"a wise person knows, when and how to make a exception to every rule" that is very very accurate.

These are overt examples. I'm talking about when someone decides to not tip someone because of the other person's race, or observes that someone appears to be less intelligent than themselves and because of this treats them with contempt. These are things that people might not be aware of. I believe that people are limited to the actions they can take based on what they are aware of. What happens when people aren't aware, or worse they are misinformed?

I loved the presentation and the commercial at the end. Awesome.

Truth is not a lie, and good ethics is hard to come by.

Count me in!

One of the best TED presentations I have seen.

I like, how at the end, he was encouraged to stand and stay in front of the audience clapping for him.

someone wanted me to watch this...thank you for the warmth

We need more of this kind of wisdom. Good stuff!

I was thinking about the janitor in Scrubs. What a hero, haha ;P

I had that idea in my head for years, but know I know where it come from. Thank you TED.

excellent speech!

Amazing! Well done Barry!

Best talk in a very, very, very long time. It doesn't feel like it took 21 minutes to watch it because I was enjoying it so much.

This is probably my favorite TED yet!

That was the most brilliant speech I've heard from TED to date.

A great talk, thank you.

Humanity*Wisdom*Respect*Morals*RoleModel* *Leadership* PresiD.* BIG UP!

Well said.

Well that was wonderful.

He probably is too modest to admit he has wisdom, and that's what I call wisdom.

What a great speaker. Barry Schwartz always has something very important and insightful to say. He's right about the paradox of choice and the loss of wisdom in today's society. Hopefully President Obama is listening to him and can put into practice some of the points raised in this lecture!

For one interested in this concept of practical wisdom and virtue, I highly recommend studying the "nicomachean ethics" by Aristotle.

''We do what we must because we can For the good of all of us Except the ones who are dead...'' GLADOS

I love TED

it's even more amazing to hear that from someone this young. restores some faith in humanity. ;) and just wait a little, you'll have your money.

this needs more views

Interesting new concepts

This is really good stuff.

MrPestus: Are you referring to the 4 stages of competence model in your question?

I'd like to sign up to be one of the indoor gardening specialists, please! ;)

James Allen has a great book on this subject people who looks for more learning... eight pillars of prosperity: moral virtues.

Loved his references to jazz musicians! Teachers' rules resulting in mediocracy is right on target! I can relate to both by first hand experience. Brilliant talk but akin to using a thimble to help clean up a tsunami. The media and entertainment for the masses are needed to reinforce the values Schwartz espouses because virtue is it's own reward.

Actually, I have. The idea that morals are subjective is something that interests me greatly and I have given it a great amount of thought. In your reply you said that not everyones reasons for having their morals were valid. What would you consider to be a valid reason, and what would be an unvalid reason?

Amazing video on an amazing channel. But sad thing is that because english is not my mother tongue, somtimes I lack subtitles

I'm watching this for my informal logic class.

@r3g3n3s1s: Morals describe why we choose the best means to an end. In that last statement the word best is subjective. When people question their morals, they might not be totally aware of what their ends are, or what influences their means to get that end. I am going to look up and read what Sam Harris has to say, but I leave you with this point; if so much of our thought processes happen unconsciously, where do we find the building blocks that structure them, and how do you inform them?

Ironically enough, it takes wisdom not to give into corruption, so we'd need to be wiser to be wiser.

I stared at them all the talk XD even tried to pull down my own like him..

While I agree with the subjectivity of our own life experiences, and the fact that each person is entirely unique, I don't believe that morals are 100% subjective due to the fact that we are all humans. That is the objective common factor. It's really incredibly simple after that--do what is best for everyone. Learn to ignore egocentric tendencies, take pleasure in riding yourself of ignorance, understand other people objectively, and join a line of work that benefits everyone.

I totally agree with you that this would be the biggest invention of the human race. However, it seems that the harsh reality a lot of us come face to face with as a result of our capitalistic system, encourages some individuals with certain mental traits to become a power of corruption within it. This reality, I'm afraid, seems to have no solution within our capitalistic system. Therefore we will have to deal with the individuals separately, or change our core economic principles.

Ethics and philosophy classes should definatly be available in schools. Not only this it should be a core subject. Kids should learn to debate what they think is right and wrong from a early age. People should be able to debate whatever they want from relgion to morality. It's not done enough in schools and kids don't figure out their own ethics. Instead TV tells them ethics and teachers try to show ethics, but this doesn't teach kids eithics... or how to be wise it teaches them to copy!

Yet, rules are broken every day. Those who need to follow rules the most are the ones who ignore them. We should trust individuals to use their own wisdom for the biggest incentive of any human is self fulfillment. In order for us to have a good life it is in our best interest to help others. The man who doesn't help others is the one who will find his life difficult.

It's interesting, it must be part of a large TED series for about a week. [Going on right now]

Nothing is perfect though; especially right now. I would say the absurdity of the human condition is each persons striving for perfection in their ideals and goals while making peace with the fact that nothing is perfect. That being said, though, we do need to take action against the ridiculous amount of corruption we face. Equal opportunity, more advanced education with an added moral emphasis, and more responsible parenting. The latter achieved namely by means of education. New Progressives.

How low are your glassrs

"They spare you from thinking" Nice.

I think that's why Barry Schwartz calls for character education in schools so corruption can be prevented or at least minimized.

This is Awesome! I really like it!

While I agree with this, it is a very vague statement. Saying morals are related to the qualtiy of experiences of concious creatures is true, the way those creatures define quality can vary immensely. My own morals have been defined greatly by the way I have been raised, and the experiences in my life. I believe this is the same for all known concious creatures.

Actually, much of your thoughts and ideas of fairness depend on the enviornment you are raised in. This causes people to have differnt ideas of fairness and morals. That's what I meant by saying morals are subjective.

I kept waiting for his glasses to fall off ....

wisdom is how we know how to make rules change with society (and society is corrupt.. so that's a bit sad).

Just to make it clear, people don't need to write good english in a comment box and you should stop assuming that a comment box makes them stupid. You should watch the film Finding Forester. That is a good film. My point is to make assumptions based on a comment box is naive. People are busy they don't always have time to check there writing 3 or 4 times because they're dyslexic and they have to give it a while then read it again. Be more considerate.

Not critizing saying that it will make someone more bais if they depend on something being true in order to keep making money and survive than it might be with someone who is just searching for the truth. All they care about is the truth and money is second to this or even irrelivant and they might even do another job to make sure there ethics are not compromised. As in they don't want to be dependent on this as it could lead to them being bias or dogmatic inn fear of losing their wage.

It's you. This guy isn't boring at all.

Finally I wonder if the lemonaid story was made up, how could they possible know the kid was drinking alcohol, did it have some kind of alcohol looking cup... personally I think this is playing on times when people think something is a mistake and don't think they should stick to the rules but do. I personally think most people are wise enough to know when to bend the rules a little. It would only take ten seconds to have asked if they had been out of lemonaid to know if he was lying.

Well I guess I don't to go to church anymore. I can just watch this guy

So would I. But if the convention fees are any evidence, I would probably be in debt just for applying for citizenship... :(

I myself was raised to believe in the christian god, in a way. I was never taken to church but even so I was told to believe in god and never questioned it until I was about 14. Anyways long story short, I was raised with christian values, but am now an atheist/agnostic. And with that I now have a differnt view on morals, specifically that they are subjective.

Can't you understand that floors are slippery when they have just been cleaned and that the patient would most likely slip and hurt himself further?

What about Scruffy the janitor?

Was anyone else bugged by how low his glasses were?

This talk resonates with several other youtube videos. John Taylor Gatto - Beyond Money - /watch?v=2PLw3Dpvf-4 Drive what motivates us (RSA) - /watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc

yes but we do not all share the same virtues. Some cultures are taught that lying and deceit are virtues?

Just like with You, not everything Obama says is pure gold. The stuff he said stands on its own.

I do agree that science can give us morals, and these morals would probably be best for a healthy society, but I still can not agree that this makes them "good" morals. It really comes down to the fact that I don't believe there are any good or bad actions, thoughts, or morals, and that is all subjective to the person who is perceiving the actions, thoughts, or morals.

Because peoples morals and ethics are defined by what they are taught, and through their experiences. Therefore, many people do not have the same moral beliefs. Example: Many people view the events of 911 to be bad. The terrorists who performed these acts believed their own actions to be good. Completly differnt morals.

Seeing that people are limited in action based on their experiences makes me wonder if they should be held liable for their behaviour. If they are found to be legally Gravely Disabled they are sent to an institution to be reprogrammed, mostly with drugs. Prison is used as a deterrent for criminal behaviour, and seems that in the United States most laws are currently congruent with making the examples you presented illegal. It's not illegal to be a dick, but is it amoral?

No, in this case these hypothetical people just aren't aware, and wont be because what they do is comfortable to them. More often than not telling an asshole that they are assholes wont change their behaviour.

Wanted to say the same thing...

Jimmi, this is not a english test and I did well in English at school and went on to university. I just don't get all bent out of shape about writing correctly. If you get what I meant I have done my job. Why don't you look at what the message is and take a leaf out of Stephen Fry's book, and not be overly pedantic about the gramatical errors.

OUR SYSTEM NEEDS MORE DELEGATION ... EMPOWERMENT down the heirarchy AND PEOPLE WITH A VISION !!

Next time I see a janitor I'm going to thank them

Imagine - John Lennon

he was the one who predicted Osama to be in Pakistan in 2009. OBL was caught in 2011.

people are born with a sense of fair and unfair...it's science. look it up.

On the contrary, capitalism has only really benefited a smaller portion of the population (although yes, has enabled social mobility for SOME families) Culturally, most minority people still hold true to their communistic methods of maintaining social balance. It really depends on the virtues of the "leaders"

@jeviosoorishas181

6 жыл бұрын

Ha, this is historically and contemporarily untrue.

I sort of don't get the last sentence saying you'll have your money. I'm sorry I'm asking what the means becuase at the moment my brain's fried from drwaing Uncle Sam for a surprise from my band teacher, that and I'm running on 5 hours of sleep XD

depends on how mature you are.

sorry it was 2006.. not 09 watch?v=KhCdlygmSJ4

I thought this was going to be about smartphones though.

Fantastic! Sadly I believe this would go right over our current president's head.

Lol his glasses

The Janitor in Scrubs is my Idol

This lecture shows the disconnect between people and "leadership".

Stop making me laugh, i'm trying to feel like an intellectual over here.

The biggest looters are our politicians, banks real estate, doctors, lawyers etc. etc. Let go and let God always. Put a d before anger, and you get danger. Keep written audio, and video journals. Help non beggars help themselves with both hands.

If the janitor mopped the floor while the patient was out of bed, then the patient could've slipped and fell causing more damage.

This is amazing. And I feel like one of those few kids in America who love school now a days. I don't even really get texting lingo because I don't have a phone and probably won't have oen ever. But I'm glad my parents let me do whatever I want sort of because instead of going wild like most kids would, I'd rather read a book or learn more about history or (if I had mroe money) go around the world visiting places/monuments of wars and things that happened in history.

If incentives aren't effective why has capitalism flourished while communism has dwindled.

you need to learn WHY the rules are there, not just learning about the rules.

"long run ... long run" Either you misheard or mis-typed He said "short run ... long run." He did not say "force", he said, if I recall his words correctly, "make". In other words, it's possible to educate people towards moral thinking (moral models, etc) He didn't say it, but fundamenalist religious *instruction* creates the opposite of morality, imo. Xtian fundamentalism is the most potent force against morality (eg, genocidal floods are "fine" when God is punishing his "creation")

real citizenship would be expensive though

A feel good talk, sadly, in the real world, it's not gonna to happen.

hallowalda

Diane Feinstein could benefit from this talk...

I hate when people talk about morals and ethics like they arn't subjective.

I enjoy and agree with all of his observations! Yet, his solutions do not make much sense to me.His idea that we can use the system in place (government: forcing other people to do what we think is best for them) is where he is wrong. We cannot force people to be wise or moral and to do so is only going to turn them further away from these virtues. As he said " Rules and incentives may make things better in the long run, but they create a downward spiral that makes them worse in the long run."

Why not teach people how to debate ethics in classes and to always question the ethics as to refine it... I don't understand why not... because occasionally some judges are to stickle to the rules. What if that dad did know it was a hard lemonaid and though his kid needed to calm down a little. Maybe not maybe he was genuin. But point is just because a judge can't simple pass it off as a mistake to me seems like a bad ethics system and more kids need to learn ethics.