TED Talks

How we experience awe — and why it matters | Beau Lotto and Cirque du Soleil

Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized Talk recommendations and more. Neuroscientist Beau Lotto conducted an ambitious study with Cirque du Soleil on the emotion of awe and its psychological and behavioral benefits. In this talk and live performance, he shares some of their findings — and stands back as…

Published

6 years ago

November 18, 2019

CYBER TECH TV

Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized Talk recommendations and more.

Neuroscientist Beau Lotto conducted an ambitious study with Cirque du Soleil on the emotion of awe and its psychological and behavioral benefits. In this talk and live performance, he shares some of their findings — and stands back as Cirque du Soleil dancers create their own awe-inducing spectacle.

Get TED Talks recommended just for you! Learn more at .

The TED Talks channel features 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 (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You’re welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know. For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), submit a Media Request here:

Related Topics:featured

Up Next

What vaccinating vampire bats can teach us about pandemics | Daniel Streicker

Don't Miss

The link between fishing cats and mangrove forest conservation | Ashwin Naidu

27 Comments

Nhung Phan

November 18, 2019 at 10:48 pm

Hello, I come from Vietnam. This is my first time watching TED with the desire to improve my English skills. Thank you very much.

Reply
- Ramroom
  
  November 19, 2019 at 9:58 am
  
  Good luck !
  
  Reply
- Nhung Phan
  
  November 19, 2019 at 10:22 am
  
  @Ramroom thanks.
  
  Reply
xRays6

November 18, 2019 at 11:20 pm

quality! and that sand art was nuts!

Reply
Jack D'Ripa

November 18, 2019 at 11:23 pm

Pretentious waffle. TED is barrel scraping on a regular basis.

Reply
MGU

November 18, 2019 at 11:25 pm

I feel this ted talk says absolutely nothing.

Reply
Anish Tiwari

November 19, 2019 at 12:07 am

This was an awe full experience…????

Reply
Courdney Bell

November 19, 2019 at 12:32 am

All the off rhythm white people killing me lmao

Reply
Tim Barnett

November 19, 2019 at 1:51 am

It was amazing day! Dive partner Kenny & I have scuba camp at West side San juan Island, pot full of cooking abs, Lin Cod, sea bass,etc. an smell brought people to our camp. We feed 2 great lake wreck divers, than want to see octopus, sharks, we want you to scare the shot out of us! Ok we can do that! So we showed them George (for G. Washington), an octopus at lime kilm that we took visitors to met! George was 14ft 6 in long, we knew, that was one task we were doing for Labs! They did an emergency accent and Kenny an I had to grab fins an bodies for control at depth! Take us to shore! I took them all to shore an motored up to Stuart an Vancouver Island. An Orca killer whale woke me with the sounds of his breath heading toward me, using me as a target an swam right under my 16ft zodiac rubber raft! Give me some thumbs up an ill tell the rest of the story, you already know some, Cool!

Reply
COLD HEART

November 19, 2019 at 2:08 am

????

Reply
Lara Smith

November 19, 2019 at 2:21 am

????I hate the dark after all satan loves darkness

Reply
Geoff Lovig

November 19, 2019 at 2:41 am

Note to self. “Fear is a state of certainty”……imagined or real!!!!!!?

Reply
Jordan Red

November 19, 2019 at 5:10 am

1:13

Reply
varada sukanya

November 19, 2019 at 5:52 am

Awe… I need it everyday. So I’ll find it in every scenario…

Reply
Apex-Funplayer

November 19, 2019 at 6:11 am

Now THAT was a Ted talk.

Reply
Stefan Nikola

November 19, 2019 at 7:02 am

Closure? The only closure I ever experience is when I self-destruct. That’s not a very satisfying way to experience closure.

Reply
sideswiped

November 19, 2019 at 7:15 am

awe, trying to bate me, you wont learn anything by trying to boost your fake delusions of superiority

Reply
Ronny Djupesland

November 19, 2019 at 7:19 am

This guy is a con artist. Don’t listen to him please.

Reply
ADEB SIZ

November 19, 2019 at 7:44 am

Awe

Reply
Hebrews.12.4.

November 19, 2019 at 11:00 am

The most aweless explanation about awe.

Reply
God Of Brake

November 19, 2019 at 11:16 am

Mannnn……i wish every ted x confereneces to be like thatttt????????????????????????????…the moat amazing ted talk everrrrrr

Reply
Black Forest

November 19, 2019 at 11:31 am

Tschaka Tschaka ????

Reply
DesiBookLover

November 19, 2019 at 1:11 pm

That sounds like gibberish. I guess that’s my fault with my biases and lack of awe.

Reply
Sáng

November 19, 2019 at 2:02 pm

I love him. Love from Vietnam.

Reply
Arnold M. Ford

November 19, 2019 at 2:32 pm

AWESOME !!!

Reply
Bianra is meh

November 19, 2019 at 2:39 pm

Hello sir. This is justva great content. I cant believe someone actually trying to make this one??

Reply
Stephen Rose

November 19, 2019 at 2:51 pm

Took me 3 mins in before I realised that lady was doing this live

Reply

People & Blogs

How to Confront Your Inner Critic (W/ Anu Gupta) | How to Be a Better Human | TED

How do you quieten the judgmental voice in your head? Educator and entrepreneur Anu Gupta suggests you actually listen to it.Anu joins Chris to discuss the effects of human biases on our psyche and how to combat self-destructive habits by swapping out harmful emotions with constructive thoughts. They also talk about how individuals, when they…

Published

1 day ago

April 8, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

Join us in person at a TED conference:
Become a TED Member to support our mission:
Subscribe to a TED newsletter:

Follow TED!
Instagram:
LinkedIn:
TikTok:
Facebook:
X:

The TED Talks channel features 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 (or less) — plus originals, podcasts and exclusive content. Look for videos on Technology, Entertainment and Design as well as science, business, global issues, the arts and more. Visit for our entire library, transcripts, translations and personalized recommendations.

TED videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with the TED Talks Usage Policy: . For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), submit a request at

#TED #TEDTalks #HowToBeABetterHuman

People & Blogs

Fake news is everywhere — @DaveJorgenson says respond with a punchline #TEDTalks

What if the best defense against misinformation isn’t panic, but a punchline? Journalist and comedian Dave Jorgenson explores how misinformation has proliferated throughout history — from the age of Plato to the era of viral TikToks. With his own short, absurdist sketches that explain the news, he shows how humor can cut through fear, spark…

Published

2 days ago

April 7, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

People & Blogs

Is Luck Random — or Can You Cultivate It? | Christian Busch | TED

When the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires destroyed his home and neighborhood, scientist Christian Busch encountered the opposite of serendipity: “zemblanity,” or bad luck by design. Drawing on more than a decade of scientific research, he explores how people can navigate unpredictability by adopting a serendipity mindset that transforms setbacks into unexpected new beginnings. He asks:…

Published

2 days ago

April 7, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

Join us in person at a TED conference:
Become a TED Member to support our mission:
Subscribe to a TED newsletter:

Follow TED!
X:
Instagram:
Facebook:
LinkedIn:
TikTok:

The TED Talks channel features talks, performances and original series from the world’s leading thinkers and doers. Subscribe to our channel for videos on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.

Watch more:

TED’s videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy: . For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at

#TED #TEDTalks #PersonalGrowth