Choice, happiness and spaghetti sauce | Malcolm Gladwell

www.ted.com Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell gets inside the food industry's pursuit of the perfect spaghetti sauce -- and makes a larger argument about the nature of choice and happiness.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers are invited to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes -- including speakers such as Jill Bolte Taylor, Sir Ken Robinson, Hans Rosling, Al Gore and Arthur Benjamin. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, politics and the arts. Watch the Top 10 TEDTalks on TED.com, at
www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

[@beng341]

I can't get enough of Malcolm Gladwell. His ability to relate things and see the bigger picture never ceases to amaze.

[@iffahpeerzada7720]

My wonderful dudebro...same

[@william3588]

I've seen this talk 10+ times, and it never ceases to astound me

[@rodneytill741]

"That in embracing the diversity of human beings we will find a surer way to true happiness." That last line stuck with me, because it highlights the notion that we don't know what we want. We think we do because we use vague and loaded terms like happiness, but we do it so often we forget the importance of defining it; even for ourselves. The fun of metaphysics in philosophical discussions is in exploring the meaning of words we've taken for granted. As we explore a term like happiness we embark on a search for meaning, and what better way to search than among a world of ideas.

[@muthukumaranl]

Excellent point...that line struck me aswell!

[@michaeltevis1180]

Diversity is great if everyone gets to eat they’re favorite ice cream flavor not so great when diverse people fight for laws and guns and force the loser to eat the winners ice cream flavor

[@corner559]

The ideas behind this topic are applicable to so many things beyond food. Amazing talk.

[@desertflower13]

Malcolm's book "Outliers" is such a great book about people that achieve excellence and why they do. Very interesting. Brilliant man. I always love hearing him speak.

[@WilliamDavidCourt]

I've been watching TED all night, and have found each and every lecture incredible to watch. I was watching this one, following along, understanding what he was talking about... and then around 12:45 it hit me, how his entire talk on food was a ruse for life, and how people should aim for what they actually want, not what others dictate. Reminds me a lot of Charlie Brookers "How TV Ruined Your Life" series. This was a brilliant speech about humanity and life. And food.

[@cultclassic999]

Brilliant observation. Explains why I like decaffeinated cola with no fizz, raw fruits (no pies for me please) and coconut water.

[@youtubeinnk]

its been 10 yrs mate how are u ?

[@fatimazahrae7437]

@@youtubeinnk i was about asking him same thing.. literally 10 years

[@muthukumaranl]

In embracing the diversity of human beings, we will find a surer way to true happiness - Malcolm Gladwell -- AWESOME!

[@Radjehuty]

I actually thought it looked over the top. This is the first time I saw him, but after about a minute of hearing him speak he just fascinated me. Nobody could have made tomato sauce and mustard as interesting as he did. He's an excellent speaker.

[@corner559]

This is the best TED talk I've seen. He's brilliant.

[@TheOmnicosmic]

seriously, and you were not on DMT or LSD? the words prosaic and ponderous come to mind, brilliant not so much

[@walterhayley7252]

Less so than your analysis, the roots of which already show bare...

[@bentnotbroken4192]

He has another one about David and Goliath He's uber cool Yo!

[@seyionutube]

I like this guy. He know how to take an extremely overlooked concept in life, and draw out meaning from it.

[@edancoll3250]

This comment aged magnificently! I especially like your use of 'overlooked', a word now part of Malcolm's catchphrase.

[@Tifferi12]

This is great. I love how honest he is

[@punkster36]

What a brilliant story teller Malcom is. He can make any subject sound interesting.

[@the_awe]

I want to have his skills! he is a talented guy!

[@busyrand]

My God, I love this man and his presentations. A brilliant colleague recommended his work to me a few years ago, and I've been hooked since. His Revisionist History Podcast is my favorite of all media of its type.

[@SabrinaSterlingGA]

One of my favorite talks of all time! Timeless!

[@BurgundyandBlue1111]

Who knew pasta sauce and mustard could be so interesting! This man has such a beautiful mind and is a glorious story teller! I have read (I should say listened to, because they were in audiobook form) both Outliers and The Tipping Point. Both were well written (spoken) and insightful. Malcolm Gladwell is indeed doing his great work!

[@antoniosilva-iq5jc]

The way he gaves the approach to the subject of variability and horizontal segmentation is caring and interested on a simple and common thing. Remarkable

[@blackmancanjump23]

This man is giving out life lessons using extra chunky spaghetti sauce

[@TheOmnicosmic]

i hope the cooking thing works out for malcolm, he's not too keen with the whole toastmaster's speech making, that is at least until his content is not so vacuous and pointless

[@richlaue]

And I think the Chunky Vegitable is the bomb!

[@michaeltevis1180]

blackmancanjump23 e

[@michaeltevis1180]

Diversity is great when everyone can eat the ice cream flavor they like it doesn’t work when groups of diverse people fight over laws and guns and force the loser to eat their favorite ice cream

[@SelfReflective]

@@michaeltevis1180 Ever heard of majority rule?

[@ilove2929]

12 years ago! Omg and this guys remains the same humble person as he is.

[@mackdmara]

I love how he is able to simply put something that is age old. You can please some of the people some of the time. Never all the people all the time. This adage is true because of the one perfect ideal that people are constantly striving for. Even though we can easily look around and see the diversity of thought, taste, & expression around us. Simply sublime, good stuff. P.s. Silence your cell phones during the talk, you we not going to take the call anyway.

[@jenniferroth7824]

17 years later and I’m still coming back to this one.

[@GlennRobinsongetgln]

I love all three of his books. He's a great story teller. Captivating.

[@DnF0hCherry]

It's not only his books that are amazing, his speech are amazing as well. Words are miraculously & carefully put into this speech. As a reader of his books, I can note down and feel the similarity of the way he talks and the way he writes. Merely amazing.

[@renatagross5959]

Dear Malcolm, I enjoy your insightful lectures &'observations.

[@kccreationsgaming]

Malcom has a beautiful mind, and I appreciate him sharing it with the world, in a reltable demeanor.

[@Sotic911]

I wish there were more videos like this. Just a good speaker telling a good story.

[@johnnielawson]

I am no good at remembering names so when I heard you mention that you wrote Blink I was very excited to hear what you had to say Malcolm. I got an audio recording of your book from the library and it played over and over on an journey I took in the car. I was captivated, a wonderful study of humanity. I thoroughly enjoyed your talk. I am still trying to figure out how I can put some of your observations into practice with my online project, but thanks for your knowledge which I know will assist me somehow. Johnnie Lawson

[@CybershamanX]

+M b If you check out his channel, he sure does an awful lot of choices for the different relaxation videos he has there. ;)

[@LexaniTV]

This is one of my favorite ted talks.

[@fsl4faisal]

wow he is awesome ..!! How well he is exceptionally awesome in sharing his ideas. And he is so accurate . I just read his one of the books Outlier and I absolutely love the book. Thank you for the wonderful sharing.I don't know what to do with this information right now but I am pretty sure I will use this sometimes in future.

[@stevensaneable]

I have this on in the background more often than I should at work, mainly because his voice is very calming.

[@Ghost-lt4sf]

Great example to reach the understanding the diversity of human beings necessities and desires. Very helpful!

[@yogeish]

I watch this talk after every few months. My favorite TED Talk

[@bentnotbroken4192]

Same Lml

[@jonhohensee3258]

Why??

[@minnaxue6034]

I first came to know Howard was when reading the "Salt Sugar Fat" by Michael Moss. He's a genius and this talk was great not only in that Malcolm paid such respect to Howard's work but also in that Malcolm himself brought so much life in this topic.

[@LittleMew133]

13 years ago and still so brilliant.

[@beldonhuang]

One of the takeaways I had from this talk is, “there isn’t a one and only way to find true happiness”. All of us have different preferences for spaghetti sauce, likewise, the same could be applied to happiness. What brings joy to others may not necessarily be the same as what brings joy to us. There are a lot of approaches and steps that we can take to find happiness, nonetheless, at the end of the day, it is about what makes WE happy and what sparks joy in US. Albeit, it is also, then, important that we should constantly try out new things, so that we can find out what we really like and want in our life.

[@shawbrothers18]

I agree. His books are enlightening. My love of reading has been rekindled thanks to Mr. Gladwell.

[@funnymango571]

still one of my favorite videos of all time, i always watch this when i eat spaghetti

[@BrianMack]

Thanks for this link. Its a great spot.

[@yardmasterswealtheducation8424]

All of my yardwork company's customers enjoy their very own, custom flavor of service. Each one gets their own favorite flavor! I love it! Listening to this one about a hundred times has truly begun to pay off for me. Thanks!

[@azh753]

That was beautiful. Now I have to watch all of his videos.

[@tylerevans2789]

This that Grey Poupon, that Evian, that TED Talk, ayy

[@coolranchdoritos888]

Tyler Evans watch my soul speak,you let the meds talk ayy

[@pabloschultz5192]

If I kill a homie it won't be the alcohol

[@myemailaccount3046]

grey poupon don revelon rap most want homies smoked like hilshire farms - ghostface wu

[@philinmotion]

Brilliant, this really was enlightening. Refreshing as well.

[@dwitigaggar4918]

Woah ! This Ted Talk actually introduced me to a living food technology legend !

[@saeedalyami8791]

I really love your books , especially outliers book.

[@degen83]

Very insightful and interesting. Thanks for posting :)

[@HomeschoolersRock1]

Malcolm Gladwell is a very interesting writer. I started with Outliers. Then I read Blink while I also listened to his audio reading of the book. I can't wait to get the next book at my local library! I'm on a reserve list and still waiting at the Southeast Regional Library, Garner, NC.

[@StylinOut]

This man is brilliant, all his books are amazing.

[@mrmagoo8510]

I found Malcolm Gladwell, believe it or not, through Weird Al. He revealed that when he read OUTLIER he realized that he himself was one. Now, on Oct. 30, 2016, at the Lincoln Theater in Washington DC, Malcolm is joining Al for a live discussion of Al's movie UHF. I wish I could attend, because I am fascinated to hear how Gladwell interprets this outliers film.

[@MsAdesio]

Malcolm Gladwell has a fascinating mind, the picture of thinking outside the box.

[@richg-cj2el]

one of the best ted talks ever!!

[@sasagitcrew437]

he's a very intelligent guy. great speaker and writer as well. just superb

[@danremenyi1179]

Such and obvious and yet remarkable insight.

[@leese465]

Simply Brilliant Sir...

[@Brimikonizzle]

My favorite TedTalk ever!

[@default_user_id]

Thank you Howard, we Love extra chunky garden and wouldn't have it without your hardwork.

[@thattimestampguy]

7:55 Plain, Spicy, Extra-Chunky. 9:48 Changing what the food industry does to Make The Customer Happy. 10:20 "People don't know what they want." "The Mind knows not what The Tongue Wants." 11:20 Horizontal Segmentation. 13:10 Different Kinds that service Different People. 16:42 Coffee Clusters.

[@GuppyPal]

So far I've only read Outliers, but it was great, one of the better books I've read. I'm anxious to read his others.

[@anetchi]

These facinating educational entertaining videos are just awesome. I wish Tv would cut out all those reality shows and put this stuff on.

[@MrLesWhite]

The second time watching this I substituted tomato sauce and mustard for people and I became enlightened :)

[@boRegah]

This is very true and your comment from mf 2009 made me actually re-watch it. This internet is so random and beautiful at times.

[@TheKLove1972]

FIrst time watching this one....now I have to do it again with people in mind! Thank you for sharing!

[@DJBucca]

best Ted talk

[@dashaFancies]

He is so right! And it applies for everything, too.. Not the universal truth, but your individual truth will make you happy.

[@nicholasferrell6495]

I can relate to this. Sometime I do not know what I want until it is given to me.

[@MrDomination92]

Love this guy. Definitely gonna read his books.

[@thomasmwangi4481]

Wow!! This is hilarious!!! I like it a lot man!!! Keep up informing us..........

[@Sondre7]

What an insight. I haven't thought about this before - and the guy who brought up the TV metaphore - you're spot on! There is too much general program going on. We're all liking it in the 60s... no wonder we espace to the net :)

[@MrStillmans]

Wow, they should have more of these regular Joe types. This talk was very intriguing!

[@abhipatil4844]

Enjoyed the talk

[@coldfusion1111]

Loved the book..

Ideas that changed the world. Loved it

[@senthilkumar5]

Perfect and Awesome!

[@scrotiemcb5858]

16:45 This is something I apply to everything.

[@pelicandrift]

I can listen to this guy for hours

[@saskiaodessa5091]

I found your first visit and I really enjoyed watching it alot 💥💥💥💥💥

[@WA-uq1rh]

an excellent speaker

[@zippyspring]

Wow! Stunningly Brilliant!

[@squirreljester2]

11:00 I would say I don't like coffee, but I still drink it, so for me, I want flavors, good flavored coffee.

[@AmateurCooking]

amazing malcolm

[@tux937534]

I think I sort of got it now, thanks!

[@sk8rdman]

It's important to recognize the difference between the importance of variability, and the importance of offering choice.

[@markcarranza4456]

I want a transcript for every TED talk. People cluster around reading as well as video. Reading and sharing text makes many, many people happy, and is proven to drive internet traffic in many forms from tweets to blogs to social media. KZbin, Google, TED, enable this!!!

[@matincatrat]

Bless Harold for his innovative chunkiness

[@tawakaltoseni6095]

Malcolm Gladwell, a legend.

[@YoungdigitalgroupAu]

Haven't read The Tipping Point yet, after watching this talk, that book is next on the list.

[@adg0913]

This is amazing. I could use this for our Marketing class. ^_^

[@MegF142857]

Love this! Glad to find this view presented, which fits my reality better. Didn't agree with Barry Schwartz's view about limiting choices.

[@theiamania]

I was just thinking the same watching this. If I did not know better I whould think that he is so right.

[@DJDeonPearson]

Awesome point he's made!! :-)

[@MrMattrixx]

Excellent!!

[@aasthavarma2977]

A brilliant talk. A unique perspective and how this can be applied to so many things beyond the food industry. Wow!! "A movement from a search of universals to the understanding of variability. " "Extra chunky spaghetti sauce"👌🤣

[@jsfbr]

Malcom is brilliant.

[@enigma887]

having watched Barry Schwartz's The Paradox of Choice then this, is pretty interesting. Malcom talked about how variety can make us happier because in a way it gives us the illusion of progressing towards better more sophisticated things, and Barry talked about how too much variety can hinder happiness and cause paralysis.

[@6stringbadger]

It took me a while to figure out where he was going with this story, but it was worth the wait.

[@researchfellow]

Gladwell is amazing; you should look at two tedx conejo videos of Mark Waldman and Yuval Ron. a simple message to help create world peace... also amazing

[@geoffmills-inspired]

Even this guy’s hair looks like it’s thinking all the time. Really great talk.

[@danielhanley1308]

Great speaker.

[@greenyawgmoth]

@619farmer okay this one has my vote for best comparison.

[@EustaceKirstein]

This is gold

[@Jazzman707]

brilliant

[@snehalbhartiya6724]

What a speaker!

[@mathos77]

heard this on public radio international.

[@luzmariamonzonalay5114]

Me encanto 💖