Loneliness is an unpleasant experience in which one perceives a relationship deficit —the sense that the quality or the number of one’s relationships are unsatisfactory, the awareness that there is a mismatch between one’s desired and one’s achieved quality or quantity of relationships.

Loneliness, The Relationship Deficit

It has been suggested that loneliness has multiple dimensions, including social and emotional ones.People who experience social loneliness feel like they are not part of a group that shares their interests, that they do not belong.Those who experience emotional loneliness feel they lack intimacy. For instance, though many singles tend to be happy and satisfied with life, “involuntary singles” tend to be unhappy because of high emotional loneliness (i.e., they desire but lack intimate attachments).

To Desire And To Lack

Social loneliness: An unpleasant feeling resulting from the perception of not belonging, a lack of social integration, or experiencing one’s social network as deficient. Those more likely to experience social loneliness include people who have moved to a new school or job or migrated to a new country.Emotional loneliness: An unpleasant feeling resulting from the perception that one is missing an “intimate attachment relationship” or that the existing relationship is inadequate. Emotional loneliness is a very common experience in people who have recently divorced or become widowed.

Definitions And Examples

A new study, published in the July issue of Psychiatry Research, discusses the differences between these two types of loneliness, including their risk factors. The measure for both types of loneliness was De Jong Gierveld’s 11-item loneliness scale. <a href="https://mvda.info/sites/default/files/field/resources/De%20Jong%20Gierveld%20Lonliness%20Scale.pdf">https://mvda.info/sites/default/files/field/resources/De%20Jong%20Gierveld%20Lonliness%20Scale.pdf</a>

The De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale

Risk factors associated with both types of loneliness (equal effect sizes) included being an immigrant and having a low income. Drinking and being physically active, in contrast, were linked with lower loneliness.

Factors Common To Both Types Of Loneliness

In some cases, effect sizes were not similar. For instance, living alone, being unmarried, psychological distress, and suicidal thoughts were more strongly correlated with emotional loneliness, whereas poor health and having multiple chronic diseases were more strongly correlated with social loneliness.

Factors Special To One Type Of Loneliness

An analysis of the data showed that being female, of younger age, being a current smoker, and medium or higher educational level were linked with lower social loneliness. Having a paid job and a low body mass index were associated with lower emotional loneliness.

Factors Common To The Less Lonely

Why is it that people who exercise but also those who drink and smoke were less likely to feel lonely? Perhaps the association with smoking and drinking was due to participation in social events.Social loneliness has two dimensions: it refers to a lack of connection with others and difficulties with integration into social networks. The reviewed research found that older men and those with lower education are more likely to experience social loneliness.

Wait But Why

New research shows social loneliness and emotional loneliness have shared and unique risk factors.

New research examines the risk factors for emotional and social loneliness.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

mentalhealth

Mental Health

loveandrelationships

Love & Relationships

The Key Differences Between Social and Emotional Loneliness

Jill Bolte Taylor's story is fascinating. At age 37 in 1996, she suffered a left hemisphere stroke which caused her right hemisphere to become temporarily dominant. It took her 8 years to recover.She could no longer experience the linearity of time or a sense of urgency; speak or understand language; identify the physical boundaries of where the body began and where it ended; perceive individuality/personality; understand the concepts of self-loathing, feeling guilty, or feeling lonely; experience past regrets, present fears, or future expectations.

The Stroke That Turned Off The Left Brain

The author had a unique experience after the stroke:Peaceful euphoria and bliss of the eternal timelessness of the present moment; oneness with the universe; a gigantic ball of energy that blended fluidly with the rest of the energy in the universe; could only perceive the pixelated atoms that make up space and exist at the level of the cosmic flow; perceived us all collectively and energetically as a part of the same being; we were all woven together into a fabric of tiny molecules that were in motion; spirit soared free and boundless; both free-flowing and as big as the universe.

The 'Nirvana' Experience Of Living With Only The Right Brain

Before the stroke, I was willing to compromise my relationships by moving away from both my home and those I loved for the status and monetary gain of a career as a neuroanatomist at Harvard. Although I was truly grateful to recover the vast and important abilities of my left brain, post-stroke I was no longer willing to choose the treadmill of work, work, work. Pre-stroke, my left brain had defined success through the achievement of external rewards. Post-stroke, my right-brain characters found meaning through the internal standards of loving, being loved, and being in service to others.

Before And After The Stroke

It is a relief for me to experience my emotions again, as they not only add depth to life, but they stretch my boundaries for personal growth.I regained the emotional circuits of resentment, guilt, and embarrassment, as well as all of the other more subtle feelings and emotions that make life alluring. Our emotions, even the negative ones, truly enrich our perception of experience and make life nuanced and more remarkable

Getting Back The Emotions

By having both of these hemispheres working together inside of one head, we experience a natural duality. It is normal for us to endure an ongoing internal conflict, based completely on the two uniquely autonomous perspectives of our left and right brains.Our right and left brains would forever evolve on separate yet parallel tracks of consciousness and exist in duality. Our right brain would evolve to be the home of our feminine, yin, and grace of the cosmic right here, right now, while our left brain would develop masculine, yang, and ego-centred traits based on our individuality.

Duality

When my left thinking network went off-line, a specific part of my personality, a character that I had known for decades as my ego-self, also disappeared. It was not as though I was missing a memory that I simply could not put my finger on; it was more like that memory (and I myself) had never existed at all. It’s a bit disconcerting to think that who we are is completely manufactured by a small group of cells in our left brain, and that we can lose ourselves at any moment, but that is exactly how fragile our ego identities are.

With that internal dialogue circuitry shut off, I sat in the center of a completely silent brain for five full weeks. I even lost that little voice of my left-brain ego-self that could say, ‘I am an individual, separate from the whole. I am Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor.’In the absence of my own left-brain character, which had anchored me in the external world at an emotional level, my ego-self disappeared and with it all of the personal content of my identity. Consequently, I no longer existed as an individual who was separate from the flow of the universe, and I knew nothing about my life.

The Monkey Mind Goes Silent

Because we have become the center of our own universe, our left-brain ego-cells come online and begin organizing everything in the external world around our individuality. With this shift of focus toward our relationship with the external world as separate from ourselves, the consciousness of the eternal flow remains, but shifts into the background.

Our Ego Makes Us The Center Of Our Own World

Before the hero’s left-brain ego-cells developed his perception of himself as an individual, he possessed the collective knowledge of his right brain’s unconscious mind. With time, as the individuation of his left brain developed, it grew to dominate and inhibit the knowledge of his right-brain mind.In the language of the brain, the hero must step out of his own ego-based left-brain consciousness into the realm of his right brain’s unconsciousness. At this point, the hero feels connected to all that is and is enveloped by a sense of deep inner peace.

The Hero’s Journey

There is an electromagnetic field of atoms and molecules that surrounds us, and we exist within it and it exists within us. Our left brain is unaware of this sea of energy because a small group of cells in our parietal region defines the boundaries of our body, surmising the separation. How different would our world be if we understood that we have the power to influence this field of energy through our thoughts and emotions? Perhaps gaining this insight into whole-brain living is humanity’s collective Hero’s Journey and how we will evolve as a species to live our lives with purpose.

A Collective Voyage

The Hero leaves behind the rational, ego-based consciousness that processes the reality of the external world (left brain); shed the rational, ego-based individuality; must be willing to let go of possessions and worldly knowledge; lays down the justice-demanding judgment of the dominating left brain.

The Hero's Journey Call

The Hero enters into the realm of the unconscious (right brain) and embodies the merciful characteristics of the compassionate right brain; battles the fear of death and all the other left-brain monsters; gains the insights of his heroic quest while enveloped in the wisdom of his euphoric right brain.The hero must either return home or share hard-won whole-brain knowledge; returning home, the hero is different now, aware of both conscious and unconscious characters and their conflicting values.

The Hero’s Journey To The Unconscious Realm

Reptilian Brain (Brain Stem): Instinctual survival; fundamental activities (breathing, heartbeat); regulating body temperature; managing our balance; processes pain, aggression, pleasure, and our drive to mateMammalian Brain (Emotional Limbic System Tissue): Modify and refine well-organized data from the brain stem by streaming it through the filter of emotion; make an automatic threat assessment based on how something feels.Human Brain: Directly modifies and refines the underlying emotional limbic tissue of our left-brain and right-brain.

How the Brain Works

We each have four distinctive groups of cells, divided between our two brain hemispheres, that generate four consistent and predictable personalities.Character 1: Left-Brain Thinking (Serial Processor)Verbal, thinks in language, thinks linearly, past/future based, analytical, focused on details, seeks differences, judgmental, punctual, individual, concise/precise, fixed, focus on the individual(ego), busy, conscious and biased towards structure and order.Competitive: compete when challenged and fight for what it believes in.Respects Authority: obeys rules.

The Four Characters

Constricted, rigid, cautious, fear-based, stern, loves conditionally, doubts, bullies, righteous, manipulates, deceives, tried and true.<ul><li>Compares present vs past memories.</li><li>Deepest emotions.</li><li>Emotional volatility and reactivity.</li><li>Happiness: the natural underlying circuitry of happiness (or lack thereof).</li><li>Stress: part of our stress circuitry; pessimistically sees the glass as half empty.</li></ul>

Character 2: Left-Brain Emotional

Expansive, open, experiential, risk-taking, fearless, friendly, kind, empathic, loves unconditionally, forgiving, trusts, supports, grateful, playful, joyful, goes with the flow, awe-inspired, curious, creative/innovative, collective, sharing, equality, contextual, style, hopeful.<ul><li>Focuses on the present moment.</li><li>Interconnected with the universal flow.</li><li>Always exists at the level of the flow of the universe.</li><li>Big picture, present moment threats.</li><li>Experiential.</li></ul>

Character 3: Right-Brain Emotional

Nonverbal, thinks in pictures, thinks experientially, present moment-based, kinesthetic/body, looks holistically at the big picture, seeks similarities, compassionate, lost in the flow of time, collective, flexible/resilient, open to possibilities, focus on WE, available, unconscious, fluid/flow, aware, expansive, connection, accepting, embraces chance, authentic, generous of spirit, clarity, intention, vulnerabilityAwareness: aware; awareness that we are safe regardless of our physical circumstanceOpenness: open; expansive; as big as the universe.

Character 4: Right-Brain Thinking (Parallel Processor)

At any given moment, there are three things going on in our brain: think thoughts, feel emotions, and run physiological responses to what we are thinking and feeling. Each of these activities is completely dependent on the health and well-being of the cells that are performing those functions.We have the power to choose moment by moment who and how we want to be.

We Can Choose What We Want To Be

When we know, understand, and nurture our own Four Characters, their relationships with one another, and their collective power within us, we promote our own cognitive, emotional, physical, and spiritual wellness.The better we understand the various groups of cells inside of our brain, how they are organized, and what it feels like to run each of those different cellular circuits, the more power we have to purposefully choose which of those neural networks we want to run.

Nurturing Our Four Characters

Humanity exists in an ongoing state of evolution:First, we are actively integrating the newly added-on tissue of our left thinking brain (Character 1) with the tissue of the underlying left emotional brain tissue (Character 2), then we are integrating the new tissue in our right thinking brain with the brain tissue in between (Character 3 and 4).Finally, we will evolve into whole-brain living, and consciously direct our own development as part of that evolution.

The Human Evolution

The New York Times best-selling author of My Stroke of Insight blends neuroanatomy with psychology to show how we can short-circuit emotional reactivity and find our way to peace. For half a century we have been trained to believe that our right brain hemisphere is our emotional brain, while our left brain houses our rational thinking. Now neuroscience shows that it's not that simple: in fact, our emotional limbic tissue is evenly divided between our two hemispheres. Consequently, each hemisphere has both an emotional brain and a thinking brain. In this groundbreaking new book, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor presents these four distinct modules of cells as four characters that make up who we are: Character 1, Left Thinking; Character 2, Left Emotion; Character 3, Right Emotion; and Character 4, Right Thinking. Everything we think, feel, or do is dependent upon brain cells to perform that function. Since each of the Four Characters stems from specific groups of cells that feel unique inside of our body, they each display particular skills, feel specific emotions, or think distinctive thoughts. In Whole Brain Living, Dr. Taylor shows us how to get acquainted with our own Four Characters, observe how they show up in our daily life, and learn to identify and relate to them in others as well. And she introduces a practice called the Brain Huddle--a tool for bringing our Four Characters into conversation with one another so we can tap their respective strengths and choose which one to embody in any situation. The more we become familiar with each of the characters in ourselves and others, the more power we gain over our thoughts, our feelings, our relationships, and our lives. Indeed, we discover that we have the power to choose who and how we want to be in every moment. And when our Four Characters work together and balance one another as a whole brain, we gain a radical new road map to deep inner peace.

books

Books

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

The New York Times best-selling author of My Stroke of Insight blends neuroanatomy with psychology to show how we can short-circuit emotional reactivity and find our way to peace. For half a century we have been trained to believe that our right brain hemisphere is our emotional brain, while our left brain houses our rational thinking. Now neuroscience shows that it's not that simple: in fact, our emotional limbic tissue is evenly divided between our two hemispheres. Consequently, each hemisphere has both an emotional brain and a thinking brain. In this groundbreaking new book, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor presents these four distinct modules of cells as four characters that make up who we are: Character 1, Left Thinking; Character 2, Left Emotion; Character 3, Right Emotion; and Character 4, Right Thinking. Everything we think, feel, or do is dependent upon brain cells to perform that function. Since each of the Four Characters stems from specific groups of cells that feel unique inside of our body, they each display particular skills, feel specific emotions, or think distinctive thoughts. In Whole Brain Living, Dr. Taylor shows us how to get acquainted with our own Four Characters, observe how they show up in our daily life, and learn to identify and relate to them in others as well. And she introduces a practice called the Brain Huddle--a tool for bringing our Four Characters into conversation with one another so we can tap their respective strengths and choose which one to embody in any situation. The more we become familiar with each of the characters in ourselves and others, the more power we gain over our thoughts, our feelings, our relationships, and our lives. Indeed, we discover that we have the power to choose who and how we want to be in every moment. And when our Four Characters work together and balance one another as a whole brain, we gain a radical new road map to deep inner peace.

Jill Bolte Taylor

Whole Brain Living

Phubbing is a term used to describe the act of snubbing someone in favour of the phone. It’s a blend of “phone” and “snubbing.” Phubbing behaviour can also be seen in overhead gazing or looking over someone’s head for an opportunity during a conversation.

Phubbing: Snubbing Others With Your Phone

The most common form of phubbing is when someone is talking to you, looking at their phone instead of making eye contact. Other examples of phubbing someone can do include:• Interrupting a conversation to take a phone call• Scrolling through social media while they’re supposed to be listening to someone• Turning to the phone to escape an argument or disagreement, especially with a partner

The Phone Snub That We All Know About

Phubbing can be due to boredom and a way for someone to find quick entertainment. It could also be due to someone trying to avoid an awkward conversation or feeling socially anxious during social interactions. Other times, snubbing can happen when someone becomes addicted to their phones.

The Reason For Phubbing

Phubbing can be addictive, especially when it becomes normal during social interactions. Some people might over-rely on phones and avoid social interactions, especially during parties, friendly get-togethers, or business conferences. If phubbing starts damaging relationships, it can be dangerously addictive.

The Addictive Habit Of Phubbing

Phubbing can lead to communication problems. When someone is phubbing you, they’re not really listening to what they’re saying. This can make you feel left out in a conversation.Phubbing can damage relationships. Eye contact is super important in bonding and developing oxytocin, the chemical that builds trust and connection. A lack of eye contact due to phubbing can make people feel like you don’t care about them or value their time.

Dangers Of Phubbing

If you encounter someone who phubs during a conversation, follow their gaze. Notice what they look at and make a comment:If they look at their phone, gaze over at their phone screen. “Did you want to show me something interesting?”If they’re eyeballing the person next to you, look over at them. “Oh, do you know them?”Every time they phub, look where they are looking. They may realize 3 things:<ul><li>It’s super distracting</li><li>It’s not nice</li><li>They will become annoyed or self-conscious with you pointing out their phubbing.</li></ul>

Stop Phubbing: Follow Their Gaze

Some people might be guilty of phubbing because they’re super introverted or socially anxious. In this case, you’ll want to help them by rewarding them with eye contact.Here’s how:Flash them a reassuring smile whenever they look up. Smiling will act as a reinforcement and cue them that it’s good to look at you. You can even add a few small nods to the smile.Pause first, continue later. When someone snubbed you during a conversation (especially if you’re talking), immediately employ the pause. You might even be in the middle of a sentence.

Reward Eye Contact

If you notice someone is phubbing you if they are upset about something or avoiding something, you can verbally say, “Is everything OK? I notice you’re looking down a lot,” or, “I notice you haven’t been looking at me.”This is a straightforward approach, but if you think they are going through a personal issue, this might be a way for them to open up and share what’s going on.

Be Direct

Try saying this line when you notice someone buries themselves in their phone. You’ll give them the heads-up that you won’t make conversation with them unless they’re giving you their full attention.This one’s super direct! Save it for those hardcore snubbers.

Say It To Them

You can playfully say, “Say hi for me!” or another fun/humorous/playful one-liner. This will help lighten up the conversation while also pointing out that you notice their snubbing.Other clever one-liners might include:“Don’t worry. You can take my number down later.”“This must be important. Is that the President on the other line?”“Oh, you must be checking out the latest memes, right?”

Be Playful

technologyandthefuture

Technology & The Future

communication

Communication

Phubbing: How to Deal with People Who Won’t Make Eye Contact

People tend to converge toward the language they observe around them, whether it's copying word choices, mirroring sentence structures, mimicking pronunciations or mimicking speech sounds they expect to hear - even if they never actually hear them. Linguists call this phenomenon "linguistic convergence.

Mimicking How Others Speak

Convergence refers to the shifts people make to their speech to approximate that of those around them.Code-switching or style-shifting can also be examples of convergence, as long as the shift is toward an interlocutor – the person you’re talking to. But people can also shift away from an interlocutor, and this is called “divergence.”Code-switching and style-shifting can occur for other reasons, too, like how you feel, what you’re talking about and how you want to be perceived. You might drop your G’s more and say things like “thinkin’” when reminiscing about a prank you played in high school.

Defining Convergence

Accentual convergence means that people perceive accents as coherent collections of different linguistic features.Over exaggerated convergence can be perceived as mocking or patronizing.If you don't have an actual speech target to converge toward, you might resort to inaccurate, simplistic or stereotyped ideas about how someone will speak.However, subtler shifts - in what might be called the "sweet spot" of convergence - can have a number of benefits, from social approval to more efficient and successful communication.

He Talks Like I Do

We often imitate styles of speech we hear – what’s known as ‘linguistic convergence.’ But a researcher wanted to see if we alter our speech based on the mere expectation of how someone will sound.

What makes us subconsciously mimic the accents of others in conversation

Knowing how competent and skilled we are against other people helps us figure out when we can go ahead with our decisions or when we instead need to look for advice.  But psychological research suggests that we frequently overestimate our own abilities. This is known as the Dunning-Kruger effect. It explains why over 100 studies reveal that people show illusory superiority.

Knowing how your skills measure up

On average, people tend to rate themselves better than most in disciplines ranging from health, leadership skills, ethics and more. Those with the least ability often overrate their skills to the greatest extent.  People who are measurably poor at logical reasoning, grammar, financial knowledge, math and emotional intelligence tend to rate their expertise almost as favourably as actual experts do.

We judge ourselves as better than others

People lacking knowledge and skill in certain areas suffer a double curse.  <ol><li>They make mistakes and reach poor decisions</li><li>Those same knowledge gaps prevent them from noticing their errors. </li></ol>In other words, poor performers won't notice how bad they are doing. For example,  a study showed that 25% of teams in a college debate tournament lost nearly four out of every five matches, but thought they were winning almost 60%.

People lacking knowledge suffer a double curse

The Dunning-Kruger effect isn't about an ego blinding us to our weaknesses. Once people can spot their deficits, they usually will admit to them. That is why people with moderate experience often have less confidence in their abilities. They know there's a lot they don't know. Experts tend to make a different mistake. They tend to be aware of their knowledge and assume everyone else is knowledgeable too. As a result, they don't see how unusual their abilities are.

The Dunning-Kruger effect is invisible to those experiencing it

<ol><li>Ask for feedback from other people and consider it, even if you find it hard to hear.</li><li>Keep learning. The more knowledgeable we become the more we will know how competent we are.</li></ol>

How to know how good you really are

Check out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/teded View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-incompetent-people-think-they-re-amazing-david-dunning How good are you with money? What about reading people’s emotions? How healthy are you, compared to other people you know? Knowing how our skills stack up against others is useful in many ways. But psychological research suggests that we’re not very good at evaluating ourselves accurately. In fact, we frequently overestimate our own abilities. David Dunning describes the Dunning-Kruger effect. Lesson by David Dunning, directed by Wednesday Studio, music and sound by Tom Drew. Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Juan, Jordan Tang, Kent Logan, Alexandra Panzer, Jen, Ellen Spertus, Ryan Mehendale, Mary Sawyer, Scott Gass, Ruth Fang, Mayank Kaul, Hazel Lam, Tan YH, Be Owusu, Samuel Doerle, David Rosario, Katie Winchester, Michel Reyes, Dominik Kugelmann, Siamak H, Stephen A. Wilson, Manav Parmar, Jhiya Brooks, David Lucsanyi, Querida Owens.

philosophy

Philosophy

videos

Videos

Check out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/teded

View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-incompetent-people-think-they-re-amazing-david-dunning

How good are you with money? What about reading people’s emotions? How healthy are you, compared to other people you know? Knowing how our skills stack up against others is useful in many ways. But psychological research suggests that we’re not very good at evaluating ourselves accurately. In fact, we frequently overestimate our own abilities. David Dunning describes the Dunning-Kruger effect. 

Lesson by David Dunning, directed by Wednesday Studio, music and sound by Tom Drew. 

Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible!
Juan, Jordan Tang, Kent Logan, Alexandra Panzer, Jen, Ellen Spertus, Ryan Mehendale, Mary Sawyer, Scott Gass, Ruth Fang, Mayank Kaul, Hazel Lam, Tan YH, Be Owusu, Samuel Doerle, David Rosario, Katie Winchester, Michel Reyes, Dominik Kugelmann, Siamak H, Stephen A. Wilson, Manav Parmar, Jhiya Brooks, David Lucsanyi, Querida Owens.

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TED-Ed

Why incompetent people think they're amazing - David Dunning

Trait psychology aligns you along five dimensions that describe universal aspects of differences between people. These are:<ol><li>Open to experience vs those who are more closed.</li><li>Conscientiousness vs those with a more careless approach to life.</li><li>Extroversion vs more introverted people</li><li>Agreeable individuals vs those not agreeable.</li><li>Neurotic individuals vs those who are more stable.</li></ol>

Trait psychology

The five dimensions of trait psychology have implications for our well-being. For example: <ul><li>Openness and conscientiousness are good predictors of life success. Open people achieve success through being audacious, and conscientious people by sticking to deadlines.</li><li>Extroversion and agreeableness are both conducive to working well with people.</li></ul>

The implications of trait psychology

Extroverts need stimulation by finding exciting things, such as loud noises, parties and social events. They like to have a lot of eye contact, they use more diminutive terms when they meet somebody. They prefer simple, black and white language. Introverts are more likely to spend time in a quiet space where they can reduce stimulation. They may be misinterpreted as antisocial, but that is not necessarily true. You may simply realize that you do better with less stimulation. Introverts prefer contextually complex sentences. As a result, they sometimes talk past each other.

Extroverts and introverts communicate differently

We also have free traits where we act out of character. You're very agreeable, but act disagreeably in order to advance a personal project in your life. It may relate to your kid, where you've been to hospital but they still don't know what's wrong. Or it could be your mom.  You may be an introvert but have a core project that makes you act in an extroverted way. So, don't ask people what type they are. Instead, ask them what are the core projects in their life.

Why we're not always what we seem to be

Visit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more. What makes you, you? Psychologists like to talk about our traits, or defined characteristics that make us who we are. But Brian Little is more interested in moments when we transcend those traits — sometimes because our culture demands it of us, and sometimes because we demand it of ourselves. Join Little as he dissects the surprising differences between introverts and extroverts and explains why your personality may be more malleable than you think. The TED Talks channel features 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 (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know. Follow TED on Twitter: http://twitter.com/TEDTalks Like TED on Facebook: http://facebook.com/TED Subscribe to our channel: http://youtube.com/TED TED's videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization/our-policies-terms/ted-talks-usage-policy). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com

Visit http://TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.

What makes you, you? Psychologists like to talk about our traits, or defined characteristics that make us who we are. But Brian Little is more interested in moments when we transcend those traits — sometimes because our culture demands it of us, and sometimes because we demand it of ourselves. Join Little as he dissects the surprising differences between introverts and extroverts and explains why your personality may be more malleable than you think.

The TED Talks channel features 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 (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know. 

Follow TED on Twitter: http://twitter.com/TEDTalks
Like TED on Facebook: http://facebook.com/TED
Subscribe to our channel: http://youtube.com/TED

TED's videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization/our-policies-terms/ted-talks-usage-policy). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com

The TED Talks channel features 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 (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.

TED's videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy: https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization/our-policies-terms/ted-talks-usage-policy. For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com

Who are you, really? The puzzle of personality | Brian Little

In history, people have attempted to explain the earth and humans’ position in it. A lot of people from various eras, religions, and races have uttered tales to describe, with magnificence and wonder, the roots and presence of human beings, Earth, animals, the universe, and the stars.Globalization, as well as our extremely dynamic present knowledge economy, has disintegrated belief in conventional root tales. However, the fact is that the present scientific understanding entails that people could not describe our roots and growth.

The Premise

What we understand has been that this huge explosion formed this universe 13.8 billion years previously – the initial of the range of important occurrences in the human chronicle. Also, we can tell what occurred after a fragment of a nanosecond following that instant.At that moment, our universe had even been tinier compared to an atom. It is difficult for our minds to understand some things, such as atoms, sizes; however, you could put millions of atoms in the point of an “i” with ease.Everything, from time, space and matter, started from that point.

The Big Bang

To start with, we had energy only, which immediately divided into various forces, like electromagnetism and gravity. In a split second, the simple matter appeared, and after it was complicated formations, while neutrons and protons – very tiny particles – combine to form nuclei. Anything occurred within minutes; however, with the cooling of this universe, everything impeded further.  The universe started out as something unthinkably small, with every matter and energy that is in our universe presently gathered to that, and it has been increasing since then.

The Formation Of Everything From The Unthinkable

Stars just came into existence 100000000 years following the huge explosion, at the time matter and gravity offered the goldilocks circumstances for any star to create.After a big star disappears, gravity crushes a star's essence with great strength, and a star shatters with immense energy.

The Emergence of Stars

This world was created by the buildup of debris-roughly 4,500,000,000 years previouslyWe are owed to the Sun for three things: energy, light, and heatThe creation of the globe has been a chaotic outcome of star formation, which happens in parts of space full of plumes of chemical substances.Near to the rays, where the creation of rocky planets such as Mars, Venus, and Earth took place, was a part filled with chemical substances such as iron, oxygen, and aluminium.

Our Solar System

<ul><li>Mild temperatures are important to existence, and the World possesses in-built systems that sustain them.</li><li>Rain comprises carbon, which ultimately finds its path to this World's cloak, the place it is kept for a long time.</li><li>Decreased carbon signifies less CO2 and this signifies colder temperatures.</li><li>During the cold period, less rain pours, this signifies that the kept carbon is less. CO2 degrees accumulate and things become warmer.</li><li>And when it gets really hot, more rain happens and everything cooled back down.</li></ul>

The Bedrock Of Life

<ul><li>Photosynthesis had been a powerful blessing for the initial, one-celled existence that assisted to trigger a biological innovation.</li><li>The progressive revolution of photosynthesis indicated the initial energy success in life history.</li><li>Unexpectedly, the energy was nearly infinite, and prokaryotes could multiply and spread. - 3000000000 years ago, oxygen levels in the atmosphere increased intensely, and the quantity of life in the oceans rose to nearly 10% of present grades.</li></ul>

Photosynthesis

<ul><li>Development and the annihilation of dinosaurs assisted the large structures of existence to grow that would ultimately produce mankind</li><li>Fungi, plants, and animals evolved and moved to land from oceans.</li><li>The appearance of existence on land caused expansion.</li><li>Life developed to be more clever due to advancement.</li><li>Adaptation increased information processing since information increased information.</li></ul>

Early Life On Earth

<ul><li>According to the criteria of our universe, we are really young.</li><li>In only the past 6000000 years (know that our universe is at the age of 13800000000, and initial huge living organisms came 600000000 years previously), we people have made our own means, growing independently from primates.</li><li>The language ability allowed the difficulty and accuracy of the shared info that showed to become revolutionary since it allowed training together - the buildup and transferring of one person's knowledge to another person and from one generation to another.</li></ul>

From Apes To Humans

<ul><li>The practice of agriculture developed in reaction to population densities.</li><li>Initially, humans were hesitant cultivators.</li><li>As village societies turned out to be the standard lifestyle, communities had to make novel principles and conduct, and humans started working further as one</li></ul>

Agriculture

<ul><li>With the development of agriculture, it produced surpluses that allowed the growth of more difficult agrarian communities</li><li>Surplus food from farming signified that they had an excess of humans in time at hand since not everybody had to labour the ground.</li><li>At the time individuals do not have to use their entire time for agriculture, they possess time to produce and trade pots for instance.</li></ul>

The Growth Of Trade

<ul><li>In just 100 years, people have accomplished huge advancements as data and concepts travelled across seas and were interchanged faster than any time previously</li><li>Fossil fuels' energy provided communities with further energy compared to what is offered by agriculture and transformed human life.</li></ul>

Fossil Fuels

<ul><li>Since World War II, we've seen the extreme rise of financial advancement in history, caused largely by technological advancements and fossil fuels</li><li>Economic advancement signifies that the experience of people is currently totally different from the ones our ancestors had</li><li>One disadvantage to economic growth is a huge inequality, proven most strongly by the fact that presently; 45000000 individuals are enslaved</li><li>Biodiversity is falling forever, with figures of extermination presently 100s of times quicker than that of the past millions of years</li></ul>

The Last Seventy Years

<ul><li>The following days are for us to create.</li><li>In the long term, The World would be sterile and ultimately the Sun would consume it</li><li>We are getting close to the biodiversity boundary, and we are getting nearer to the boundaries for climate change.</li><li>John Stuart Mill, the 19th-century economist, chose the notion of a tomorrow with no continuous development.</li><li>Attaining a world that could survive is an aim worth targeting, it would signify that human communities can exist for thousands, perhaps a lot of centuries to come.</li></ul>

The Future Of Earth

Lets go right at the start of everythijng.

This New York Times bestseller "elegantly weaves evidence and insights . . . into a single, accessible historical narrative" (Bill Gates) and presents a captivating history of the universe -- from the Big Bang to dinosaurs to mass globalization and beyond. Most historians study the smallest slivers of time, emphasizing specific dates, individuals, and documents. But what would it look like to study the whole of history, from the big bang through the present day -- and even into the remote future? How would looking at the full span of time change the way we perceive the universe, the earth, and our very existence? These were the questions David Christian set out to answer when he created the field of "Big History," the most exciting new approach to understanding where we have been, where we are, and where we are going. In Origin Story, Christian takes readers on a wild ride through the entire 13.8 billion years we've come to know as "history." By focusing on defining events (thresholds), major trends, and profound questions about our origins, Christian exposes the hidden threads that tie everything together -- from the creation of the planet to the advent of agriculture, nuclear war, and beyond. With stunning insights into the origin of the universe, the beginning of life, the emergence of humans, and what the future might bring, Origin Story boldly reframes our place in the cosmos.

religionandspirituality

Religion & Spirituality

moneyandinvestments

Money & Investments

space

Space

This New York Times bestseller "elegantly weaves evidence and insights . . . into a single, accessible historical narrative" (Bill Gates) and presents a captivating history of the universe -- from the Big Bang to dinosaurs to mass globalization and beyond. Most historians study the smallest slivers of time, emphasizing specific dates, individuals, and documents. But what would it look like to study the whole of history, from the big bang through the present day -- and even into the remote future? How would looking at the full span of time change the way we perceive the universe, the earth, and our very existence? These were the questions David Christian set out to answer when he created the field of "Big History," the most exciting new approach to understanding where we have been, where we are, and where we are going. In Origin Story, Christian takes readers on a wild ride through the entire 13.8 billion years we've come to know as "history." By focusing on defining events (thresholds), major trends, and profound questions about our origins, Christian exposes the hidden threads that tie everything together -- from the creation of the planet to the advent of agriculture, nuclear war, and beyond. With stunning insights into the origin of the universe, the beginning of life, the emergence of humans, and what the future might bring, Origin Story boldly reframes our place in the cosmos.

David Christian

Origin Story

A new theory of economic decision-making from Mina Mahmoudi, a lecturer in the Department of Economics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, offers an explanation as to why humans, in general, make decisions that are simply adequate, not optimal. In research published in the Review of Behavioral Economics, Dr. Mahmoudi theorizes an aspect of relative thinking explaining people may use ratios in their decision-making when they should only use absolute differences. The inverse is also possible.

Relative Differences And Absolute Differences

“Effectively solving some economic problems requires one to think in terms of differences while others require one to think in terms of ratios,” Dr. Mahmoudi said.“Because both types of thinking are necessary, it is reasonable to think people develop and apply both types. However, it is also reasonable to expect that people misapply the two types of thinking, especially when less experienced with the context.”

Application And Misapplication

Past studies have shown that when given the opportunity to save, for example, $5 on a $25 item or a $500 item, people in general would put in more effort to save the money on the lower-cost product than the more expensive item.They believe they are getting a better deal because the ratio of cost to savings is higher. In fact, the $5 saved is the same for both items and the perfect, or optimal choice, would be to look at the absolute savings and work equally hard to save each $5.

 The $5 Test

“Understanding how the cognitive and motivational characteristics of human beings and the operating procedures of organizations influence the working of economic systems is of critical importance,” Dr. Mahmoudi said.“Many economic behaviors such as imitation occur and many economic institutions like inventories exist because people cannot maximize or because markets are not in equilibrium. Our model provides an example of a behavior that occurs because people cannot maximize.”

Α Case Against The Logic Of Maximizing Behaviour

People consider relative differences and not only absolute differences when making various economics decisions, even in those cases where the rational model dictates that people should consider only absolute differences. A new theory seeks to explain why. 

A new theory of decision-making helps explain why humans often make decisions that are simply adequate, not optimal. According to the theory, people often use relative thinking when they should use absolutes, and vice-versa.

Discover the world of business and economics.

economics

Economics

problemsolving

Problem Solving

New Theory of Decision-Making Seeks to Explain Why Humans Don’t Make Optimal Choices

BE uses psychological experimentation to develop theories about human decision-making and has identified a range of biases as a result of the way people think and feel.BE is trying to change the way economists think about people’s perceptions of value and expressed preferences. According to BE, people are not always self-interested, benefits maximizing, and costs minimize individuals with stable preferences—our thinking is subject to insufficient knowledge, feedback, and processing capability, which often involves uncertainty and is affected by the context in which we make decisions.

Behavioral Economics (BE)

In an ideal world, our decisions would be the result of a careful weighing of costs and benefits and informed by existing preferences. We would always make optimal decisions. The theory of rational choice assumes that human actors have stable preferences and engage in maximizing behavior.

Rational Choice

Our willingness to take risks is influenced by the way in which choices are framed, i.e. it is context-dependent. Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman are perhaps best known for the development of prospect theory and published a number of papers that show that decisions are not always optimal.

Prospect Theory

Bounded rationality is a term associated with Herbert Simon’s work of the 1950s. According to this view, our minds must be understood relative to the environment in which they evolved. There are restrictions to human information processing, due to limits in knowledge and computational capacities.While the idea of human limits to rationality was not a radically new thought in economics, Tversky and Kahneman’s ‘heuristics and biases research program made important methodological contributions. 30 years later, their thinking entered the mainstream.

Bounded Rationality

A short primer on core ideas from behavioral economics. By Alain Samson, PhD, editor of the BE Guide and founder of the BE Group.

An Introduction to Behavioral Economics

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