Iconoclastic Individualism - Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau (12 July 1817 -- 6 May 1862) born David Henry Thoreau was an American author, naturalist, transcendentalist, tax resister, development critic, philosopher, and abolitionist who is best known for Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state.

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David Mason- Trial and Error

Steven Johnson: Where good ideas come from

People often credit their ideas to individual "Eureka!" moments. But Steven Johnson shows how history tells a different story. His fascinating tour takes us from the "liquid networks" of London's coffee houses to Charles Darwin's long, slow hunch to today's high-velocity web. 



Listen to the his Latest Book (Where good ideas come from) talk.

Tony Robbins: Why we do what we do, and how we can do it better

Nine stories, from nine amazing storytellers

John Hodgman has perfected a way of stating pure invention as though it were well-understood and accepted fact. But he uses this talent to highlight, not obscure, a remarkable tale of falling in love.

Often a story takes us, not in straight lines, but in circles, ending up where we began. And on returning, like Becky Blanton, we’re surprised to find that the journey has changed us so profoundly that the old place is completely new.

The form of a story often transcends the content. Dan Barber relates a traditional tale finding true love after the heartbreak of youthful infatuation — only it’s with fish. For his restaurant. To cook.

A good story will have a surprise — a twist. And if it’s done well, as in this excerpt from Patsy Rodenburg, the twist will have the audience gasping, not just with astonishment, but with a realization of a newfound insight into human nature.

In a good narrative the hero is far from perfect, and it’s these imperfections that make the story engaging and relatable. Mike Rowe talks about the strength he gained by being completely and utterly wrong.

While there is strength in learning from stories, the danger, as eloquently expressed byChimamanda Adichie, is that we will confuse a person with a single story that happens to look like them.

We don’t normally think of the supposedly cold and detached world of science as a fertile realm for stories. Yet, at it’s heart science is about humans, and it turns out the stories are everywhere. In this spectacular example, Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroscientist, watches her own mind fail as she suffers a stroke.

Sometimes the power of a story is not in the magnitude of what happens, but in how it’s told.Carmen Agra Deedy is a master of the craft; here she uses every technique available to paint a beautiful, touching, and witty portrait of her mother through a simple trip to the shopping mall.

And sometimes all thoughts of the form and craft of a story fade to nothing in the face of the story itself. Emmanuel Jal uses story, poetry, and song to tell of his life, and rescue, as a child soldier.

An Evening with Psychologist Paul Ekman

A unique bond formed between the Dalai Lama and Paul Ekman when the two first met in 2000. The leader of Tibetan Buddhism and the renowned Western-trained scientist soon realized that despite their different educational and religions backgrounds, they shared the same motivation for analyzing emotions: a commitment to reducing human suffering. Following their first encounter, the two men spent 40 hours in discussion over three subsequent meetings, believing that the combined insight of Buddhism and Western psychology would lead to new understandings of human emotion.

These groundbreaking conversations are captured in their new book, Emotional Awareness: Overcoming the Obstacles to Psychological Balance and Compassion. As they discuss the roots of love, compassion, anger, and morality, the two men offer stunning insight into what unifies us all.

The role of the face in human emotions: Paul Ekman

Psychologist Paul Ekman joins Harry Kreisler to talk about his scientific work on the human face. They discuss what is now known about the role of the face in human emotions and the implications of these insights for human communication, self understanding and national security.

Richard Dawkins Answers Reddit Questions

Watch out this very interesting interview, specially the hate mails in the end! Really funny... :D

Future Consumers, Lifestyles and Online Communities - impact of new technology, communications

Future of Telecom and Consumers. Belgacom client event - 700 CEOs and CIOs by conference keynote speaker Dr Patrick Dixon. Future of communications, marketing, management, leadership, virtual teams and virtual organisations. Virtual meetings and distance learning. Future bandwidth, video streaming demand, convergence and divergence of technology. Future innovations in communication. Strategy for emerging markets and developed markets.Banks will become phone companies and telecom companies will become banks. Mobile payment systems, micro-payments, mobile phone credit card transactions and loans.All innovation is divergent - doing things different and better. But most companies focus on convergence on price, quality, features.image, branding, winning customers, online marketing and building trust. Consumer changes, preferences and lifestyles. Videoconferencing and virtual teams. Winning the war for talent - motivation and leadership styles.

Feynman 'Fun to Imagine'

Physicist Richard Feynman thinks aloud about atoms and how they jiggle, and how we perceive that jiggling as 'hot' and 'cold'. From the BBC TV series 'Fun to Imagine'(1983).  Feynman, jointly with Julian Schwinger and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, received theNobel Prize in Physics in 1965.

Peter Pynta & Richard Silberstein - Neuro Insights

Peter Pynta & Richard Silberstein - Neuro Insights talk about neuro-marketing @ The Advertising Research Foundation Audience Measurement conference. Watch:

Richard Dawkins Speaking at Duke University, Oct 3, 2010

Viktor Frankl: Why to believe in others

In this rare clip from 1972, legendary psychiatrist and Holocaust-survivor Viktor Frankl delivers a powerful message about the human search for meaning -- and the most important gift we can give others.

Watch

George W. Bush Talks “the Facebook”

Former U.S. President George W. Bush stopped by the Facebook headquarters earlier this evening to promote his new memoir, Decision Points.

The 43rd president joined Facebook in June and uses the site to promote his various projects and speaking engagements. True to form, Bush was quick with the quips and the self-deprecating humor.

Mr. Bush revealed that he used to be a BlackBerry person but is now an iPad person. He also uses “the Facebook.” To be fair to Mr. Bush, President Obama has previously referred to Twitter as “the Twitter.” Being the leader of the free world apparently means you can apply definite articles to anything you want.

When Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg asked the former president “why Facebook,” Bush responded “because you have a lot of people on here and I’m trying to sell books.” Touche Mr. Bush, touche.