Why do people do evil/bad things?

Philip Zimbardo talking at google.  Philip goes in detail on how the power of the situation/environment can influence someone to  commit evil acts.  Contains Milgram and Stanford prison experiments but also shows how people can be hero’s by standing up for what is right.  If you haven’t seen the New York subway hero video it is a must see.

Why do we Applaud?

Applause is primarily the expression of approval by the act of clapping, or striking the palms of the hands together, in order to create noise; generally any expression of approval. Audiences are usually expected to applaud after a performance, such as a musical concert, speech or play. Applause should not be confused to clapping with the rhythm of a song but should have a random, sporadic matter to it.

What makes us happy?

Dan Gilbert is a psychology professor at Harvard, and author of Stumbling on Happiness. In this memorable talk, filmed at TED2004, he demonstrates just how poor we humans are at predicting (or understanding) what will make us happy. (Recorded July 2005 in Oxford, UK. Duration: 22:02)

With limited choices artifical happiness can be very benifical.