Added: 5 years ago
From: TEDtalksDirector
Views: 490,893
Sort by time | Sort by thread (beta)

Link to this comment:

Share to:
see all

All Comments (424)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • very interesting thanks

  • But on the other side, for example in the supermarket, there is so much choice that it's sometimes difficult to pick something, because by choosing one thing you'll miss out on the other, and that then again is frustrating. Or you would have to pick one of everything of course..

  • The problem that I have with that final conclusion is the notion that our preferences make us happy. Well, deeper than that: the notion that personal choice is connected to happiness. We have so much more potential for personalized choice in every aspect of our lives, from food to church to politics to romance, and yet we are today more dissatisfied and unhappy than we were fifty years ago.

    Choice does not bring fulfillment. Fulfillment is closer to the root of happiness.

  • @KnightofMotley it's entirely possible that we are just louder these days.

  • i think he should be president!!

  • ... I want some spaghetti.

  • Variety is the spaghetti sauce of life!

  • Revisited this after long time and noticed my top comment, "He looks like cross between Richard Simmons and Christopher Walken" disappeared..... just wondering how that happens...

  • Comment removed

  • He's like a smart, chatty, dirty q-tip.

  • LOUD INTELLEGENT SPEECH PUT FORWARD IN A HUMOROUS INTERETING PERSONAL WAY....right?

  • He's REACHING really far with this metaphor, typical of Gladwell... Fact is, he's forgetting about who holds the market place for spaghetti sauce -- and the bottling companies who deliver... It doesn't matter how good your sauce is, if you're not Coca-cola, New York city isn't going to see it. The Mob owns the bottling, that's why Pepsi isn't in New york. It really boils down to what tastes the best... Rao's sauce tastes the best now, and they have the bottling unions

  • The top comment mentions that he'd make a great sideshow bob

    Here's the curios thing:

    Sideshow Bob is voiced by Frasier Crane who also uses a mid-atlantic accent just like Gladwell.

  • @vincent21212 Gladwell's accent isn't "mid-Atlantic"; it's a pretty standard Ontario (Canada) accent. There is the odd (very odd) common, small word that shows a slight influence of one or the other of his parent's accent -- and that influence is extremely dilute -- but he sounds like just about every middle/professional class person I've ever heard who has grown up in English-speaking Ontario.

  • HABISKY

  • brilliance

    

  • hello 240p

  • Gladwell is the shit...

  • i cannot say about spaghetti but i have to say that i love the hair.

  • not bad...

  • These TEDtalks always have the craziest instruments/music gear set up in the corner

  • It's important to recognize the difference between the importance of variability, and the importance of offering choice.

  • These facinating educational entertaining videos are just awesome. I wish Tv would cut out all those reality shows and put this stuff on.

  • What a wonderful and eloquent speech

  • Are you doing something with mousse? that hair defies gravity!

  • This guy for some reason reminds me of Marty Friedman.

  • This is one of my favorite ted talks.

  • Malcolm Gladwell...

  • brilliant

    

  • I never stop being surprised at what a silly, wonderful species we are.

  • This video is obviously over 55 people's heads....

  • @johndixon No problem. Philosophers have this annoying habit of trying to explain things as obscurely as possible because they think it makes them seem smart. The smartest people can explain things simply. (I realise now that I could have explained the concept more simply myself, but we all live and learn : )

    Anyways, MG is usually a brilliant at explaining things in layman's terms, but even he slips occasionally.

  • one again its proved that being unique pays.

  • We can learn that spaghetti sauce tastes good when combined with pasta; specifically, spaghetti.

  • platonic way to treat a dish? I can't seem to make sense of the way he used that word

  • @johndixon To be fair, it's a bit of an obscure philosophical thing and he doesn't explain it very well. Basically Plato and his followers had an idea that for everything in this world there existed, on another plane, something which was the perfect archetype of what any one type of thing should be. If there's an infinite number of chairs in this world, in this other plane there is the one perfect archetypical chair, the perfect example of chair-ness which all other chairs reflect.

  • @iammadedeath ahh gotcha, that makes sense now. I even looked up the definition and it was no where near as clear as yours. thanks.

  • @johndixon platonic = purely spiritual. He is saying our thinking about food way purely in our heads, not on actual sensual taste. We thought that the "most authentic" food was the best, not the best tasting.

  • is it just me or does TED have the WORST theme song ever?

  • AMAZING talk. I LOVED it.

    :D

  • So he just wanted to say that we should cherish diversity/individuality/unique­ness and hence give up on the idea that there could be such a thing as a one-size-fit-all (e.g. communism).

  • I know bright guys who chose trades and I think it was a good fit for them. I also know lots of people who went into engineering because it's prestigious and academically challenging who hate how it's killed their personal lives and drop out or don't want to do it anymore (because it doesn't instill the right passion into them, whereas another choice might have been better for them). It's about choosing one of many GOOD choices, not about choosing between one GOOD and LESS GOOD choices.

  • Comment removed

  • he's got some dainty ass hands

  • @popovic011 THAT'S what you got out of this talk?

    @kaldrich2 I believe we've found one of the 55.

  • great philosophy, this is why my parents generation doesn't understand ours. we are specific people with specific needs, for learning, for work, for understanding relationships, and tolerance is neccessarry, for people not to take offence to others when they just want to be themselves and live thier life in hapiness. i truly believe, that when you are what you want to be, that's true hapiness.

  • @slimfixer

    I think this has major ramifications for education too. For example, why do we put so much emphasis on streaming and which stream is the "best" one (higher academic classes) which is the hardest to get into, versus one oriented towards the arts, or the trades. Having options like that is fundamentally good, but I think I lot of kids get pushed down the wrong path because one is considered the "right" way and the others are considered remedial.

  • @petinati2201 Worms normally live in the ground and only see soil/dirt/earth.

    If they are in horseradish (a type of sauce/condiment), that is all they could see, it would be their life.

  • I'm craving Spaghetti Bolognese now... Not necessarily extra-chunky, though

  • @petinati2201 I'm a native English speaker and I'm not so sure. 

  • " to a worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish" Means: If you are surrounded by something - it is your world. Another way to say it is: "to a fish in the ocean, the world is water" Hope that helps.

  • Brilliant, this really was enlightening. Refreshing as well.

  • @petinati2201 I'm not a native english speaker either, but I think it's safe to answer that most native english speakers are as clueless about this expression as you are.

  • Great insides!

  • @abetmusic the insights were pretty awesome too 

  • although it's great to have choice, sometimes it's a little overwhelming... the TED talk on the paradox of choice could be used with this video, they are even more interesting when you've seen both

  • TEDtalks is really becoming mundane. I don't mean to be condescending, but I'm not sure I learned anything new here. I felt that what he was talking about was a little too obvious (i.e. give people choice over imposing what you think they want).

  • @10110101100 Note when this was posted.

  • I love his books!

  • Very insightful and interesting. Thanks for posting :)

  • He does a great job pointing out the fallacy of " You get what you pay for ". Most people equate dollar price with value, hence why they will turn up their nose at something too cheaply priced, regardless of actual quality.

  • I like Kirk Hammet's new haircut!

  • 13:37 "platonic dish"

  • He would play a GREAT Sideshow Bob.

  • @DrVonNostrand Hahahahaha

  • what about barry schwartz' paradox of choice?

  • This is lovely...how did I find this? Not sure, but I'm glad I did.

  • Comment removed

  • side show bob and kif kroker from futurama

  • @619farmer okay this one has my vote for best comparison.

  • now i want spaghetti:/

  • the people laughing in the audience are annoying!

  • Have seen this monologue six times now, and it's still so brilliant. Do not stop viewing before he ends. This talk is NOT about spaghetti sauce.

  • I've been watching TED all night, and have found each and every lecture incredible to watch. I was watching this one, following along, understanding what he was talking about... and then around 12:45 it hit me, how his entire talk on food was a ruse for life, and how people should aim for what they actually want, not what others dictate. Reminds me a lot of Charlie Brookers "How TV Ruined Your Life" series. This was a brilliant speech about humanity and life.

    And food.

  • @WilliamDavidCourt Gotta love that food Courty boy!

  • @WilliamDavidCourt " his entire talk on food was a ruse for life, and how people should aim for what they actually want, not what others dictate. " 10min But he said, People don't know what they WANT. "Focus groups asked what do you want in a spaghetti sauce? No one ever said I WANT Extra Chunky sauce.

    We can’t explain what we want deep down. Howard said, “the mind knows not what the tongue WANTS. It’s a mystery. ” So try something new even if you THINK you want traditional.

  • @trade350 That's because 'I' and 'ego' have been royally shat on by Kant and his followers (most unknowingly) for 200 years (in Western civilization).

  • @WilliamDavidCourt Now, when they apply Malcolm Gladwell's lesson to schooling, we may actually have fun growing up. Check out Ken Robinson's talk.

  • I used to date a "platonic dish". She looked great, but ultimately, not very satisfying.

  • I fail to understand why people are laughing? Doesn't seem funny... more like genius..

  • Hello Sideshow Bob

  • Hello Sideshow Bob

  • um....um....um....um

  • Awesome point he's made!! :-)

  • I hear, homes, I reckon I could knack him in a planck-time.

  • sideshow bob. all the way

  • Comment removed

  • He looks like a cross between Richard Simmons and Christopher Walken...

    

  • @majik2hanz I feel guilty about finding your distracting comment to be the one that would have been part of a conversation with my family if they had ever watched this video...Its superficial in some ways but its familial to me and somehow does engage insights that are relative to his personhood in a not to horrible way.

  • @laurasIs2c

    Don't feel guilty! That's political correctness creeping in, its just an apt observation if one is good at facial recognition, voices and mannerisms. Imagine having that morphiing software and taking photos of the two: Richard Simmons and Christopher Walken. Thx for the compliment - I think(?) : P

    It's nice when a youtube clip makes one smile for a totally different reason.

  • @majik2hanz i would say paul simon and weird al yankovic

  • @majik2hanz and sideshow bob

  • @majik2hanz ... and Sideshow Bob

  • @majik2hanz I always thought he looked like sideshow Bob! :)

  • @majik2hanz i was about to post that exact statement. GET OUT OF MY MIIIIND!

  • @majik2hanz ---- ROFL!! Five gold stars!!!

  • @majik2hanz YES YES YEEEEEES! SOSO FUNNY! :D

  • After watching this Ted Talk, you can not miss its counter argument on Barry Schwartz: The paradox of choice. Both brilliant!

  • Is it just me or does he look like a microphone in a suit?

  • Comment removed

  • This guy wouldn't be nearly as credible without his genius fro.

  • I think I see some "Visible Solids" in Mr. Malcolm's diaper...ohh lah lah!

  • Women: Thin. Thick. Chunky. EXTRA CHUNKY.

  • 45 people don't like brunette versions of carrot top

  • interesting, thats why some dudes like fat chicks and some dudes like skinny chicks!

  • this is so simple, you must have been retarted not thinking about the "solutions" to the old stories he told. anyone knew anything about diversity or common sense even?

  • @ThaFacka "retarted" or "retarded"?

  • @HiveofVillainy

    Maybe it's a word game? RetarTED.

  • @HiveofVillainy: retarded

  • its funny how Gladwell's spaghetti sauce talk is the antithesis of Barry Schwartz's paradox of choice

  • @napoleon1969 Not really. They both focused opposite ends of the spectrum and how they cause less happiness, but ended near each other. Schwartz said that if you have 175 dressings you can easily imagine that one of them ought to be perfect or better than the good choice you made. Gladwell said that if you have 2 dressings, you can easily miss what 1/3 of people want. Both stated that the proper amount of choice is enough to satisfy general wants without giving a ridiculous number of options.

  • wonders if Moskowitz was at the El Dorado diner..

  • "Fantabulous" :)

  • Sorry Malcolm I'm a fan.

  • @lieingfibber I want to know what your comment was. It's been removed, but it was highly rated. Please tell me.

  • I pity those who are trying to critique Gladwell just for the sake of it

    @Creativeo88 ideas couldn't get more original that this - and storytelling is the best way to communicate..

    I love Gladwell because he tackles big ideas but does it in a non-condescending and captivating way unlike most other intellectuals.

  • having watched Barry Schwartz's The Paradox of Choice then this, is pretty interesting. Malcom talked about how variety can make us happier because in a way it gives us the illusion of progressing towards better more sophisticated things, and Barry talked about how too much variety can hinder happiness and cause paralysis.

  • @enigma887 i was thinking the exact same thing. i wonder if there is a fine line between the two.

  • "In embracing the diversity of humans we will find a way to true happiness."

  • "In embracing the diversity of humans we will find a way to true happiness." Malcolm Gladwell bit.ly /cmPFvz

  • Comment removed

  • I love this video.......There are very few people that can captivate with stories about Spaghetti sauce but he does it with style....Rock on Malcolm!

  • This video is dam funny when you aren't thinking about the big picture

  • Reminds me of my college lecturer, great story teller but does he have any of his own ideas? Anyone can be a commentator.

    Bad haircut, looks like Leo Sayer.

  • @Creativeo88 Im sure he has his own ideas, he references a book he wrote in the beginning unless im losing my mind. Oh and about your college lecturer, unless you went to crappy college 101 he likely does just didn't teach them. Probably not big ground breaking ideas but small ones which could be right or wrong. Most lecturers at decent institutions have to write journal articles, thats where you would find his ideas. But here im assuming you didn't go to some random no name variety college.

  • @Tapey01 Ideas: no one owns an idea

    Haircut: I don't think he cut his hair at all... he just let it grew!

  • Great story teller. Does he have any of his own ideas?

    Bad haircut.

  • why does he keep his hair to grow so much? aha something for us to deeply analyse...

  • @SuperHard3r I've heard he gets his hair cut once a year, and just let's it go the rest of the time. *shrugs* it works for him.

  • I love how Malcolm Gladwell always describes people so intricately 

  • I also think it's interesting that we think about spaghetti sauce in terms of "Italian authenticity." Tomatoes were completely unknown to Italy until the 1500s due to the Columbian Exchange.

  • This video contrasts with "The Paradox of Choice" in a very interesting way

  • Love this! Glad to find this view presented, which fits my reality better.

    Didn't agree with Barry Schwartz's view about limiting choices.

  • the worst thing about this talk is that it ends.

  • Pepsi is way tooooo sweet and Diet Pepsi is so sweet it kills bees. (of course I have no proof of this bee killing)

  • The fashion industry could use this food industry example and revolutionize the whole industry!

    The fashion and beauty industry needs an urgent revolution and paradigm shift: by putting models that reflect the genetic diversity that exist in the world on the runways, fashion editorials and beauty product ads, they will increase costumer satisfaction AND profit.

  • @EmpireStateofLife I think Levi's have already started making three kinds of jeans for women based on curve of asses and waists. Slight, Demi and Bold.

    Personally speaking, it really pissed me off those seven years when I couldn't find a decent pair of skinny jeans. The fact I was too fat to look good in the (at the time) is wholly beside the point : )

  • this guy is so frickin brilliant! why the hell does this video only have +200,000 views!?

  • If people don't know what they want, how did they know they wanted chunky spaghetti sauce?

  • he makes me boring on his discussion so inever finish ^^ sorry

  • This man is a pseudo-intellectual! All he does is take social science ideas and concepts and puts them in 'laymen' terms. Congratulations, buddy, you are a opportunist and nothing more.

  • @BadHabit202 just like Einstein then.

  • @BadHabit202

    Everything seems obvious when it is well-explained. That doesn't mean that it would be obvious if the explainer had never come along.

  • He makes this stuff interesting, but if you read on a regular basis, none of this is anything new.

  • How did "they were obsessed with mustard" not get a huge laugh? So matter of fact, common knowledge that the food industry was obsessed with mustard in those days.

  • I like this guy. He know how to take an extremely overlooked concept in life, and draw out meaning from it.

  • what the hell ever happened to the rating system (star thing) on youtube?

  • They realized most people rate near the top or near the bottom anyway, so having the option of "average" wasn't especially useful. Also, they get the same results with the thumbs up/down, because you can take the number of "thumbs up" and subtract the number of "thumbs down" and get the same 1.2.3.4.5. ranking, except its 10%,20%,30%,40%,50%

  • @aammaazzoonn Hmmm thanks for the response. Yet wouldn't I know have to go through each comment, tally the thumbs up/thumbs down? Also, the thumbs up or down wouldn't necessarily be a reflection of the actual quality of the video, but rather the relevance of the comment. Idk I just miss seeing the good old stars lol.

  • @Preacha1111 You now click like or dislike. Slightly different rating system.

  • @Preacha1111

    You now click like or dislike. Slightly different rating system.

  • He hit the nail on the head with the mustard story. Starbucks did the same thing!

  • Embracing the diversity of humanity leads people happy!

  • Gladwell is amazing; you should look at two tedx conejo videos of Mark Waldman and Yuval Ron. a simple message to help create world peace... also amazing

  • Now*

  • I bow have a craving for pasta.

  • @dmc3 You are a fucking dumbass then.

  • what i learned from this video is that I really couldn't give a SHlT about spaghetti sauce.

  • Yay for diversity/variability, otherwise humanity would be boring... but who else is ever overwhelmed by all the choices in food? Even with the options in front of us, it is sometimes hard to know what we really want, or which one would make us the happiest.

    and lol, the last TED talk I watched explained how even if we get what might objectively seem like the less desirable choice, most people will synthesize happiness to make the current situation seem more desirable, esp if we can't change it

  • count his "uhm"s.

  • I like his hair...

  • Of course. Think cars.

  • he's not talking about food in this monologue, he's talkin about people finding what's best for them in all aspects of life and not taking things as they've always been but instead helping themselves find something that's just right.