Who are you, really? The puzzle of personality

Extrovert, introvert ... or both? [Open this email in your browser] [TED] This week on TED.com June 25, 2016 [Talk of the week] [Brian Little: Who are you, really? The puzzle of personality] 15:15 minutes · Filmed Feb 2016 · Posted Jun 2016 · TED2016 What makes you ... you? Psychologists talk about our traits, or defined characteristics that make us who we are. But Brian Little is more interested in the moments when we transcend those traits -- sometimes because our culture demands it of us, and sometimes because we demand it of ourselves. Join Little as he dissects the surprising differences between introverts and extroverts, and explains why your personality may be more malleable than you think. [Watch now »] [Playlist of the week] [10 years of TED Talks: Powerful stories] We’re celebrating 10 years of TED Talks! Curl up and listen to some of the most intimate and compelling personal stories we've ever shared. [Watch »] 10 TED Talks • Total run time 2:18:56 [More TED Talks] Ninety-six percent of genetic studies -- including most of what we know about our genome -- are based on people of European descent. Geneticist Keolu Fox points out the absurdity of this, as he makes a strong case for indigenous people to get involved in research on their own genetic heritage ... because every community has a right to understand its own genetic health. "The research community needs to immerse itself in indigenous culture," he says, "or die trying." [Watch »] Seema Bansal had a challenge: Overhaul 15,000 primary schools in the state of Haryana, in India, and bring 80 percent of children up to grade level by 2020. Oh, and -- with no budget increase. Bansal shares the creative, low-cost and no-cost ideas that emerged when she and her team did something few other would-be reformers had: they listened to teachers. [Watch »] Gill Hicks is a survivor of the July 7, 2005, London bombings. And from the ashes of chaos and hate, her own story is one of compassion and humanity. She shares her moment-by-moment story of that day -- and the profound lessons that came as she learned how to live on. [Watch »] Between you and your destination, there's a big green lawn. Do you take the sidewalk, or do you cut across the lawn for a shorter trip? In this short talk, Tom Hulme talks about why we take shortcuts -- and what designers (and everyone) can learn from noticing them. Bonus: Once you know how to spot these "desire paths," you'll start noticing them everywhere. [Watch »] [Read more on ideas.ted.com] Science: We just heard another pair of black holes [crashing together >>] Meet one of the designers of the LIGO experiment, which listens for ripples in space-time caused by massive cosmic events. Everything about this is awesome Health: Why countries still around the world still ban some healthy people from [giving blood >>] Exposing an outdated belief that prevents people from helping others Optics: Is the world ready for [T-rays?] Scientists are learning how to harness the terahertz ray, a way of looking deep inside a painting -- or even reading a book without opening it ... [Goya under T-rays. Image courtesy Albert Redo-Sanchez/MIT Media Lab] From left to right: Image of Goya’s painting The Sacrifice to Vesta; the same painting with 50% THz visible; 100% THz view of the painting. Image courtesy Albert Redo-Sanchez/MIT Media Lab Quote of the Week “ We communicate differently, extroverts and introverts. Extroverts, when they interact, want to have lots of social encounter. They'd like to stand close for comfortable communication. They like to have a lot of eye contact, or mutual gaze. When an extrovert meets a Charles, it rapidly becomes "Charlie," and then "Chuck," and then "Chuckles Baby." Whereas for introverts, it remains "Charles." Brian Little [Who are you, really? The puzzle of personality] [Happy birthday, ted talks!] On June 27, 2006, we posted the [first 6 TED Talks] online. Now 10 years and 2.4 billion viewers later, we're celebrating! Watch for new playlists and blog posts and a few surprises all week ... On the TED Blog: How did TED Talks [keep pace with history] over the past 10 years? An analysis of TED Talks reveals [the changing conversation on climate change] New playlists to download: [Radical rethinking] Talks that flip old conventions and challenge assumptions [Powerful stories] Some of the most personal, moving moments we've ever shared [Revolutionizing reality] TED Talks that ask: how will we interact with reality in the future? 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