Added: 5 years ago
From: TEDtalksDirector
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  • You can totally see his penis through his jeans through the whole video.

  • Great video! I really respect and like what you are doing! Keep the videos coming!

  • thats why so many ppl were actually happy in soviet union.. u didnt really had too many choise u could make

  • Very interesting TED talk - I've made use of this video in a post on choice and happiness on my Nextstarfish blog

  • This is the programming part of NLP - cool!

  • What phone call was he going to take on stage??

  • My grandfather used to say "Socrates loved to go to the market to see all the things he didn't need."

  • The more amazing things we are exposed to the less we are impressed and the more it takes to impress us. That's why we laugh at some of the things we used to find entertaining but now see as rudimental or cheesy (like old films or TV shows).

  • In some ways people WERE happier when life was less complicated. Male & female roles were more defined and each gender wasn't striving to "be more" or feel guilty. Kids were happy playing outside with others or with basic toys, not the latest iPad or Playstation. It was when simple things (compared to today) came along, like remote controls, garage door openers, microwave ovens, etc. Electronic media (texting, computers, etc.) makes people less personal and lose a lot of social skills.

  • cools and goods very powerhelpull

  • Thanks for sharing this

  • Admirable video you have here

  • i guess this explains why i enjoy a song more when i hear it on the radio

  • @dylanm32 how do you mean?

  • I really appreciate your video

  • You have a very informative video

  • He talks too much like a clown, the message is unclear.

  • @MiiVersusReeseman888 It's not bad to be a sheep. if anything ppl are social creatures anyway... =/

  • Can anyone link me to his talk where he discusses people's perceived happiness as parents, among other things? (keywords: Tofu/Belgium, Baseball and Heroin?) It's a longer talk, I think it's live and not an interview. I heard it on NPR in 2009 and would love to find it again. I think it might be called "The Four Answers". Thanks!!!

  • Learn to meditate. You can be happy within 5 minutes each time you meditate. However, you do lose the ability to take pleasure in material things other things that are temporary or transient.

  • Very vague.

  • Too much unnecessary theorizing here. I have personally experienced REAL happiness and it came after 3 days of intense mental exercises. It lasted only a second but I got a taste of what spiritual aspirants are fighting for. And it is really something! Here are the real keys to happiness on one page:

    scribd.com/doc/54423433 (Don't read if the truth disturbs you)

  • This lecture may have value as a layman's self help guide in facing life's trials and tribulations but ignores (1) Happiness is only an episodic elevated sense of satisfaction which is subject to elimination by factors outwith our control. (2) A "psychological immune system", as an aspect of cognitive functioning ,is only a label to describe our capacity, using recall of emotional trauma with logic, to see the value of "moving on." (3) We do not possess complete freedom to choose...

  • I would like the power point slides.

    Though amnesiacs and normal Americans generate happiness in this way, normal Japanese do not (Heine and Lehman, 1997) unless they are evaluating things they have chosen for others, or concerned with the happiness of others (Browne, Zanna, Spencer and Zanna, 2004).

  • lololololollololllolol this is isisisisisisii sosoososososoos gooodododododododl ololollolllolololololollll :) :) :) 

  • My god, this guy describes everything that has happened in my life...

    Every time I face a fear that is unavoidable, I perform much better than I thought I could. Every time I face a fear that is avoidable, I half-ass my way past it and I am never happy with the outcome.

    I always wondered why that is, and this video illustrates that same psychological tendencies of humans... I guess I am only human!

  • Ignorance is synthetic bliss but bliss nonetheless.

  • i love this guy! best i've heard in TEDtalks so far

  • Comment removed

  • this sounded like an infomercial. i like the idea. but the delivery of the idea was overwhelming.

  • BMW Bwahahahaha!!!

  • Pete Best is in such denial... 

  • You're ironic.

  • In other words, we should stop thinking about what if I had not or what if I had types of questions.

  • I'm glad I found this!

  • Stupid Harvard kids!

  • @TimeForDadTime

    Oxymoron of the year right there...

  • @SSJkiller yeah that was the joke haha

  • Yes! Yes! This is my entire life outlook and I have personally proved it! All that matters is doing what you love and being with who you love, with a toe-note (tiny footnote) of spreading the love as much as possible!

  • I know some people that cannot produce 'synthetic' happiness very well at all. It seems to correspond to low self-esteem and a pessimistic attitude (IE, I choose this, my choices are wrong because I am usually wrong, therefore the thing that I chose does not give me happiness.)

  • An oldie but a goodie :-)

  • So, by blowing the point of this presentation a bit, to some degree, not having choice is being happy?

    Makes me wonder...

  • Without the highs and lows in life to give contrast to our experiences, we'd have no depth. Suffering is the path to enlightenment, just like a problem is the path to the answer.

    Thank you TED for another great talk.

  • 20:32 ..... so good

  • "Most people are about as happy as they make up their mind to be"

    -Abraham Lincoln

  • @7777Mads what a dumb fucking quote. -clinically depressed person

  • @7777Mads ... right... I don't understand the talk, so I'll just write an unrelated quote about happiness from a famous person everyone likes. Yeap, that'll do.

  • @AlgeKalipso Thanks for the wit Alge! Let me try to smarten this up to your intellectual level. Abe said that we're as happy as we make our minds up to be- Dan Gilbert is saying we're making our minds up to be happy naturally when we're happy with the way things turn out. Does that make sense Algey?

  • @7777Mads Yeah, that clarifies it. It seems to me that to say that we are making ourselves happy suggests a voluntary decision to do so. Dan suggests that we simply cannot help it; when we are stuck with an outcome, we just like it better. The unconscious machinery is at play, and we don't even notice. To say that we're as happy as we make our minds to be suggests that we are in charge, so that by consciously willing to be happy you become happy. But happiness follows patterns, just strange ones

  • "Most people are about as happy as they make up their mind to be"

    -Abraham Lincoln

  • @7777Mads here's the "it's not that simple" cliche. thought patterns that arise from years of being depressed are very hard to alter. if you're told that you're stupid, that you're nothing, that you'll never accomplish anything enough times by enough people (no matter how wrong they are, and how awesome you may be) your brain creates thought patterns. it's like smoking a cigarette--you light up after you do something for long enough you'll want to do it every time. sorry for being rude before.

  • @OpakeArawra2 I didn't find it rude! I'm sorry but I thought you were just being funny! I have family members that are clinically depressed, in that situation I hope you make up your mind to get the help you need to be happy! Good luck with that!!

  • is anyone going to comment on how ironic it is that this talk is followed by a BMW commercial?

  • @wordsandcolor no, but I do imagine it's a bit of a coincidence....

  • Information need not be conscious for it to influence behavior. The brain responds to visual input and memories are formed, just because these memories may not be conscious for explicit retrieval later on does not mean that those memories of stimulus exposure are not driving behavior in more posterior neural areas. Dan Gilbert studies inherently interesting topics, but his research is far from meticulous. He is a media darling and people get so desperately swept away by talk of happiness.

  • He is obnoxious and his research is replete with confounds. It is problematic to to assume that people are 'synthesizing happiness' because they end up changing their opinions on items that they originally did not like as much as other items. Research has shown time and again that familiarity results in more likability. So, the more exposure you have to something the more likely you are to think favorably of it. Well, how would this explain the amnesiacs preference reversals?

  • Wow.

  • Lol i thought it was Dan Gilbert Cavs owner =D

  • Amazing... another approach to observe your own mind other than meditation. A constant bservation to ideas, thoughts and the relation to feelings.

  • Thanks For sharing.

  • In my eighteen years of life I've never experienced synthetic happiness. Either I'm broken, or this is just a feel good story.

  • @ThatBookGirl Seeing that this guy is a Harvard professor of psychology and has been published in several respected journals I'm pretty sure he relies on science rather than storytelling. Besides, his research has shown that the synthesis doesn't rely on either explicit or working memory, so it's an autonomous process rather than a conscious one, so you don't really "experience" it as such.

  • @tenrecc T'was a joke. I get what he's saying and I thought it was actually very interesting. Chill.

  • @ThatBookGirl

    My experience is that one really has to accept that life has ups and downs and be open to all of the parts, especially the ones that we cannot control.

    My wife, who lost the use of her legs to cancer treatment, and I are very happy. We decided to marry after her illness and loss of function because we had grown so much closer. We practice gratitude every day.

    Our commercial culture discourages synthetic happiness because it feeds on the pornography of acquisition.

  • if you need a 20 minute lecture to figure out a way to be happy, then you have larger psychological issues to deal with

  • LOL WHAT

  • @SuperFry247

    Wisdom can be welcomed in many forms.

  • all the data on people's happiness is based on what they themselves report at one single instance? has anyone ever heard of "cognitive dissonance" ffs???

  • i don't even want to be happy kthxbye

  • Aaargh my brain hurts!!

  • We aint happy cause of school

  • But... don't people also do this, say with that "husband picking nose" example. If a person already dislikes something slightly( like the wife not liking her husband) and that something has shown another reason for them to dislike it( husband picking the nose), then that person will over-exaggerate and convince themselves to dislike that something even more. This is the opposite of the wife convincing herself that her husband picking the nose isn't a big deal and she decides staying happy.

  • zzzzz..... i couldn't understand some words, had to google a few which killed the entire interest. Small question, Synthetic happiness is the result of us convincing ourselves to be happy with our choices?

  • Oj, felt really profound, felt I didn't quite get it all. But that it was important!

  • 64 People Are Not Happy

  • incredible video. i wish he didnt talk about the lame evolution theory in the beginning but otherwise extremely well done. it helped me put so many ideas of Bible teachings into a very logical and scientific way and i understand so much deeper now!

  • @alwaysthemusiccritic Are you being sarcastic ? Because if you are not - you are hilariously stupid

  • well done. enjoyed this one a lot, thanks.

  • I know a friend who has a genetic disorder where he constantly has harsh migraines and bodily pains (Like his arms and shoulders stinging for no reason). He is the unhappiest person I know, but who can blame him? Consistency of suffering is a hard factor to overcome, it seems....

  • Why do men do that finger and thumb gesture when they are trying to make a point? You see it all the time and it is always men that do it.

  • @Imogen1885

    it's more polite than pointing with the index finger, like most women?...lol...i am guessing you're a lady and i am sure you wouldn't like someone to generalise all women like that...so be nice...i don't think it's only men who do that and it's not all of them...

  • @sargunan I was merely asking a question and you turning into a debate about sex issues. I think you have some anger and some hatred of women. I'm guessing you are a boy. Idiot!

  • Synthetic happiness vs natural happiness. Fascinating.

  • Insightful. Humorous. Game-changing ideas.

  • A good read: What Happy People Know by Dan Baker

  • I feel like a lot of those examples are situational. example: Yeah I got turned down from a job, but I got a better one later! I'm happy! (but had I not gotten the better one later, I wouldn't be!)

    "That bad experience let me grow as a person (but it still sucked and I'd be better off with a leg!)

  • this is sooo interesting! amazing...

  • DRUGS!!!!!!!yeah!!!! hahahaha

  • People state the religion binds you - tells you what you can and can't do. Perhaps correct true religious restriction truly does set us free.

  • But they do have bacon flavored ice cream. YUM!

  • wow, That is sooo mental ... gotta meditate ...

  • Very interesting! it proves that happiness is just a state of mind. Thank you for sharing!

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  • This guy is full of shit

  • @exactspace lol

    didnt get the point ?

  • @dummy222 Yes I did for most of the stuff, but it's extremely general and over sensationalized.

  • @exactspace yes i must agree with the over sensationalizing

  • @exactspace You idiotstick, it's a 21 minute long talk. It would be idiotic to expect a detailed talk on all the intricacies of the topic in 21 minutes. and as far as over-sensationalized, what the hell do you want? a monotoned drone giving the talk with no emotion? this guy got a rare chance to give a talk about something he's interested about, wouldn't you be sensational?

  • @ajaf2005 Hmm if you're so emotional, why don't you cry about it some more?

  • @exactspace stop hating on everyones comments just cause this vid is to long for your little brain to handle go take ur bullshit somewhere else.

  • @JordanTW420 You're a big crybaby and believe anything if it sounds smart. You probably really like What The Bleep Do We Know?

  • @JordanTW420 When you don't even type proper sentences. How ironic.

  • @ajaf2005 its chill bro. exactspace is a clown, a straight clown who doesnt know what hes talking about.

  • @JordanTW420 "It's chill bro."

  • @exactspace "You're a big crybaby" dam kid your immature.. I believe anything that sounds smart? yeah right dumbass, THINK DIFFERENT cuz u be thinking STRAIGHT STUPID

  • @JordanTW420 Hey Jordan, just curious... was English your first language?

  • Comment removed

  • @sluggo06 Dunno. But believe me when I say there WILL be cake. /:(

  • This is the true in my life. Ya for 160 credits and 6 years in college try to find something I want to do. Should have just been a lawyer like the rest of the family :(

  • ok

  • What do u think happens after we die?

  • Is this the same fool who owns the Cavs?

    And this fool here is a communist

  • So... when people has less freedom, they are happier. Sounds weird, just couple of years ago they said that freedom of choises makes you happy. According to this, communism would make us happier.

  • What this tells me is people are too cynical. "Too much choice" should deprive no one of happiness.

  • Brilliant! Thank you Dr. Gilbert.

  • Uh, "wow." This is a pretty awesome thing...

  • lol ignorant grandpa......................

  • I only clicked on this cause I thought it was the Cavs owner Dan Gilbert lol

  • Well I guess this is true for some cases. But I definitely recall experiences that I was not pleased with that were irreversible. The fact that I couldn't change it didn't make me happy...

  • Wow. I thought this was bullshit the whole time. But now that I'm done watching it and thinking about it, I realize it's absolutely right.

  • Google Hells best kept secret

  • EVOLUTION is NOT rEAL u doops

  • This must be why I don't usually like clothes that I buy myself, and end up wearing clothes that people give me. Making clothes so easily returnable isn't the best way to make customers happy with what they actually bought, I guess.

    Also, I agree with XSGAME4U; that sentence (at 18:14) is one of Mr. Gilbert's big points, and if someone is going to write it down or quote it or whatever, they better do it right. REVERSIBLE.

  • I cant understand :P

  • here

  • I guess we should just eliminate all freedom...

    Of course this study misses something very important. There is something much more important than happiness, and that is FULFILLMENT.

    People don't have kids because they want to be happy. They do it because they want their life to be complete. I would ascertain that people living in a state of free choice would be far more fulfilled in their prospects than people who are constrained.

  • @fluff125 you should now watch the paradox of choice with barry schwartz. it's a great TED talk that addresses the state of free choice you mentioned.

  • Very intriguing, it's amazing how much this has changed the way I think about things

  • @ericjraack Good job getting brainwashed.

  • Mudkipz maek me happy.You should try.

  • Dan gilbert is the owner of the cavs. wtf lol

  • fuckin lebron

  • AYO! Everyone!

    shut the fuck up

  • i like this topic, subscribing

  • this vid has a deep meaning to it, most of u dont understand. THINK DIFFERENT

  • @JordanTW420 you mean differently...

  • Comment removed

  • Comment removed

  • @Kevin4779 nope

  • @JordanTW420 "this vid has a deep meaning to it, most of u dont understand." Wow, just wow. That makes a lot of sense. Not.

  • @exactspace how does it not? u dumbass. u obviously dont understand this video.

  • @JordanTW420 in thinking different they are actually continued to follow what you say. Telling them will not help, they'll have to figure out why on their own to truly get it

  • @JordanTW420 wat u say?

  • @eyebal what?

  • @JordanTW420

    Move all zigs.

  • @eyebal what??

  • The full use of one's powers along the lines of excellence=happiness. End of story.

  • Haha wow I thought it was that stupid owner that dissed LeBron lol

  • is this the owner of the cavs also

  • @bmcb82 no. this is not Cavs owner.

  • cause mah soul is sadly

  • intresrting...

  • @TheTaylos no

  • I love this song it's amazing and you sound awesome :)

  • thumbs up if u thought this was a vid of the owner of the cleveland cavs

  • Who else found this from iGoogle?

  • MR. DAN GILBERT:

    At the 18:18 mark, after expounding upon the effects of 'choice' and 'no choice', you explain that "When we are bound, we synthesize happiness. And when unbound we worry our self into a tizzy.

    You sum it up by saying, "THE IRREVERSIBLE CONDITION IS NOT CONDUCIVE TO THE SYNTHESIS OF HAPPINESS."

    Based on your previous statement, and your anecdotal and empirical evidence, I believe you meant to say, "The REVERSIBLE condition is not conducive to the synthesis of happiness." ???