6, 2009 | Article
Interesting theory/view for why optimism may have emerged in humans.
Peter Ubel | Forbes, Februrary 22, 2009 | Article
An article about optimism and the financial crisis.
Redes | A la carta, November 4, 2012 | Watch
Tom Tangney | MyNorthwest.com, July 1, 2011 | Watch
Tali Sharot | Time, May 28, 2011
| Article
A short overview of the science of optimism.
Justin Kruger and David Dunning | Psychology, December 2009 | Article
On the related concept of superiority illusion.
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz | Flammarion, 1999 | Book
Some of the first work on optimism.
Voltaire | Project Gutenberg, 2006 | Book
Another of the earliest works on optimism. Read it in English.
Learn more
This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.