9 Awesome TED Talks

TEDxAsheville has started a weekly salon series showcasing awesome TED talks, with discussion afterwards about the talk.

In honor of my friend Pam Lewis choosing the talk for this week’s salon, I’m posting 9 TED talks that were just awesome. If you live in Asheville, register for the TEDxAsheville Salon or stop by Posana Cafe Thursdays from 5:00pm – 6:30pm.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on flow

Flow is the state of being immersed in creatively, when the problems we are working on challenge us to the edge of our ability, but don’t overwhelm us.

Martin Seligman on positive psychology

Positive psychology concerns itself with the study of happiness and contentment.

Terry Moore: How to tie your shoes

Did you learn to tie your shoes correctly? Terry Moore shows the difference between a granny knot and a square knot and why the square knot is better.

Matthieu Ricard on the habits of happiness

A biochemist turned Buddhist monk’s take on how we can create happiness.

Derek Sivers: Weird, or just different?

Derek Sivers visually shows the differences between how Japanese and Americans organize buildings and streets. If you’re interested in learning more how different cultures perceive space and time, I recommend Edward T. Hall’s The Hidden Dimension.

Daniel Kahneman: The riddle of experience vs. memory

On the difference between how we experience pain and happiness versus how we remember it.

Malcolm Gladwell on spaghetti sauce

Always engaging as a speaker, Malcolm Gladwell talks about why we have so many choices in the supermarket, and the broader implications of variety in life.

The LXD: In the Internet age, dance evolves …

The LXD, or Legion of Extraordinary Dancers, combines world-class hip-hop dance with a superhero storyline. This TED video shows only a fraction of what these dancers do. Watch the show to see the rest.

Keith Barry does brain magic

Watch some amazing magic tricks performed by Keith Barry.

Do you have any favorite awesome TED talks to recommend to me? Post links to them below.

2 comments

  1. Sheldon Borkin says:

    I am fond of my daughter’s TEDxBoston talk on interdisciplinary research with the case study being Astronomy & Medicine http://bit.ly/ptHSga

    1. trevor says:

      Nice talk. I definitely agree that interdisciplinary knowledge helps create new solutions and insights that you don’t get when you stay focused on one area. The key is abstracting out the right details to recognize that it’s the same problem being solved in different areas, just with different details.

      I particularly liked the dramatic increase in correct problem identification when they switched the color scheme. Proper use of color dramatically affects the effectiveness of visualizations and color so often gets used in incorrectly. I was glad to see this done right.

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