Dan Gilbert
Professor of psychology at Harvard University and a leading researcher on human happiness and affective forecasting. He is widely known for his TED Talk on happiness and for introducing the concept of synthetic happiness.
Timeline (last 90 days)
The official TED team used a talk by Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert as a case study to break down a reusable framework for explaining complex concepts.
Real data show that paraplegic patients one year after losing both legs and lottery winners one year after winning report almost equally high levels of happiness.
One study found that if a major life trauma occurred more than three months ago, it has almost no effect on current happiness, with very few exceptions.
Synthetic happiness originates from the human 'psychological immune system'—a set of cognitive processes that operate mostly unconsciously, helping people change their view of the world in order to feel better.
A reusable framework for explaining complex concepts is: identify what the audience already knows, break the big concept into digestible smaller building blocks, and use analogies and examples to aid understanding.
All Facts (5)
The official TED team used a talk by Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert as a case study to break down a reusable framework for explaining complex concepts.
50%UnverifiedReal data show that paraplegic patients one year after losing both legs and lottery winners one year after winning report almost equally high levels of happiness.
50%UnverifiedOne study found that if a major life trauma occurred more than three months ago, it has almost no effect on current happiness, with very few exceptions.
50%UnverifiedSynthetic happiness originates from the human 'psychological immune system'—a set of cognitive processes that operate mostly unconsciously, helping people change their view of the world in order to feel better.
50%UnverifiedA reusable framework for explaining complex concepts is: identify what the audience already knows, break the big concept into digestible smaller building blocks, and use analogies and examples to aid understanding.
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