Baba Shiv: Sometimes it's good to give up the driver's seat

http://www.ted.com Over the years, research has shown a counterintuitive fact about human nature: That sometimes, having too much choice makes us less happy. This may even be true when it comes to medical treatment. Baba Shiv shares a fascinating study that measures why choice opens the door to doubt, and suggests that ceding control -- especially on life-or-death decisions -- may be the best thing for us.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate

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[DSBrekus]

You guys aren't even trying to understand. His entire point is that it is intuitive to think having more choices/control is better while the reality is it's stressful and not necessarily helpful at all in the end in some circumstances.

This is from his personal experience and actual psychological studies. I don't see how you could all have such strong opinions about this without either experiences or being aware of studies that refute it. Have a bit of an open mind please.

[massampage]

i hate the mics they use. the are TOO good. you can hear them swallow, open their mouths. fuck. its yuck.

[TheAgentHughes]

whyyyyy did i read this BEFORE the video started D;

[VoiceOfAleppo]

who fucking cares ???

[VoiceOfAleppo]

yeah , i'd say those mics are awesome for shooting some amazing deep throat scene !!!

[DrSathyaPrasad]

I have known Dr. Baba Shiv for 20 years. By taking the passenger seat, Dr. Shiv is neither indifferent to the problem, nor abdicating responsibility. Let the experts guide you make your choices. How much ever I might google, I (as an engineer) cannot match the expertise of a medical doctor, on health issues. As well, being emotionally attached to the problem, my rationale could be clouded. This is the exact reason why lawyers do not argue for themselves, but hire another lawyer to defend them.

[chainsahw]

It's not the mic. He just smacks loudly.

[fdja001]

Steve Jobs dress alike?

[BBQPeanut]

Or you lost her because you came first.

[spitfire0729]

His results: the person making the decision performs his or her task poorly.

His conclusion: have the doctor make the decisions.

Does that actually make sense to anyone? It seems like the results of his research would suggest the doctor should not be making any decisions so that he will do his job better and his wife will recover. If anything he should have been making the decisions since of the 3 people (doctor, patient, husband of patient) he played the smallest role in the recovery process.

[JohnBastardSnow]

For example, real estate agent usually is more interested in making more sales, rather than finding the very best option for every client.

[JohnBastardSnow]

It should be a question of competence. If you want a best chance of a successful trip, a car should be driven by one, who has the most experience in this area, whether it is you or somebody else. But in any case, there is always a human factor. Professionals still can make mistakes, and even if you have less expertise, you can spot a better choice, just because you have much more time and motivation to find the best option.