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These 15 most viewed TED talks are your inspiration to rock 2014 [Part 2]

These 15 most viewed TED talks are your inspiration to rock 2014 [Part 2]

Saturday December 14, 2013 , 6 min Read

Picture courtesy: www.under30ceo.com
Picture courtesy: www.under30ceo.com

 

The slogan for TED (technology, entertainment and design) is “ideas worth spreading.” What started as a one-off event in 1984 became a full-blown conference in 1990, and has expanded globally ever since. Owned by non-profit The Sapling Foundation, TED conferences are hotly anticipated events, where the main act are talks given by various presenters, that have included Nobel Prize winners like Muhammad Yunus, and others like Malcolm Gladwell and Bill Gates. TED talks are available free online, and have been viewed more than a billion times. In a two-part series, we present the 15 most viewed TED talks of all-time, this is Part 2 and these are numbers 9-15 .

9) Dan Pink: The puzzle of motivation (Views: 6,985,564)

Who: Dan Pink was Al Gore’s speechwriter, at present he is a career analyst and bestselling author of multiple books.

Why listen: His work on the importance of the right brain, and the books he wrote on the subject have changed the way the modern workplace is viewed. His thinking emboldens the theory on why creativity and big-picture design should dominate.

The talk: In this riveting talk Pink tears through traditional theories of motivation and convinces the audience that traditional rewards aren’t always as effective as we think. Watch the talk for a few surprises on what motivates employees to reach peak performance.

10) Hans Rosling: The best stats you’ve ever seen (Views: 6,062,075)

Who: Hans Rosling is a professor of global health at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute

Why listen: Currently acknowledged as a statistics guru, Rosling began his career as a physician. He’s also co-founder of Médecins sans Frontièrs (Doctors without Borders) Sweden and has written a book on global health.

The talk: In this unique talk on the power of data and how it can change people’s perspectives, Rosling uses a data visualization software, (the company Gapminder was later bought by Google) which he developed, he demonstrated how the developing world is fast catching up with the developed world in terms of development. He used UN data to argue and present his points. What is awesome about Rosling’s talk is not how the data is interpreted but also the beauty of its representation.

11) Elizabeth Gilbert: Your elusive creative genius (Views: 6,054, 020)

Who: Elizabeth Gilbert is an author who wrote the very popular book ‘Eat, Pray, Love.’

Why listen: Gilbert’s book has to date sold close to 8 million copies and been translated in 40 different languages.

The talk: In this riveting talk Gilbert highlights how each one of us have a genius within us and the genius within appears to us in different ways. She talks discovering her own inner genius and learned to how to tap and use it.

12) Dan Gilbert: The surprising science of happiness: (Views: 5, 937, 316)

Who: Dan Gilbert is a Harvard psychologist and bestselling author.

Why listen: Everybody wants to be happy, Gilbert tells us the science behind happiness and how to go about achieving it. His 2006 book “Stumbling on Happiness” was a New York Times bestseller and has been translated into 20 different languages.

The talk: In this funny, insightful talk, Gilbert throws old wisdom about happiness out of the window, and gives us new insights on what makes us truly happy. One example he gives is about two individuals, one who lost the use of their legs and winning a lottery. A year after winning a lottery and being paraplegic- both individuals, surprisingly felt the same amount of happiness. Gilbert tells the audience that happiness can be synthesized he says. Go figure.

13) Shawn Achor: The happy secret to better work (Views: 5,544, 458)

Who: Achor is a psychologist and the CEO of Good Think Inc.

Why listen: Achor is an author, entrepreneur and teacher at Harvard University. He has won many teaching awards and his positive psychology course is one of the most popular courses at Harvard.

The talk: Does work make us happy or is it the exact opposite? Achor based on more a decade of research tells the audience that happy people are more productive.

14) Susan Cain: The power of introverts: (Views: 5,541, 238)

Who: Susan Cain is a lecturer and author of the best-selling book ‘Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking.’

Why listen: Cain is a vocal voice for the power of introverts. A Harvard Law graduate, she used to be a Wall Street lawyer and negotiations consultant, before she quit her job to lead a life of writing. All her research on introversion is poured into her 2012 book where she demonstrates that introverts have made big contributions to society.

The talk: Cain, an introvert herself, argues that introverts possess extraordinary talents and abilities, and they should be nurtured. She points that the world puts extroverts on a pedestal. Instead, she argues that they have a big role to play and gives the examples of Frédéric Chopin, who composed beautiful musical pieces, and Mahatma Gandhi who lead India to freedom. Since 33 per cent to 50 per cent of the population are introverts, ignoring them, she says, will be a loss of the creativity and leadership skills they possess.

15) Arthur Benjamin: A performance of “Mathemagic” (5,252,309 Views)

Who: Arthur Benjamin is a professor of math at Harvey Mudd College and also a “Mathemagician.”

Why listen: Benjamin mixes mathematics and magic to great effect. He is the author of multiple books that unravels the secret of his amazing mathematical powers.Throughout this highly entertaining and mesmerizing talk Benjamin pits himself against calculators and comes up trumps. He figures the square root of 3-digit and 4-digit numbers in a jiffy, and also correctly guesses the day of the week given just the birth date of many in the TED audience. Truly magical.

The talk: Throughout this highly entertaining and mesmerizing talk Benjamin pits himself against calculators and comes up trumps. He figures the square root of 3-digit and 4-digit numbers in a jiffy, and also correctly guesses the day of the week given just the birth date of many in the TED audience. Truly magical.

Note: The number of views is at the time of being published. Only views on TED.com and from the TED embed player are counted, the actual number of views is much more because platforms like Youtube, remain unaccounted for.