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The wonderful thing about TED is that it, in my opinion, democratizes the access to knowledge, advancements in science & technology and great insightful speakers, covering a wide array of subjects in very understandable language. And they’re sort of branching out, licensing their concept and name to independently organized events, like TEDMED and TEDx. Let’s call it TEDocracy. From every TED video (with a 20-minute time cap, which is truly material to their success, imo) I take away something, learn something. It broadens my scope (and I’m sure it has the same effect on many others) and shakes up the sleepwalking parts of my brain.
This one is no exception. Having studied economics in college, it eventually was behavioral finance that made most sense to me, as a missing link; sort of a flashing light in a field of rational, static, perfectly informed, efficient, unemotional individuals (or “agents”… shiver). Main takeaway from what most of economics proposed was never to start a tissue or hankie business, because we supposedly lived in a world where no human being ever sheds a tear, whether from grief or joyous laughter. Enter psychologist and Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman who, with some colleagues, laid the groundwork for a more realistic approach to human behavior and decision-making in markets. [As an aside, for those who want to delve in deeper, here is a great conversation of Kahneman with Nassim "Black Swan" Taleb on the financial crisis, uncertainty, rare events and human behavior.]
In the video below Kahneman talks about happiness and well-being and distinguishes between the “experiencing self” and the “remembering self” (the storyteller). Very zen-like. Warning: although the talk lasts 20 minutes, your mind will be running for a while longer after it. So, put your thinking cap and crash helmet on. “Dispatch, we’re driving down Memory Lane and we’re in pursuit of happiness.” Here we go.
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