How can we push back on a world focused on anger and turning fear into blame? Learn how everyday acts of bravery and symbolic gestures can be used to give hope and inspire action rather than despair. Nicole LeFavour is a student of cognitive science and former State Senator who left elected office to organize peaceful civil disobedience in her own state capitol. Here she draws on the work of Jennifer Lerner and her research on decision making, going on to discuss the manipulation of human emotions, and how we can combat the crisis of despair by changing memes which anger us and taking action in real life to make others feel less alone..

Nicole LeFavour served for four years in the Idaho House of Representatives and four years in the state Senate. She left formal elected office to try to make change from the outside. In 2014 helped organize over 200 people to do silent, peaceful, respectful acts of civil disobedience to change state policy to protect the rights of gay and transgender Idahoans. After well over 200 peaceful arrests inside the state Capitol, people can still be fired, evicted and refused service in Idaho for being gay or transgender. Ever focused on all that has been gained, LeFavour and others continue to work for protection on the state and national level.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx