Before we go forward, I'd like to take you back, not years, but decades. Picture yourself when you're 5 years old. I know. I'm so cute.What made you feel safe or seen. What made you feel curious or hopeful. We start life full of wonder.And even in that not knowing, we feel the world deeply. We sense when something fits and when it doesn't. When we're five, we have that kind of clarity unclouded by expectation.I'm a developmental psychologist and a professor and for the past 25 years I've tried to carry that ...

When I was a kid, there was something my parents had on all the time. The news. Rachel Matto, Lester Hull, and Anderson Cooper all became some of the staple names in my household growing up. And from that moment on in fourth grade, I declared I would be a reporter. I kept on this dream for years, joining every announcement and news crew I could get my grubby little hands on. But when it came time to do my own stories, the question struck me. What is the most interesting story on the news? I gave it some tho ...

[Music] [Applause] As I stand on this stage, give me one moment of your time. Take five seconds in your head and list the top three causes which seem the most urgent to you. The ones that feel the most pressing, the most immediate.Have you listed them. Good. Was racial justice on the list for you.What about climate justice or gender justice. And to that I acknowledge how important it is to recognize that there are social issues. There is oppression which needs to be addressed urgently.But I also recognize t ...

[Music] I would like to invite you to travel with me to one of my favorite places here on the Arabian Peninsula. Imagine we are standing on top of a sand dune. There's a scorching heat around 40°. We can see a few camels on the horizon and there's a breeze in the necks and we can hear a few birds as well. We are with a group of cruise tourists that arrived in the morning in the port. So, we just want to take a group photo when suddenly a phone rings. Ding ding ding ding. The German tourist picks up the phon ...

[Applause] What happens when you take a kid's childhood and divide it between four countries that are considered opposites of each other with completely different cultures, values, people, and languages. Well, you get a lot of problems that me and my therapist are currently working out, but you also get some insights into how people interact with each other and go about life. See, one thing I observed in my life is that people exist in bubbles. And these bubbles are formed based on the people you see in you ...

[Music] Good evening. There's a guy in this room called Paulo Lumala. He's sitting at the back.So Paulo asked me, he challenged me. He said, "Climb Renzori and I was stupid enough to take up his challenge." And as it turned out, it was the most humbling experience of my life. When I arrived in the Renzoris, I found that the guides there, I think the most experienced one or the one who spoke any decent English was able to communicate effectively.I think was a primary school lever. And yet we found out very q ...

Dora Puhakka was a Speaker at TEDxEspoo Youth 2025! What does it truly mean to connect with another human being? In this TEDx Talk, Dora Puhakka invites us to reflect on one of the most universal human needs: to be seen, to be heard, and to feel that we belong. From the beginning of the Talk we are reminded that human connection is not a luxury - it is a necessity. Yet despite living in an increasingly interconnected world, many of us feel isolated, divided, and misunderstood. This Talk explores how concept ...

[Music] I was working as a TV executive and I loved my job and my team and then I got a new boss and he sucked. Anyone ever have a bad boss? [Music] You're my people. This guy became the bane of my existence. I was in a constant power struggle with him and in the process I was losing sleep and I was losing my mind and I was losing my way. My team felt it. My work reflected it. It was not good. Not good. But like a glutton for punishment, I stayed in this situation for two years. Finally, when I decided to l ...

[Music] [Applause] I remember the moment the door swung open and I saw 25 kids stir me up and down. I was six years old and I did what I knew best. I hid behind two large trees, my father's legs.We had just moved from Germany to Portugal to Lagos, my family's hometown. And my mother gently assured me, "Darling, don't worry. In Portugal, all the kids are just like you." What does that even mean when you're six. Sure, I spoke Portuguese. Sure, I look Portuguese.I still do. Brown eyes, brown hair, but the way ...

[Applause] I have one single question that I would like for you to ponder today. How can you strengthen your human connections in a world plagued by weapons of mass distractions? A stark reality is revealed in a recent 2024 Gallup poll. Despite corporate America's multibillion dollar commitment to workplace wellness initiatives, employee engagement has reached its lowest point in a decade. In March 2018, I found myself at George Washington Hospital in DC. There, my daughter was strapped in a hospital bed wi ...