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Penn State University researchers conducted a study on how the health of couples varied depending on the words they chose to use in arguments. They sat 42 couples down--in two separate settings weeks apart--and asked them to discuss fights they had previously had, their results were astonishing. The researchers discovered that couples who used words such as “think”, “because”, “reason” and “why” when arguing with each other had lower levels of the proinflammatory cytokines Interleukin-6 (Il-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha. An increase in these cytokines has been closely linked with cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes, arthritis and some cancers. Essentially, the better the couples could thoughtfully communicate with one another the healthier they were. Choosing the correct words to express themselves actually influenced their physical health.

Furthermore, positive words can be powerful in even more situations than just forming thoughtful arguments. Neuroscientist Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman published a book in 2012 titled Words Can Change Your Brain and in their book they discuss the tremendous power of positive words. Through extensive research they discovered that, “positive words can, if focused on for ten or twenty minutes per day, influence genetic expression in the brain” (Pg. 32). This work was also supported by Dr. Herbert Benson, who discovered that the repetition of personally meaningful words actually led to the activation of stress-reducing genes within the brain. Just hearing positive words was able to decrease stress and the negative effects associated with it.

Today, more than ever before, people are concerned about health and how they can eliminate health risks while improving their own health. We try to exercise more, eat healthier, and avoid genetic predispositions. But we overlook one of the simplest and most effective methods of increasing our physical health: word choice. By changing the words we use in a day and choosing to focus on saying positive words we can dramatically decrease our stress, the likelihood of heart disease, and even the chance of getting certain cancers. These results don’t just stop with the person who is saying them. When we say positive things to others they feel physically better too.

The most controversial, but fascinating, example of the way words can change the physical world is Dr. Emoto’s water experiment. Dr. Emoto placed the same water in different glasses and then expressed a series of different words to each. Glass 1 was told, “You make me sick, I will kill you”; while glass 2 was told it was, “loved and appreciated”. The test was repeated with a variety of different phrases and the words were even expressed in different ways. Dr. Emoto discovered that under microscopic investigation the water now had different crystalline structures. The words literally changed the water’s form. This is a contested idea and many argue it is faked, but if the findings are real, they are pretty powerful. We are made up of 70% water. Imagine what the study could mean for us.

Glass 1

Glass 2

When I got to college I found myself caught in a whirlwind of endless oceans to dip my toes into, but in the end I only had so many toes, so many hours in a day, and so many credits.  I thought there would be no way for me experience all of the things or meet all of the people that I wanted.  I felt defeated.  But it was then that my very lovely friend coaxed me into attending a TEDxUofM Conference in the final month of my freshman year.

In a sudden blast of teeming color, I watched as the oceans around me filled to their brims and flowed over, coalescing into one sublime body. I saw art mix with business, business mix with medicine, medicine mix with social justice, all before my eyes. All around me were people interested in exploring new territories, people reaching far beyond their academic scope – people dipping their toes. It was in that moment that I realized that TED isn’t just about a conference or a compelling talk, but about creating this space for perspectives, knowledge, and ideas to flow and integrate, a space for people to tread new waters.

There is so much to gain from entering spaces where these negotiations of knowledge take place. So much innovation has resulted from coming at a problem from a different angle or utilizing knowledge previously untapped. So many of the big issues facing our society today require the convergence of knowledge and perspectives, and sharing what we know and engaging each other is the only way to urge us toward breakthroughs and change. So many personal gains can be made in these spaces – constructive conversations about social justice might increase your faith in the future, and enough interactions with artists might motivate you to try to paint that portrait that you have been talking yourself out of for months.

People who come from multicultural backgrounds, refugees, and foreigners living permanently in new countries all experience the struggle of defining their unique identities. As an American with Egyptian and German parents, I was raised within two polar opposite cultures. While one culture promotes independence and freedom from a young age, the other promotes maintaining strong family bonds and working within a community. This results in many moments where my ideas and values conflict with each other because I am able to draw upon my experiences from both the Western and Eastern perspectives. Because I identify with many aspects of different cultures, there are instances in which my values and ideas occasionally conflict with each other. Because I identify with different cultures, ideas, values, and perspectives I cannot totally identify with anything. 

Not only do ethnically diverse individuals experience challenges to self-identification, but immigrants and refugees who enter a foreign land must adapt to their new environments and mentalities surrounding them. The culture they were previously raised in often has to be sacrificed in order to survive. For example, the Syrian refugee crisis is no stranger to this phenomenon. Syrian refugees are forced to travel to several different countries such as Canada, Australia, Jordan, Lebanon, Norway, and many others in order to escape terrorism and violence in their own homes. To rebuild their lives from the very beginning, they must sacrifice their families and the country they once called home. Particularly for refugees who flee to Western nations, challenges arise when they must conform to an entirely new culture and somehow retain their old values. 

Identities are formed when challenges arise. We know what we are and what we believe in once we are faced with tough situations. George Takei and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, despite facing numerous disparities, allowed their identities to be fluid. They realized that they did not have to be totally one thing or another. Instead, they drew upon their vast experiences to express the complexity of having an identity and what it means to them. For example, George Takei proudly identifies as an American even though he was once told that he was not wanted in his own country. And while it is easy to say that I cannot identify totally with anything, I realize that having multicultural experiences actually strengthens what I value and believe in.

To begin to answer this question, we’ll take a journey to our genetic relatives, the monkeys.  In the 1980s, Robert Sapolsky, a neuroendocrinologist, witnessed a tribe of monkeys in Northern Africa experience a heartbreaking change: half of their male population died from tuberculosis after eating infected meat from a trash dump.  After this happened, for some reason, the tribe stopped fighting.  The monkeys didn’t just take a short recess from violence. They remained peaceful for decades.  

In the scientific community, monkeys are believed to be innately violent.  It’s a part of their culture; it’s what they do.  Sound familiar? Were the monkeys biologically inclined to change after all the deaths or did they choose to?  Still, the findings are controversial, and one study doesn’t make something a fundamental law.  But, regardless, this should spark something.  Humans.  We communicate.  We learn.  We thrive.  We question.  We fight?

Is peace possible?  How deeply is violence ingrained in us?  These questions have been discussed for years.  The main takeaway seems to always be “let’s rethink our take on war,” but the takeaway can be broader.  When thinking about this question, another looms in the back of my mind:  what else about the status quo is because somewhere along the road we made a choice rather than it being a part of human nature?  How much do we determine who we are and how much is determined for us?  Are humans a species that fight wars or are we a species that chose to fight wars?  Granted, human nature isn’t black and white.  Humans are complicated, and the psychological and sociological findings are equally so.  But when the relationship of society and human nature comes to mind, what will you think?

For more information on the monkey tribe and the concept of normalcy within the human race listen to the Radio Lab episode that inspired this post:  The New Normal

Think, for example, of a sky that transitions from overcast to clear blue. At first, you simply go about your business, never thinking twice about that particular day’s color palette. As the clouds start to clear, you may not notice overtly, but perhaps on some level you start to feel it affect your thought process, or your mood. Eventually the overwhelming purity of the blue demands your attention, and you wonder how you could have ever missed it in the first place.

Whenever someone gives me the advice “do what makes you happy,” I’m grateful and yet feel like I’m left in the dust. But then I remember that everyone experiences this lost feeling, wandering around looking for happiness under rocks and other seemingly unexpected places. What is our happiness and where do we even begin to find it?

Quote from Dan Gilbert

After leaving the event, I began to think that maybe I asking the wrong questions. We often think of happiness as something that can be found, a limited resource. On the contrary, we can “grow” our happiness, as Chip Conley said in one of the night’s talks. But then that begs another question: How do we grow it? I don’t think that is something that I can answer for everyone, on account of happiness comes in many manifestations.

At the end of the day, I think what we all could take away from these talks is that we don’t always get to choose things to make us happy. Rather, we get to choose whether or not to be happy for the things we have. We strive for this permanent happiness, but even the most careful tending of the garden isn’t guaranteed a good day everyday. So rather than aiming to obtain something that can be lost, we can take even the smallest things of our lives and cultivate a happiness, even though it may seem synthetic, to drive us on to discover the ways in which we can become our better selves.

In case you weren’t able to make it, here are the talks shown last night:

T

Do you clear your schedule every year to livestream the WWDC? Does an evening of freeing up your RAM sound like your perfect Friday night? Do you use carbon fiber thread to tie your shoes? In the event of a fire, would you have difficulty deciding between saving your 3D printer or your Google Glass? Did you know the term Constructive Interference before hearing about this year’s theme?

Technology refers to all of these things, and so much more. It can be as simple as wondering what crazy inventions could continue to shape our world.  Maybe you read ‘Technology’ and think instead about those chimps and their termite sticks.  Or do you identify with the T because you’re the person that your family calls every time someone’s computer crashes? Technology is constantly growing more prevalent in our lives, and there are endless ways to interface with it. So, are you a T?

E

Are you someone who sings loudly in dorm showers a la Glee? Are Louie and Carlin your philosophical north stars? Did you first see Gangnam Style before it hit 10,000 views? Are you deciding between UCB and The Second City as the next step on the way to your inevitable Lorne meeting? Do you dream of the day when you can finally launch your self-named dance company? Did you spend more of your childhood hanging out backstage than you did in your backyard?

Entertainment takes many forms, and goes well beyond what immediately comes to mind. You don’t have to see your name in the program to be an entertainer.  Maybe you worked out your stand-up material as class clown in high school.  Or it could be that landing that solo in orchestra inspired you to audition for a concerto. Whether in Lincoln Center or in your parents’ living room, you’ll give 110% to the performance just the same.  If you love to amuse, to entrance, or to inspire in any setting, then maybe you count yourself an entertainer, too.

D

Are you a self-proclaimed design enthusiast? Does the rampant misuse of the word “font” make you want to cry? (It’s technically “typeface,” in case you were wondering!) Is arranging your food/homework/clothes/life in visually appealing ways so you can instagram it your raison d'être? Do Mies van der Rohe and/or Frank Stella mean anything to you? Do you have strong opinions on Gotham v. Helvetica? Do you frequent creativebloq?

Even if none of these things apply to you, there are endless ways you can utilize and identify with art and design. Maybe you are an architect, an urban designer, a painter, a sculptor. Maybe you enjoy going to museums or downloading artistic desktops. Design can be expressed in myriad ways, from the purely aesthetic to the strictly utilitarian. You can work across disciplines to create endless solutions to problems. While 2 + 2 pretty much always equals 4, two people painting with blue paint and green paint will essentially never yield the same result, and that’s pretty exciting.

x

We know that TED could not have encompassed everyone in their simple acronym. If you’d like create your own definition, x can be anything you want it to be. Perhaps x=biological sciences, x=contribution, x=faith. X speaks to your values, yourself, your experience.

That was my first time. TEDxUofM 2015 Constructive Interference will be my third. TEDxUofM is not just about the impressive speakers. It’s really about the audience. It’s about the energy that the participants share. It’s about the wonder that you’ll have for days and weeks and months after. It’s about the feeling that you belong to a community where innovation thrives in more ways than could have imagined. It’s about finding yourself willing to leap out of your comfort zone and into conversation with the population around you.

TEDxUofM will host its sixth annual conference on Friday, March 20. While we may boast TED’s format, we seek to display the “Ideas Worth Spreading” that are created in the minds of this University’s community. Each year, we choose a theme that frames the event and challenges our audience to think. Constructive Interference refers to the point at which multiple ideas collide and amplify each other. To me, it’s about fostering relationships in which differences yield to collaboration over conflict. Everyone will think of Constructive Interference differently and we hope you’ll join us on March 20th to explore its possibilities. Let’s make waves.

This is the ostracod or Acanthephyra purpurea, a semi-translucent crustacean with no gills or circulatory system. It is about the size of a poppy seed, hence its nickname: seed shrimp. Its whole body is tucked away inside a protective bivalve shell, giving it the appearance of a clam. Along with many other transparent creatures, it lives in the deep sea.

Due to its small size, the ostracod is often mistaken for plankton and is eaten by animals like the cardinal fish in the picture above. To prevent this, it uses bioluminescence. When swallowed, the ostracod releases a bioluminescent chemical from its hepatopancreas, an organ that functions as the creature’s liver and pancreas. Because of the transparency of the cardinal fish, large predators get attracted to it like moths to a lantern. In order to escape from being eaten, the fish quickly spits the ostracod back out. Thus, the ostracod succeeds in using the cardinal fish’s defense mechanism against itself and the two go their separate ways.

This is yet another unusual adaptation produced by evolution!

Watch the video on BBC Nature:

Known in her home Chile as “La Perrita Bailarina,” Carrie has been hopping around on her hind legs since she was a puppy. At a young age, her energy and strength were channeled into cha cha’s and dips by photographer José Fuentes, who only intended to teach his adorable golden retriever an entertaining, party trick. But now, Carrie sweeps stages worldwide with not only the rhythms of Merengue, but also “Cumbia” and “Cueca,” the national dance of Chile. In an interview with the Los Angeles Salsa Conference Fuentes stated that Carrie’s training never felt like work, but rather organic and playful. Each precise and measured sway of her hips enchants and mesmerizes audiences while she flawlessly executes complicated choreography. Animal Planet deemed Carrie, “most talented animal in the world” and she has landed multiple international commercials.

TEDxUofM 2013 - Mike Barwis on Physical Potential

TEDxUofM 2012 - Libby Ashton on Education Reform

TEDxUofM 2011 - Jameson Toole on Big Data

And from our very first conference,