Religion, Evolution and Self Ascendency: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion
Psychologist Jonathan Haidt asks a simple, but difficult question: why do we search for self-transcendence? Why do we attempt to lose ourselves? In a tour through the science of evolution by group selection, he proposes a provocative answer.
Jonathan Haidt studies how -- and why -- we evolved to be moral. By understanding more about our moral roots, his hope is that we can learn to be civil and open-minded. His new book is "The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion."
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Ric Elias: 3 Things I Learned While My Plane Crashed
Ric Elias had a front-row seat on Flight 1549, the plane that crash-landed in the Hudson River in New York in January 2009. What went through his mind as the doomed plane went down? At TED, he tells his story publicly for the first time.
True Humanity At Its Finest
When this autistic man started having trouble singing the national anthem, something happened that could bring you to tears. What an amazing display of humanity. It's great to see that there is still goodness in the world.
Frans de Waal: Moral Behavior in Animals
Empathy, cooperation, fairness and reciprocity -- caring about the well-being of others seems like a very human trait. But Frans de Waal shares some surprising videos of behavioral tests, on primates and other mammals, that show how many of these moral traits all of us share.
Introduction to the Dao Te Ching
This is an introduction to the Tao te Ching. Throughout the journey of my own introspection no one piece of wisdom has been at my side more than the Tao te Ching, and it is an honor to present the Way in this light. The Tao te Ching speaks to everybody on many different levels of understanding.
The Remarkable Story of Ernestine Shepherd
Do healthy, ripped bodies only belong to the young? Not if you're Ernestine Shepherd. At 77, she's the world's oldest female bodybuilder and in our original documentary short, we follow a day in her life.