Anthropologist Wade Davis muses on the worldwide web of belief and ritual that makes us human. He shares breathtaking photos and stories of the Elder Brothers, a group of Sierra Nevada indians whose spiritual practice holds the world in balance.

Vincent Moon travels the world with a backpack and a camera, filming astonishing music and ritual the world rarely sees -- from a powerful Sufi ritual in Chechnya to an ayahuasca journey in Peru. He hopes his films can help people see their own cultures in a new way, to make young people say: "Whoa, my grandfather is as cool as Beyoncé." Followe...

A long time ago in New York City, Steve Addis stood on a corner holding his 1-year-old daughter in his arms; his wife snapped a photo. The image has inspired an annual father-daughter ritual, where Addis and his daughter pose for the same picture, on the same corner, each year. Addis shares 15 treasured photographs from the series, and explores ...

At TEDGlobal 2010, author Matt Ridley shows how, throughout history, the engine of human progress has been the meeting and mating of ideas to make new ideas. It's not important how clever individuals are, he says; what really matters is how smart the collective brain is.

Photographer Monika Bulaj shares powerful, intimate images of Afghanistan -- of home life, of ritual, of men and women. Behind the headlines, what does the world truly know about this place?

What aspects of religion should atheists (respectfully) adopt? Alain de Botton suggests a "religion for atheists" -- call it Atheism 2.0 -- that incorporates religious forms and traditions to satisfy our human need for connection, ritual and transcendence.

Are our thoughts different in the dark? Archaeologist Holley Moyes studies the ritual cave sites of the ancient Mayans and how darkness influences mythology and human thinking. In this evocative talk, she describes how humans have always sought darkness to transcend the ordinary and "find the divine within ourselves."

In ancient Kyoto, a Shinto scholar found himself distracted from his prayers and sought to perform a purification ritual that would cleanse him. He decided to travel to the revered Hie Shrine; walking the path alone, ignoring any distractions in his quest for balance, and never straying. But setting out for home one day, he hears desperate pleas...

As the surreal reality of COVID-19 unfolded around the world, musician Damian Kulash and OK Go started working on a song, looking to art as a way to access something past the immediate anxiety of the moment while sheltering in place. Inspired by the ritual of raising a cheer for frontline workers every evening and some incongruous bouts of hope,...

The year is 1400 BCE. At the temple of the fisherman, the morning is unusually still and this is just the latest in a series of troubling signs for Quexo, the village shaman. The villagers live off the sea, but this year the winds have died and the fish have dwindled. He's seen this before— his only hope to fix it is a special ritual. Gabriel Pr...

DJs make remixes, cross-pollinating old sounds with new. But all of us engage in this conversation between the past and present, making ideas resonate over and over again.

One day, humans will explore space en masse and live scattered across the solar system on planets like Mars and beyond. Inspired by his time as artist-in-residence at the European Space Agency, TED Fellow Jorge Mañes Rubio wants to rethink what we need to bring on this grand journey -- and more importantly, what we should leave behind. Mañes Rub...

How does the metaphorical lightbulb go off? Is it a flash of genius? The power of crowds? These heady talks explore the nature of ideas themselves: Where they come from, how they evolve, and how each of us can nurture them.

From Twitter to word of mouth, explore the ways ideas spread so quickly from person to person.

Matt Ridley argues that, through history, the engine of human progress and prosperity has been, and is, "ideas having sex with each other."

"Song of the Ambassadors" is a collaborative opera conceived and written by K Allado-McDowell, scored by Derrick Skye and illuminated by multimedia artist Refik Anadol. It posits a future humanity in harmony with life and the cosmos.

adrienne maree brown grows healing ideas in public through her multi-genre writing, her collaborations and her podcasts.

Leo Igwe works to end a variety of human rights violations that are rooted in superstition, including witchcraft accusations, anti-gay hate, caste discrimination and ritual killing.

TED Fellow Prumsodun Ok heals, empowers and advocates using the ancient art of Khmer classical dance.

K Allado-McDowell uses AI to deepen human understanding through writing and music.

Erin Freschi, a California mom who has worked in education for nearly 25 years, has a nightly ritual with her 8-year-old son, Sawyer. Instead of bedtime stories or songs, Freschi and her son wind down by watching TED Talks. The name of their unique ritual? TED Before Bed. “It started when Sawyer was in first grade,” said Freschi. “He i...

TED Fellow Lars Jan, the director of the multi-disciplinary art lab Early Morning Opera, is seeking everyday personal rituals from collaborators -- perhaps, you? -- for a work-in-progress called HOLOSCENES. This public-performance installation -- inspired by humanity's relationship with climate change and flooding -- will be made up of three...

Devdutt Pattanaik looks at business and modern life through the lens of mythology.

By turning our get-togethers with friends into regular events, we can build the kinds of connections that will sustain us, says life coach Baya Voce. Every weekday for the month of January, TED Ideas will publish a new post in a series called “How to Be a Better Human,” containing a helpful piece of advice from a speaker in the TED community. T...

How do you effectively regulate stress? Therapist Esther Perel discusses the importance of creating routines, rituals and boundaries to deal with pandemic-related loss and uncertainty -- both at home and at work -- and offers some practical tools and techniques to help you regain your sense of self. (This conversation, hosted by TED's Helen Walt...

Azim Khamisa speaks to students and adults on nonviolence, forgiveness and peace-building, and he is a founder of two nonprofit organizations that target youth violence.

15th century Europeans believed they had hit upon a miracle cure: a remedy for epilepsy, hemorrhage, bruising, nausea and virtually any other medical ailment. It was a brown powder known as "mumia," and was made by grinding up mummified human flesh. But just how common is human cannibalism, and how do cultures partake in it? Bill Schutt explores...

About this event: TEDxNewYorkSalon is an intersectional community of diverse, open-minded and passionate individuals, who connect via private salons and other curated events. The longest running and most active TEDx program in New York City, our community has met almost every Friday since 2009. We'd love to welcome you to join us this Friday at The Olivia (315 W...

We all have important things we want to accomplish, but there are so many distractions and stumbling blocks that may get in our way. Here, writer Bina Venkataraman shares a startlingly easy strategy to use to defeat future challenges. Playing poker is like planning for the future in one sense: You’re making decisions with limited information, a...

Within hours, I was getting texts. And FB messages. And then a call from a quasi-terrified sounding former student: “Any articles or books you can suggest about how my spouse and I spend the next many weeks together in our tiny apartment without offing each other?” Then, as if on cue, my husband of 28 years walks into our kitchen with the mai...