The pattern behind self-deception | Michael Shermer

www.ted.com Michael Shermer says the human tendency to believe strange things -- from alien abductions to dowsing rods -- boils down to two of the brain's most basic, hard-wired survival skills. He explains what they are, and how they get us into trouble.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at www.ted.com/translate. Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks at www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

[@notatheist]

4:32 This is the equation that articulates my own deconversion. Two things ignited my pursuit to validate my beliefs. Matt D's question "Does it matter to you whether or not your beliefs are correct?" and the realization that Pascal was a narcissistic twit. Once I decided that it really does matter to me whether what I believe is correct or not, I was able to objectively evaluate the validity of my perceptions. Objectively considering Pascal's wager led me to see that there are countless negative implications when a person believes, whether they're correct or not, and those problems effect the believer and everyone around them.

[@AnonYmous-mc5zx]

Pascal's Wager is only ever useful in those split second decisions (life or death scenario optional). Problem is that too many people use Pascal's Wager to justify thoughts and behaviors where you can discern the truth from a lie as a means of avoiding that discernment.

[@McBrideBoys]

Seems like this happens everytime I am being a 'good christian'... when I get closer to God by reading His word & praying everyday, and trying my best to do His will and follow His commandments; this is when Satan seems to be doing his hardest work. Turns into a real tough fight between us for sure. And of course it would be this way, the devil doesn't want any of us to love our God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit!! I don't think it's because he wants us all for himself so much...I think its more driven from the jealousy and hatred he feels towards God and all that our Father stands for. Don't let that dirty deceiver trick you into doing what he wants you to do. Stay strong, focused, and faithful.* Don't forget:we already know that in the end, Satan will be defeated for good, forever, no more, permanently!

[@WildPhotoShooter]

This guy is brilliant. His delivery is fast though , I sometimes need to replay some parts to get it in my head .

[@ryanlafferty9304]

godisalie I think you’re being a little cruel. My dad is a pastor, and has good intentions in the church. It’s not only greed or for a pay check. He genuinely believes in what he teaches.

[@RekMone]

To sum up: We're hard-wired to find meaning in things and biased to asume intentional actions behind them.

[@xaviermccloud4586]

How do we find meaning in things enough to make up multiple religions and society? Lol...

[@Mcgif21]

Ich Nichtdu Tell me then...Who did the hard-wiring? You said we were hard-wired...what do you mean by that? The only things I have seen in this life that are hard-wired are machines and those (every single one of them as far as I know) was created by an INTELLIGENT human being with a mind; a MIND that naturally sees Order and Meaning in the Universe because it IS those things. Now I am no more a fan of an anthropomorphized deity than the next willingly ignorant atheist but I have no qualm with them nor do I wish to convince you of anything, I only wish for you to think CRITICALLY about your own words. If we have evolved to find meaning in the world we should ask ourselves WHY the course of NATURE has led us to this point, if we truly are hard-wired machines (as you have said) who programmed us? OR better yet WHAT?

[@Mcgif21]

Ich Nichtdu I might go further to stay that THAT which has created us is VERY invisible and yet WE KNOW it is REAL because it is THAT which is writing these words from my subjective experience, and THAT which is READING them from your subjective experience...as I have said I do not wish to convince you of anything, nor do I present anything new, for how can TRUTH ever change.

[@nicolasinvernizzi6140]

you are very ignorant about the universe, you call others ignorants but by your own response i can see you know nothing about nature or how it works yet you claim to think criticaly but call atheist...."willingly ignorants" i advise you to put an effort to study biology, astronomy, chemistry and physics. and another advise.....why...presumes meaning...if you ask why you are already presuming there is an agent behind the answer you seek. the correct question is how not why.....ask how and you will know more about anything you want.....ask why and unless you are talking about people intentions there wont be an answer.

[@Mcgif21]

Paul Nolan Well I guess it all depends by what you THINK I mean doesn’t it?

[@Jester123ish]

Pattern forming and pattern recognition is simply the best way to interpret the world on the fly. The patterns are not the final story in our cognitive understanding, it's more like how we find and develop a vocabulary of meaning that then allows us to piece together a comprehensive view of the world from within our own experience.

[@dejureclaims8214]

I genuinely couldn't see the dolphins.

[@MCPunk55]

I am a pervert... I did not see dolphins at all, but... eroticism...

[@acajoom]

They are the grey ones not the white. It is a silly one.

[@tonyrusso6517]

Donald Trump only k

[@daveogarf]

De Jure Claims - Hint: Look at the gray areas, then look for flukes.

[@user-rb6qf5cf7s]

me neither

[@Alien_nation]

this guy was the inspiration for Agent Coulson in The Avengers

[@fascination1980]

That's awesome that you watch TED videos and Shermer's talks at the age of twelve. When I was in elementary school, I loved watching Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" with my father. Afterwards, at night, my father and I would often take his telescope out and look at the moon, stars and planets. Those were some of my happiest childhood memories. I have had a lifelong love of Astronomy and science in general ever since.

[@peggyharris3815]

NEVER participate in any kind of blindfold test.

[@DavidLindes]

Peggy Harris : or, let's place the blame on the orchestrators of that particular consent violation, rather than the victims. That was cruel. Though I also wouldn't fault anyone for taking this stance as a result, of course.

[@Oh4Chrissake]

*@ Peggy Harris* I disagree. When I was a kid, Jimmy Saville fixed it for me to milk a cow in his dressing room while I was blindfolded. What a legend.

[@tshirtfactory07]

@@Oh4Chrissake hahahahaha

[@DavidLindes]

Viktor Birkeland I had to refresh my memory of what this was about... the clip introduced at 16:39. So... as someone who has been coerced to perform felatio while blindfolded, under the pretext of an identification game, and the dismissal of my protestations, I find that I don't much care what the deception is: if one is deceived in such a way as the woman was in this clip, that's reprehensible. You may disagree, of course, but perhaps this gives a newfound understanding for my comment and, perhaps, that of the original poster? As far as I'm concerned, this was a consent violation. She "consented" to a kiss, but she consented under the belief that it would be one of two specific humans that she could see. Instead, it not only wasn't either of those humans, but not a human at all. IMHO, not ok.

[@DavidLindes]

Err... women. I finished rewatching, and realize this was done with multiple women, not just one.

[@gypcnme]

Wonderful to be able to attend these lectures via youtube, thanks!

[@DafBnTs]

When I heard Robin Williams I shivered.

[@parker469a]

I laughed very awkwardly at that one.

[@nokites]

He kinda looks like him lol

[@AsclepiasCorridor]

Actually he covered a fair amount of undergrad neuropsychology in under twenty minutes. And what I got from it was "reality is often distorted by our brain (contributed to by/due to previous evolutionary pressures), and because of this we are predisposed to believing in aliens and conspiracies". He's reminding us that we don't experience reality directly but through the interface of our brain and senses. You have your opinion, but mine is; that's a contribution.

[@stevenunua2118]

OMG...those poor girls lives would be forever changed.

[@DivineMoment]

Cuban Bread Oh, sorry, and thanks for letting me know.

[@ubermom]

That was a deplorable thing to do to those girls.

[@Oh4Chrissake]

@@ubermom Why?

[@ubermom]

@@Oh4Chrissake Damaged trust.

[@Oh4Chrissake]

@@ubermom Is that always a bad thing? Perhaps the experience taught the young women involved to be less trusting and more sceptical. Should we simply trust everyone we meet? We teach young children not to trust strangers for good reason.

[@gracecolebourn2111]

I'm 12 and these videos are AMAZING :O They teach you so much :D

[@LARRYLONGSTRETH]

Now you're 21. Show your friends because I'm 39 and my generation is already starting to act like our elders and become insane and unreachable.

[@emmanuelagudo4918]

It is amazing how self-deception works particularly in group setting-- and how it facilitates and dominates the entire interaction. Academia and The branch of Science has to study this very interesting phenomenon.

[@reasonandevidence]

Michael Shermer is a genius. He has solid proof for his skepticism and his reasoning is sound. After hearing him, everybody becomes a skeptic.

[@bmilanov]

Michael should do this presentation on one of his debates. It is a great material.

[@ybefutile]

definitely my favourite TEDtalk thus far.

[@victorcellijr2497]

I was blind and now i can see. That pattern or experience changed after this specific moment in my life. Since 30 years old i am transformed as i see with awareness not a unawareness of this spirit.

[@punyapratyushasethi6048]

man, michael shermer is too good! three cheers to skeptic!!!

[@smitty2868]

Outstanding..thanks

[@erniehudson1]

I just love Michael Shermer!

[@TrevorSchmahl]

I love this! This is so accurate..... this describes most of the replies you see from people not only on this video, but most other KZbin videos of the same nature.

[@akronymus]

»9/11 was not orchestrated by the Bush administration: because it worked« (min 15:45) Convincing, really.

[@jysix]

He seem to have a strong belief that the US government tells the trues, even in the face of strong contradicting evidence from all directions....

[@bookashkin]

Not really, just flippant.

[@akronymus]

@ chris ward I just quoted this because it sounds so logic regarding all the dilettantism in this government. On the other hand, it is a bad joke because what happened was not funny at all and should not be topic of jokes.

[@MatthewMcVeagh]

Indeed - he made me think for a minute. It's convinced me even more than before that the Bush admin wasn't behind 9/11 - that they were merely in collusion with those who were.

[@Anarchy-Is-Liberty]

Correct!!! Bush was merely the puppet!!!

[@Mutumaniac]

lol the end was like a cherry on top of a cake :D i love it

[@GeracaodeValor]

GOOD!

[@AlmalekeLoL]

I tried really hard but i didn't see any dolphins

They are monotone in a dark shade and rather small.

[@Crazee108]

Its people like you that restores my faith in the younger generation! thanks! =)

[@pczoide]

Amazing as usual!

[@bernlin2000]

Man...I was almost in tears at that ending video: perception really is everything :-P

[@hoasjhdfiadsf]

"superstitions are all associated with feelings of lack of control" - totally

[@OldSchool9690]

This just opened up a whole world for me. Very useful info

[@Swetlana0]

awesome talk!!!

[@theDuctapeUnion]

Bless you Shermer.

[@DearyLeary]

Great talk.

[@TheBerkeleyBear]

great talk

[@robertkopp873]

Excellent.

[@l0vablelinda]

i watched another one of his talks called "why people believe weird things" and i agree with you.

[@gezmitchell9528]

Bless U Brother Filled Me with Joy Truth N Love X

[@HiAdrian]

Great point about the baseball patters; who doesn't know that desire to find patterns, when involved in hard to control mechanisms. That's also why mentality plays such a huge role in professional sport, where the room for error gets tiny. Personally, i'd rather be a little high on Dopamine than low (which i am). You might see "false" patterns, but i will find "meaning" in life more frequently. And i'd argue that makes for a better life. Pulling an all-nighter is a safe way to test this.

[@1michelemichele1]

I'm reading this book now. Good stuff.

[@KnightsofEmerald]

wow, this turned out to be a fun taalk. Interesting, thank you!

[@Th3Wab3]

one of the better TED talks...

[@VenusLover17]

Great stuff

[@cosmo7400]

Just magnificient!!!

[@lumpy0100]

Thanks TED.☺

[@storagesystems9294]

good video with cool, fast, precise explanation. and cheers for the chimps.

[@Darksagan]

I love Skeptics magazine.This video is definitely getting Faved.

[@JEAINUS11]

loved it!!!!!

[@dave597]

really good talk

[@chucks172]

highly enjoyable video!

[@ChantryKnight]

Well said.

[@OccamKant]

At about 5:00, when he was talking about the rustle in the grass, and whether you should believe it was a predator vs the wind, I was reminded of Pascal's wager. Perhaps the reason why people feel that pascal's wager has weight, is because in the wild, it's better to think that there is a wild animal somewhere when there isn't, than think there isn't when there is. Of course, this doesn't actually translate to invisible friends, but I think I see where it could get its weight from.

[@katyachkaa]

Food for thought!

[@MCPunk55]

Monkey's getting that sweet sweet french kiss XD

[@amieres123]

Her laugh at 17:15 cracks me up!

[@Desert2GardenLV]

The end is freakin epic

[@thelement3363]

Those kisses at the end were too precious and enlightening. Do we truly not realize it is the animal in us that will run away while a child is being attacked and it is our spirit which is aware of our existence that can save what is innocent and precious. Please Humans! Your Brain runs your body. Your body is an animal. LET YOUR BRAIN RUN THE BODY> DO NOT LET YOUR BRAIN RUN YOUR LIFE.

[@avedic]

Michael Shermer always seems so genuine and nice. Good guy fighting the good fight against BS.

[@AtheistCitizen]

finding patterns is for reduction of dimension of the problem to solve, an act of seeking efficiencies. Nice to see someone has formalized extensively what I have been espousing for yrs to explain theism.

[@anikinippon]

Michael Shermer is the man : )

[@cohan000]

If you continue to watch these kind videos AND have an active interest in school, I'm sure you will grow to become an intelligent and probably very intuitive person.

[@09Ozymandias]

I think they've raised a really interesting issue. Spotting patterns leads to creativity and to spotting opportunities. Scepticism protects us from the dangers of interpreting mere coincidences as signs of patterns which aren't really there. Where do we draw the line? What determines which patterns really are real? Creativity doesn't work unless balanced by rigour, i.e. temepered by scepticism. Where where does the right balance lie? If you get it just right, that's where the magic lies.

[@newphung]

came because of TOK

[@emablue282]

SAME.. the views of this videos will increase bc of the classof2017 💁🏻#iblife

[@sebastianbroncano7643]

how does our objective realities interfere with how develop our patternicity?

[@ojalm2036]

Lol same

[@mishunkage4131]

good stuff

[@negotiableaffections]

A thing of beauty!

[@TheDougass]

I love the Internet. And you TED.

[@SarahFimm]

Grace, that is the best KZbin comment I have ever read, and it made me smile.

[@7Epitaph]

LMAO I'm gonna steal that line every time someone tries to start an argument about it.

[@ErichoTTA]

Very interesting.

[@hawk0485]

briliant!

[@CoIumbo]

you got to love shermer

[@llamabait]

16:51 on is the best part :D

[@MrBumbo90]

Amazing

[@wHisperis001]

A 1948 study tested 58 dowsers' ability to detect water. None of them was more reliable than chance. A 1979 review examined many controlled studies of dowsing for water, and found that none of them showed better than chance results.

[@MakinMagicFractals]

@infinit888 I should also add that just because something may be fixed does *not* mean that it is predictable (consider the Uncertainty Principle or Fractals).

[@ParanormalCollection]

16:50 LOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

[@airforcemax]

Being sceptical and cautious is not the same as paranoid and distrustful.

[@ShawnRavenfire]

So did I. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

[@luisamendes8181]

Priceless. I must have a problem. I never see faces anywhere

[@exitrealitatis]

The ape kissing part was the perfect ending for such an intellectual stimulationg presentation.

[@FullTimeHypocrite]

this is an interesting one

[@debeastdueeast]

I'm 17 and I like these videos. Thumbs me up people.

[@Works42]

Yes!

[@ZerqTM]

15:50 lol! fair point...

[@crazyeyedme4685]

"we are natural born duelists" is the first considerable point I've heard from Shermer in a while..

[@crazyeyedme4685]

However... Lol

[@TiagoTiagoT]

In that image at 07:09 , after a little bit of uncertainty at first, i quickly figured out what that image was (yes, way before he showed the less degraded versions of the pictures)

[@MakinMagicFractals]

@infinit888 I should add that just because something is deterministic does *not* make it predictable - the only way to predict a deterministic fractal process is to go through the process, any prediction based on not *exactly* the same rules and information as the "real thing" will not be truly accurate - so one can "best guess" but cannot truly predict. More importantly if existence is truly simply deterministic then responsibility is ultimately negated because the future is *fixed*.

[@joncl1]

@Hopeful71 quite to the contrary, me being an individual who learns from my mistakes, I've lost my ego in the process. Not saying I never fall victim to insecurity, or even bias ideals, but I am intelligent enough to know that when these things occur, it is best to be skeptic about their influences on my processes. And gain what is supposed to be gained, but let the irrelevant revel in it's own illogicies.

[@PedanticNo1]

The frog, when flipped to be right side up, also looks like a hippo from near-profile. I thought he was going to say hippo, so you can imagine my surprise when he said ". . . is it more like, a frog."

[@MolecularCocktail]

"This inspired thinking shared with you by at&t." Thanks at&t, after watching Michael Shermer's video, I've realised that my desire for the latest smartphone is self-deception based upon my past experiences with such devices. I wont be renewing my contract with your company after-all.

[@Ezekiel_B_Gruntfuttock]

Best ending ever!

[@2ksnikt]

Oh, and Michael Shermer, he's awesome too.

[@arcad1an292]

This is precisely what reasoning sounds like

[@xaviermccloud4586]

Yea...

[@nicolasinvernizzi6140]

because he is a healthy skeptic....as long as you have a healthy balance between skepticism and beliefe you are good to go.

[@ozzyzee1770]

Reason is a breath of fresh air in a world polluted with irrationality, poor logic and mysticism

[@Paulginz]

@TodaysThought Fractals are a neat example of emergent complexity. Simple rules can create an object of unfathomable intricacy... none of which has to be designed by the creator (or discoverer, depending on your philosophical viewpoint) of the fractal. Another nice example of this type is John Conway's Game of Life. In a sense, the fractal proves that your criteria for determining whether something looks designed or not aren't very good.

[@EloiseDecember]

absolutely

[@frankkarlburns]

Twain's definition of faith is most memorable: Faith is the belief in things were know ain't true. That's exactly what it is -- you get to a point, you see it's not true, and your pastor starts explaining about the merits of faith, and tithing.

[@09Ozymandias]

Mulder and Scully are like yin and yang. You have to have a blend of both.

[@nonzz3ro]

Cool talk, confused about the relevance of the ending video.

[@Durhandoni80]

@Guuster00 yeah you are right with the hypothesis about the spaces. But i do not think it´s about believes to which Shermer is refering to, but to the way our brain is getting a knowledge of the world. The embedded experiences of a term, lets say; the word "chair" is learned through experiences we made in our childhood by adopting the way our parents use this thing that is shaped in an "h" form Therefore a chair is a chair even if it could be used for other purposes.

[@WobbleKun]

We as humans seek for patter and by doing so, we become a pattern. When people say that each and every person is different, it's rubbish.