Uncertainty and The Power of Possibility | Ellen Langer | Talks at Harvard College

Dr. Ellen Langer, Ph.D., is a social psychologist and the first female professor to gain tenure in the Psychology Department at Harvard University. She is the author of eleven books and more than two hundred research articles written for general and academic readers on mindfulness for over 35 years. Her best selling books include Mindfulness; The Power of Mindful Learning; On Becoming an Artist: Reinventing Yourself Through Mindful Creativity; and Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility. Her most most recent book is The Art of Noticing which pairs one-liners culled from her research with her original paintings. She has also edited the Wiley Mindfulness Handbook, an anthology on mindfulness in which leading researchers integrate work derived from her western scientific theoretical base of mindfulness with research on eastern derived forms of meditation.
Dr. Langer has been described as the “mother of mindfulness” and has written extensively on the illusion of control, mindful aging, stress, decision-making, and health. Among other honors, she is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and three Distinguished Scientist Awards, the World Congress Award, the NYU Alumni Achievement Award, and the Staats award for Unifying Psychology. Most recently she received the Liberty Science Genius Award.
Dr. Langer is a frequent speaker on mindfulness at academic, professional and public events. She is also the founder of The Langer Mindfulness Institute, and is a gallery exhibiting artist.

[mcomuonobunde-omuono]

Simple, incisive, innovative, masterful.
This graceful lady is incredibly clever in a way I find so very refreshing.
And relatable.

[TimothyFourTen]

Oh wow, I'm loving that Snellen eye chart study - because I recently stopped using readers and my vision improved dramaatically.

[crystaltharrell]

I LOVED the energy of this entire interview! 🙌🏾✨ Thank you!

[TimothyFourTen]

I just saw this woman on the Lewis Holmes podcast/show and she doesn't look or act any older today than she did when she did this talk 4 years ago.

[kumartamil]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:

00:00 *🤔 Embrace uncertainty to explore new possibilities.*
02:13 *🚗 Learn to adapt to changing circumstances, as what was once safe might now be outdated.*
03:35 *🔄 Being mindful or mindless greatly impacts our actions and outcomes.*
05:08 *🏥 Mindfulness contributes to longevity, attractiveness, trustworthiness, and superior outcomes in various endeavors.*
06:03 *💡 Noticing subtle changes grants control and reveals solutions to seemingly insoluble problems.*
08:42 *🐎 Challenge conventional knowledge; many assumptions are not absolute truths.*
10:01 *🤯 Mind and body unity influences health outcomes, explaining phenomena like the placebo effect.*
11:49 *🔙 Immersive experiences simulating youthfulness can reverse physical aging to some extent.*
13:01 *🧹 Changing mindset about daily activities can lead to physical improvements, like weight loss.*
14:23 *👓 Perception plays a significant role in vision; altering expectations can improve sight.*
15:20 *🔄 Perceived time influences blood sugar levels, indicating a degree of control over health conditions like diabetes.*
17:10 *🔄 Biological and cognitive processes align with perceived time, showing the impact of mindset on physiological functions.*

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[Emma-wmjg]

Literally says what ive always thought. Shes brilliant

[enkidu]

9k views in summer 2022. Should be taught in schools. Billions of people are zombies . Hopeless. They need help, not judgment

[harmonydreamers]

This talk is brilliant. Wisdom is knowing what you know and knowing what you don't know. ~ Confucius
Not knowing opens possibilities. Thank you for the talk. It made my day.

[shaunehuolohan]

Evolution of the human race.
One race the human race.
Not knowing, we become aware.
Congratulations Dr Langer.

[mim.]

Noticing new things
8:20 ‘everything I thought I knew was probably wrong’ science only yells probability.
“Horses don’t eat meat.” =/= absolute

9:52 mind&body

10:21 counterclockwise study
13:08 example 2

[peterufrancess]

One can either be mindful or mindless.

[srihan]

fascinating .. I love your ideas and knowledge

[robynwilliams]

Ive experienced the perceived time effect. If I wake up after a few hours sleep i always feel very awake. Then when i check the time Im almost immediately tired 😂😂🎉

[lb]

7:00 Chronic pain
Science only shows PROBABILITY
**NOT ABSOLUTES

[JohnSWren]

Hacker damage in "Ellen Langer" Wikipedia article. Who can fix it?

[lq]

She has the same speech with the same content on every single speech and podcast she does. New material please !

[FreeJulianAssange]

In a mindful moment I discovered all the books at this store were free.
I was able to pick all the ones I liked and pack them into my car than return to shopping. The herd never noticed and continued grazing.
Once my shopping was close to complete, I mentioned the books are all free to someone. A few others over heard and you should have seen the madness, 🤣😂🤣😂 I got out fast.

[Mirandaphilosophy]

interesting but there is not much about possibility in this talk despite the title.

[thewozmancan]

You know why the horse ate the hotdog? Because it's NOT meat. It's made of meat byproducts and highly flavored with VEGETABLES, ie. garlic, spices, herbs, etc. The horse is attracted to VEGETABLE-based foods and was conditioned by the repeated perverse version of "meat" offered it. If you held up the same garlic, herbs, and spices coating another different food, I'm certain the horse would eat it with equal gusto.

[bestaround]

This does seem to be a little too good to be true. If so mainly problems could be solved by simply being mindful then alternative medicine would be far more effective.