Has anyone caught this fascinating talk on experience versus memory on the TED site? This one is a bit longer (20 min) than the usual video I post to the blog. But the subject is fascinating. If you take a peek, you’ll hear from Daniel Kahneman, who is said to be one of the most influential living psychologists. He and his former partner, Amos Tversky, won the Nobel Prize for their pioneering work in behavioral economics.
Kahneman starts by telling a story of a guy who goes to a “glorious” concert. But at the end, there is a loud noise, that the guy describes as so bad it ruined the whole concert. Kahneman argues that the concert wasn’t ruined, just the memory of the concert.
“What this is telling us, really, is that we might be thinking of ourselves and of other people in terms of two selves. There is an experiencing self, who lives in the present and knows the present, is capable of re-living the past, but basically it has only the present…And then there is a remembering self, and the remembering self is the one that keeps score, and maintains the story of our life…Those are two very different entities, the experiencing self and the remembering self and getting confused between them is part of the mess of the notion of happiness.”
If I’ve piqued your interest, then hit play below.
I’m curious what photographers and artists would have to say about this notion of the experiencing and remembering selves. How does photography or the visual arts play into this concept and the cognitive trap of measuring experiences and emotions that Kahneman mentions (want to weigh in, Mike?) What do you think, reader? This has got my brain churning.
I read an interesting article recently from one of the New York Times blogs about an environmental program geared towards harnessing the immense energy and tenacity of children. It’s called Green My Parents. As they state on their site, GMP, “is a movement that activates & enlists kids to lead their families in measuring & reducing environmental impact at home & ‘challenge’ their parents to share savings with kids.” The effort was just launched this past Earth Day, and now has a presence on Facebook and Twitter, trying to spread the word to young people and their parents all over the globe. I love the way the GMP empowers kids to take a more assertive role in decisions at home, leading the way for their families. Sometimes we need the optimism and creativity of the next generation to help push us towards the innovative and oft-traveled paths.
Many of the GMP tips are focused on countries like the U.S., where infrastructure allows for many of the changes they suggest. However, a few tips are applicable for other contexts. I would love to see GMP chapters pop up in other countries around the globe, adapting the format for local and regional needs and opportunities. It could be a great global community project, all pioneered by kids!
This same blog also brought me to the TED site again to watch a short speech given by young dynamo, Adora Svitak. Svitak is no stranger to speaking in public, despite her young age (12 years old). In this TED video, she posits that adults need to encourage “childish thinking”: “bold ideas, wild creativity and, especially, optimism.” Unhampered by past experiences, Svitak points out that kids tend to dream big; and perhaps our job as adults is to (1) learn from that example, and (2) create environments to encourage and incubate those big ideas.
Spring is a great chance to foster your child-like dreams, or those of a child you know and love. The weather is warming up and new energy is in the air. How can you take that natural vitality that Spring has to offer and approach a task with “childish” optimism and ingenuity? Or can you enlist a young person you know to collaborate with you in a personal project, or one in your community? You might find the exploration rejuvenating!
I’ve got a lot of fun YouTube discoveries this month for you, HarmonyWishes community. So get ready to strap in and take the visual (or auditory) journey.
This latest find I stumbled upon while on the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) video site. (The link is actually via YouTube). TED hosted a conversation about “Notes & Neurons” and the common, almost innate connection humans have to the Pentatonic scale. If you don’t know what a Pentatonic scale is, don’t worry, me neither. I had to look it up. “A Pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five pitches per octave in contrast to a Heptatonic (seven note) scale such as the major scale.” Apparently, Pentatonic scales are very common around the world, found in Celtic music, West African music, rock, blues, melodies from Korea, China, India. The list goes on.
In this video you’ll see musician Bobby McFerrin demonstrate the very ingrained notes of the Pentatonic scale with the audience. He comments that no matter where he performs this exercise, whatever country, the result is the same–”everyone gets it.”
It’s sometimes hard to believe in our giant world that we all could share some innate capabilities or instincts. Here at HarmonyWishes our mission is to embrace and encourage diversity and tolerance. Exploring our differences, as well as our common characteristics, whether through music, ideas, images or sound, is important to us. We’d love to hear your stories of commonality in unexpected places. You can share it with us here on the blog, or send us a line.
Does what we see really exist, or is it based on the context of surrounding elements? Do we see with our eyes or our minds? Is the color Red always Red? Pretty heady stuff, I know, but important for anyone who seeks to grow in understanding the amazing world we live in.
A new presentation by TED just might have you questioning your own sense of reality. As a photographer and art director, I repeatedly deal with the power of color and perception. Perhaps the most important thing I have learned is to not pre-judge what I see but to approach every new visual idea with a sense of wonder. You don’t have to be an artist or scientist to benefit from wrapping your head around the issues presented in this piece. Actually the questions raised have far reaching implications for just about every thing we do in life.
As Meg mentioned in a HarmonyWishes tweet recently, the TED video trove is an excellent source of inspiring talks from great minds. HW’s recent interview on this blog with photographer and painter Nina E. Hauser reminded me of a wonderful TED video I saw several months ago. Nina mentioned, “The Greeks believed that each child was blessed at birth with a personal “daemon” embodying the highest possible expression of his or her nature.” Well, writer Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love) spoke on that very subject in her TED talk. It is a lovely speech about the source of creativity, and the faith to believe in it.
