WEBVTT

00:00:02.079 --> 00:00:03.253
Before I get started:

00:00:03.277 --> 00:00:04.665
I'm really excited to be here

00:00:04.689 --> 00:00:07.927
to just actually watch
what's going to happen, from here.

00:00:07.951 --> 00:00:13.400
So with that said,
we're going to start with:

00:00:13.424 --> 00:00:16.466
What is one of our greatest needs,

00:00:16.490 --> 00:00:18.799
one of our greatest needs for our brain?

00:00:18.823 --> 00:00:21.051
And instead of telling you,
I want to show you.

00:00:21.075 --> 00:00:22.556
In fact, I want you to feel it.

00:00:22.580 --> 00:00:25.219
There's a lot I want you to feel
in the next 14 minutes.

NOTE Paragraph

00:00:25.243 --> 00:00:27.475
So, if we could all stand up.

00:00:27.499 --> 00:00:31.919
We're all going to conduct
a piece of Strauss together.

00:00:32.546 --> 00:00:34.480
Alright? And you all know it.

00:00:34.815 --> 00:00:36.377
Alright. Are you ready?

00:00:36.401 --> 00:00:37.562
Audience: Yeah!

00:00:37.586 --> 00:00:39.888
Beau Lotto: Alright.
Ready, one, two, three!

00:00:40.506 --> 00:00:41.704
It's just the end.

NOTE Paragraph

00:00:41.728 --> 00:00:45.697
(Music: Richard Strauss
"Also Sprach Zarathustra")

NOTE Paragraph

00:00:49.036 --> 00:00:50.211
Right?

00:00:50.235 --> 00:00:51.729
You know where it's going.

NOTE Paragraph

00:00:51.753 --> 00:00:56.871
(Music)

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:01.950 --> 00:01:03.100
Oh, it's coming!

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:10.591 --> 00:01:11.980
(Music stops abruptly)

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:12.004 --> 00:01:13.155
Oh!

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:13.179 --> 00:01:14.345
(Laughter)

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:14.369 --> 00:01:15.536
Right?

00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:17.012
Collective coitus interruptus.

00:01:17.036 --> 00:01:18.433
OK, you can all sit down.

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:18.457 --> 00:01:20.357
(Laughter)

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:20.381 --> 00:01:23.540
We have a fundamental need for closure.

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:23.564 --> 00:01:25.508
(Laughter)

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:25.532 --> 00:01:27.341
We love closure.

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:27.365 --> 00:01:29.903
(Applause)

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:29.927 --> 00:01:33.177
I was told the story that Mozart,
just before he'd go to bed,

00:01:33.201 --> 00:01:34.587
he'd go to the piano and go,

00:01:34.611 --> 00:01:35.765
"da-da-da-da-da."

00:01:35.789 --> 00:01:38.472
His father, who was already in bed,
would think, "Argh."

00:01:38.496 --> 00:01:41.188
He'd have to get up
and hit the final note to the chord

00:01:41.212 --> 00:01:42.816
before he could go back to sleep.

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:42.840 --> 00:01:43.934
(Laughter)

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:43.958 --> 00:01:49.059
So the need for closure
leads us to thinking about:

00:01:49.083 --> 00:01:51.260
What is our greatest fear?

00:01:52.378 --> 00:01:56.642
Think -- what is our greatest fear
growing up, even now?

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:57.407 --> 00:02:01.064
And it's the fear of the dark.

00:02:03.717 --> 00:02:05.866
We hate uncertainty.

00:02:06.384 --> 00:02:08.344
We hate to not know.

00:02:08.368 --> 00:02:09.534
We hate it.

00:02:09.558 --> 00:02:10.997
Think about horror films.

00:02:11.021 --> 00:02:13.791
Horror films are always shot in the dark,

00:02:13.815 --> 00:02:15.791
in the forest,

00:02:15.815 --> 00:02:17.053
at night,

00:02:17.077 --> 00:02:18.348
in the depths of the sea,

00:02:18.372 --> 00:02:19.982
the blackness of space.

00:02:20.539 --> 00:02:23.870
And the reason is because
dying was easy during evolution.

00:02:23.894 --> 00:02:25.815
If you weren't sure that was a predator,

00:02:25.839 --> 00:02:26.989
it was too late.

00:02:27.490 --> 00:02:30.033
Your brain evolved to predict.

00:02:30.057 --> 00:02:32.458
And if you couldn't predict, you died.

00:02:33.136 --> 00:02:37.352
And the way your brain predicts
is by encoding the bias and assumptions

00:02:37.376 --> 00:02:39.165
that were useful in the past.

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:39.593 --> 00:02:42.379
But those assumptions
just don't stay inside your brain.

00:02:42.403 --> 00:02:44.803
You project them out into the world.

00:02:45.498 --> 00:02:47.368
There is no bird there.

00:02:48.006 --> 00:02:51.139
You're projecting the meaning
onto the screen.

00:02:52.506 --> 00:02:56.063
Everything I'm saying to you right now
is literally meaningless.

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:57.151 --> 00:02:59.580
(Laughter)

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:59.604 --> 00:03:02.675
You're creating the meaning
and projecting it onto me.

00:03:02.699 --> 00:03:05.286
And what's true for objects
is true for other people.

00:03:05.310 --> 00:03:07.744
While you can measure
their "what" and their "when,"

00:03:07.768 --> 00:03:09.625
you can never measure their "why."

00:03:09.649 --> 00:03:10.847
So we color other people.

00:03:10.871 --> 00:03:15.513
We project a meaning onto them
based on our biases and our experience.

00:03:17.911 --> 00:03:22.201
Which is why the best of design is almost
always about decreasing uncertainty.

NOTE Paragraph

00:03:22.739 --> 00:03:24.822
So when we step into uncertainty,

00:03:25.858 --> 00:03:28.762
our bodies respond
physiologically and mentally.

00:03:28.786 --> 00:03:31.635
Your immune system
will start deteriorating.

00:03:31.659 --> 00:03:34.509
Your brain cells wither and even die.

00:03:34.533 --> 00:03:38.086
Your creativity and intelligence decrease.

00:03:38.443 --> 00:03:42.332
We often go from fear to anger,
almost too often.

00:03:42.356 --> 00:03:45.250
Why? Because fear is a state of certainty.

00:03:45.870 --> 00:03:47.751
You become morally judgmental.

00:03:47.775 --> 00:03:49.878
You become an extreme version of yourself.

00:03:49.902 --> 00:03:52.505
If you're a conservative,
you become more conservative.

00:03:52.529 --> 00:03:54.672
If you're a liberal,
you become more liberal.

00:03:54.696 --> 00:03:57.075
Because you go to a place of familiarity.

NOTE Paragraph

00:03:58.133 --> 00:04:01.294
The problem is that the world changes.

00:04:01.950 --> 00:04:03.458
And we have to adapt or die.

00:04:03.482 --> 00:04:05.260
And if you want to shift from A to B,

00:04:05.284 --> 00:04:07.180
the first step is not B.

00:04:07.204 --> 00:04:10.267
The first step is to go from A to not A --

00:04:11.141 --> 00:04:13.332
to let go of your bias and assumptions;

00:04:13.356 --> 00:04:17.881
to step into the very place
that our brain evolved to avoid;

00:04:19.696 --> 00:04:22.877
to step into the place of the unknown.

00:04:25.553 --> 00:04:28.180
But it's so essential
that we go to this place

00:04:28.204 --> 00:04:30.942
that our brain gave us a solution.

00:04:30.966 --> 00:04:33.109
Evolution gave us a solution.

00:04:33.133 --> 00:04:37.598
And it's possibly one of the most profound
perceptual experiences.

00:04:38.971 --> 00:04:41.579
And it's the experience of awe.

NOTE Paragraph

00:04:43.860 --> 00:04:49.149
(Music)

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:44.333 --> 00:05:48.022
(Applause)

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:49.109 --> 00:05:54.982
(Music)

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:56.870 --> 00:06:00.854
(Applause)

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:00.878 --> 00:06:06.267
(Music)

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:44.557 --> 00:06:49.339
(Applause)

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:50.438 --> 00:06:55.007
(Music)

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:04.881 --> 00:07:09.896
(Applause)

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:13.769
(Cheers)

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:13.793 --> 00:07:18.420
(Applause)

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:19.836 --> 00:07:22.876
Beau Lotto: Ah, how wonderful, right?

00:07:22.900 --> 00:07:29.786
So right now, you're probably all feeling,
at some level or another, awe.

00:07:30.332 --> 00:07:31.483
Right?

00:07:31.507 --> 00:07:34.773
So what's happening
inside your brain right now?

00:07:35.570 --> 00:07:36.997
And for thousands of years,

00:07:37.021 --> 00:07:40.410
we've been thinking and writing
and experiencing awe,

00:07:40.434 --> 00:07:43.007
and we know so little about it.

00:07:43.514 --> 00:07:49.619
And so to try to understand
what is it and what does it do,

00:07:49.643 --> 00:07:55.476
my Lab of Misfits had just
the wonderful opportunity and the pleasure

00:07:55.500 --> 00:08:00.514
to work with who are some of the greatest
creators of awe that we know:

00:08:00.538 --> 00:08:04.408
the writers, the creators,
the directors, the accountants,

00:08:04.432 --> 00:08:06.793
the people who are Cirque Du Soleil.

NOTE Paragraph

00:08:08.137 --> 00:08:09.987
And so we went to Las Vegas,

00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:14.616
and we recorded
the brain activity of people

00:08:14.640 --> 00:08:16.974
while they're watching the performance,

00:08:16.998 --> 00:08:19.784
over 10 performances of "O,"

00:08:19.808 --> 00:08:22.641
which is iconic Cirque performance.

00:08:22.665 --> 00:08:26.229
And we also measured
the behavior before the performance,

00:08:26.253 --> 00:08:29.010
as well as a different group
after the performance.

00:08:29.332 --> 00:08:31.932
And so we had over 200 people involved.

NOTE Paragraph

00:08:33.371 --> 00:08:35.323
So what is awe?

00:08:35.347 --> 00:08:37.506
What is happening
inside your brain right now?

00:08:37.530 --> 00:08:40.538
It's a brain state. OK?

00:08:40.562 --> 00:08:43.260
The front part of your brain,
the prefrontal cortex,

00:08:43.284 --> 00:08:45.601
which is responsible
for your executive function,

00:08:45.625 --> 00:08:46.875
your attentional control,

00:08:46.899 --> 00:08:48.699
is now being downregulated.

00:08:50.157 --> 00:08:54.777
The part of your brain called
the DMN, default mode network,

00:08:54.801 --> 00:08:57.776
which is the interaction
between multiple areas in your brain,

00:08:57.800 --> 00:09:01.514
which is active during, sort of, ideation,

00:09:01.538 --> 00:09:04.760
creative thinking in terms
of divergent thinking and daydreaming,

00:09:04.784 --> 00:09:06.450
is now being upregulated.

00:09:07.942 --> 00:09:09.934
And right about now,

00:09:09.958 --> 00:09:12.714
the activity in your
prefrontal cortex is changing.

00:09:13.416 --> 00:09:16.344
It's becoming asymmetrical
in its activity,

00:09:16.368 --> 00:09:17.678
biased towards the right,

00:09:17.702 --> 00:09:21.543
which is highly correlated
when people step forward into the world,

00:09:21.567 --> 00:09:23.167
as opposed to step back.

00:09:24.718 --> 00:09:29.702
In fact, the activity across the brains
of all these people was so correlated

00:09:29.726 --> 00:09:32.258
that we're able to train
an artificial neural network

00:09:32.282 --> 00:09:34.991
to predict whether or not
people are experiencing awe

00:09:35.015 --> 00:09:38.220
to an accuracy of 75 percent on average,

00:09:38.244 --> 00:09:40.177
with a maximum of 83 percent.

NOTE Paragraph

00:09:42.946 --> 00:09:46.306
So what does this brain state do?

00:09:46.850 --> 00:09:48.579
Well, others have demonstrated,

00:09:48.603 --> 00:09:51.176
for instance, Professors
Haidt and Keltner,

00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:55.948
have told us that people feel small
but connected to the world.

00:09:56.662 --> 00:10:00.169
And their prosocial behavior increases,

00:10:00.193 --> 00:10:03.043
because they feel an increased
affinity towards others.

00:10:03.836 --> 00:10:06.233
And we've also shown in this study

00:10:06.257 --> 00:10:09.630
that people have less need
for cognitive control.

00:10:09.654 --> 00:10:13.923
They're more comfortable with uncertainty
without having closure.

00:10:14.408 --> 00:10:17.473
And their appetite
for risk also increases.

00:10:17.497 --> 00:10:21.259
They actually seek risk,
and they are better able at taking it.

00:10:22.172 --> 00:10:24.751
And something that
was really quite profound

00:10:24.775 --> 00:10:26.299
is that when we asked people,

00:10:26.323 --> 00:10:30.116
"Are you someone who has a propensity
to experience awe?"

00:10:30.641 --> 00:10:33.188
They were more likely
to give a positive response

00:10:33.212 --> 00:10:35.391
after the performance
than they were [before].

00:10:35.415 --> 00:10:38.738
They literally redefined themselves
and their history.

NOTE Paragraph

00:10:40.974 --> 00:10:47.077
So, awe is possibly the perception
that is bigger than us.

00:10:48.823 --> 00:10:50.871
And in the words of Joseph Campbell,

00:10:50.895 --> 00:10:53.934
"Awe is what enables us to move forward."

00:10:54.522 --> 00:10:56.450
Or in the words of a dear friend,

00:10:56.474 --> 00:10:58.656
probably one of our
greatest photographers,

00:10:58.680 --> 00:11:00.752
still living photographers,
Duane Michaels,

00:11:00.776 --> 00:11:02.371
he said to me just the other day

00:11:02.395 --> 00:11:06.831
that maybe it gives us the curiosity
to overcome our cowardice.

NOTE Paragraph

00:11:08.752 --> 00:11:12.092
So who cares? Why should we care?

00:11:12.534 --> 00:11:13.868
Well, consider conflict,

00:11:13.892 --> 00:11:17.225
which seems to be so omnipresent
in our society at the moment.

00:11:17.249 --> 00:11:19.026
If you and I are in conflict,

00:11:19.050 --> 00:11:22.006
it's as if we're at the opposite
ends of the same line.

00:11:22.030 --> 00:11:25.275
And my aim is to prove that you're wrong
and to shift you towards me.

00:11:25.299 --> 00:11:27.538
The problem is, you are doing
exactly the same.

00:11:27.562 --> 00:11:30.736
You're trying to prove that I'm wrong
and shift me towards you.

00:11:30.760 --> 00:11:35.858
Notice that conflict is the setup
to win but not learn.

00:11:36.525 --> 00:11:39.155
Your brain only learns if we move.

00:11:39.179 --> 00:11:41.048
Life is movement.

NOTE Paragraph

00:11:42.555 --> 00:11:47.952
So, what if we could use awe,
not to get rid of conflict --

00:11:47.976 --> 00:11:51.514
conflict is essential,
conflict is how your brain expands,

00:11:51.538 --> 00:11:53.395
it's how your brain learns --

00:11:53.419 --> 00:11:56.696
but rather, to enter conflict
in a different way?

00:11:57.561 --> 00:12:00.795
And what if awe could
enable us to enter it

00:12:00.819 --> 00:12:02.304
in at least two different ways?

00:12:02.328 --> 00:12:05.708
One, to give us the humility
and courage to not know.

00:12:06.466 --> 00:12:10.514
Right? To enter conflict
with a question instead of an answer.

00:12:10.538 --> 00:12:11.941
What would happen then?

00:12:11.965 --> 00:12:15.261
To enter the conflict
with uncertainty instead of certainty.

00:12:15.798 --> 00:12:18.512
And the second is,
in entering conflict that way,

00:12:18.536 --> 00:12:22.091
to seek to understand,
rather than convince.

00:12:23.377 --> 00:12:26.884
Because everyone makes sense
to themselves, right?

00:12:27.461 --> 00:12:29.057
And to understand another person,

00:12:29.081 --> 00:12:31.104
is to understand the biases
and assumptions

00:12:31.128 --> 00:12:32.775
that give rise to their behavior.

NOTE Paragraph

00:12:34.493 --> 00:12:37.156
And we've actually initiated a pilot study

00:12:37.180 --> 00:12:40.586
to look to see whether
we could use art-induced awe

00:12:40.610 --> 00:12:42.863
to facilitate toleration.

00:12:43.895 --> 00:12:46.553
And the results are actually
incredibly positive.

00:12:46.577 --> 00:12:49.604
We can mitigate against anger and hate

00:12:49.628 --> 00:12:52.773
through the experience of awe
generated by art.

NOTE Paragraph

00:12:54.080 --> 00:12:58.001
So where can we find awe,

00:12:58.025 --> 00:12:59.758
given how important it is?

00:13:02.914 --> 00:13:05.070
So, what if ...

00:13:06.747 --> 00:13:08.533
A suggestion:

00:13:08.557 --> 00:13:12.265
that awe is not just
to be found in the grandeur.

00:13:12.914 --> 00:13:14.084
Awe is essential.

00:13:14.108 --> 00:13:18.452
Often, it's scale --
the mountains, the sunscape.

00:13:19.506 --> 00:13:23.048
But what if we could actually
rescale ourselves

00:13:24.356 --> 00:13:27.554
and find the impossible in the simple?

00:13:29.165 --> 00:13:30.487
And if this is true,

00:13:31.431 --> 00:13:34.763
and our data are right,

00:13:34.787 --> 00:13:37.200
then endeavors like science,

00:13:37.224 --> 00:13:41.255
adventure, art, ideas, love,

00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:44.131
a TED conference, performance,

00:13:45.171 --> 00:13:48.104
are not only inspired by awe,

00:13:49.029 --> 00:13:52.871
but could actually be our ladders
into uncertainty

00:13:53.897 --> 00:13:55.414
to help us expand.

NOTE Paragraph

00:14:14.736 --> 00:14:16.077
Thank you very much.

NOTE Paragraph

00:14:16.101 --> 00:14:17.252
(Applause)

NOTE Paragraph

00:14:17.276 --> 00:14:18.427
Please, come up.

NOTE Paragraph

00:14:18.451 --> 00:14:22.449
(Applause)

NOTE Paragraph

00:14:22.473 --> 00:14:26.554
(Cheers)

NOTE Paragraph

00:14:26.578 --> 00:14:33.119
(Applause)