Science & Technology

The Counterintuitive Psychology of Insurance | Orit Tykocinski | TED

The real reason you buy insurance may have as much to do with pleasing your psyche as it does protecting your wallet. Behavioral psychologist Orit Tykocinski explores the connection between insurance and the reality-distorting risks of “magical thinking” that may make you reconsider your own rationale. If you love watching TED Talks like this one,…

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The real reason you buy insurance may have as much to do with pleasing your psyche as it does protecting your wallet. Behavioral psychologist Orit Tykocinski explores the connection between insurance and the reality-distorting risks of “magical thinking” that may make you reconsider your own rationale.

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33 Comments

  1. Shloomy Shloms

    March 21, 2022 at 9:52 pm

    at no point have I ever thought insurance prevents something from happening.

    • Aulia Aliyev

      March 21, 2022 at 11:58 pm

      Perhaps because the “magical effect” is subconcious

  2. Viktor Moravski

    March 21, 2022 at 10:34 pm

    Thank you!

    TED had great speakers lately.

  3. Gaasuba Meskhenet

    March 21, 2022 at 10:34 pm

    I’m so ready for us to stop playing the stupid game that is money

  4. Gaasuba Meskhenet

    March 21, 2022 at 10:36 pm

    disasters cause enough relocation expenses without us helping. no more evictions from primary residences!

  5. freggo

    March 21, 2022 at 11:29 pm

    I’d not be surprised if having insurance against your car getting stolen increases the risk!
    Reason: Without insurance you are more likely to avoid parking in unlit and other high risk places.

  6. John Fausett

    March 21, 2022 at 11:42 pm

    Confirmation that you can sell stupid people anything.

  7. 三森くみこ

    March 21, 2022 at 11:47 pm

    Putin and others involved will be killed if they murder. It is reincarnation from the earth to the end of the universe. If you steal, you will be stolen from, if you lie, you will not see the truth, samsara, you react and then move, so what you do will come back to you. The only way to escape samsara is to become enlightened through precepts and yoga.

  8. Dolores Aldrete

    March 22, 2022 at 12:07 am

    Love her dress

  9. 🇬█ 𝔎𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝔎alisari│

    March 22, 2022 at 5:19 am

    🤔

    وأكتفي من بين ما كتبه هؤلاء باقتطاف ما قاله

    « Bernard Shaw | برناردشو»

    الكاتب والناقد الإنجليزي🇬🇧 الذائع الصِّيت الذي تَعرفه الدنيا بأسرِها، والمتوفى سنة 1950،

    يقول هذا المفكر العملاق عن رسول الإنسانية محمد ﷺ:

    «إنَّ 🌍أوروبا الآن بدأت تحسُّ بحكمة محمد ﷺ وبدأت تَعشَقُ دِينه،

    وإنَّ 🌍أوروبا سوف تُبرِّئ الإسلام ممَّا اتَّهمته به من أراجيف رجالها ومُفكِّريها في العصور الوسطى،

    وسيكون دين محمد ﷺ هو النظام الذي تُؤسِّس عليه دعائم السلام والسعادة،

    وتستندُ على فلسفته في حل المعضلات وفك المشكلات، وحَلِّ العُقَد.

    ويقول: إنِّي أعتقد أنَّ رجلًا كمحمد لو تسلَّم زمام الحكم المطلق في العالم بأجمعه اليوم لتم له النجاح في حكمة ولقاد العالم إلى الخير،

    وحلَّ مشاكله على وجه يحقق للعالم السلام والسعادة المنشودة..

    ثم يقول: أجل..
    ما أحوج العالم اليوم إلى رجل كمحمد لِيَحُلَّ قضاياه المعقدة
    بينما هو يتناول فنجانًا من القهوة»

    By.
    # GrandSheikh Al Azhar🇪🇬.
    🌏Egypt🇪🇬.

    Thank you.
    🌏
    ☕☕☕
    ###
    .

  10. 🇬█ 𝔎𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝔎alisari│

    March 22, 2022 at 5:20 am

    ‘تيد’

    وأكتفي من بين ما كتبه هؤلاء باقتطاف ما قاله

    « Bernard Shaw | برناردشو»

    الكاتب والناقد الإنجليزي🇬🇧 الذائع الصِّيت الذي تَعرفه الدنيا بأسرِها، والمتوفى سنة 1950،

    يقول هذا المفكر العملاق عن رسول الإنسانية محمد ﷺ:

    «إنَّ 🌍أوروبا الآن بدأت تحسُّ بحكمة محمد ﷺ وبدأت تَعشَقُ دِينه،

    وإنَّ 🌍أوروبا سوف تُبرِّئ الإسلام ممَّا اتَّهمته به من أراجيف رجالها ومُفكِّريها في العصور الوسطى،

    وسيكون دين محمد ﷺ هو النظام الذي تُؤسِّس عليه دعائم السلام والسعادة،

    وتستندُ على فلسفته في حل المعضلات وفك المشكلات، وحَلِّ العُقَد.

    ويقول: إنِّي أعتقد أنَّ رجلًا كمحمد لو تسلَّم زمام الحكم المطلق في العالم بأجمعه اليوم لتم له النجاح في حكمة ولقاد العالم إلى الخير،

    وحلَّ مشاكله على وجه يحقق للعالم السلام والسعادة المنشودة..

    ثم يقول: أجل..
    ما أحوج العالم اليوم إلى رجل كمحمد لِيَحُلَّ قضاياه المعقدة
    بينما هو يتناول فنجانًا من القهوة»

    By.
    # GrandSheikh Al Azhar🇪🇬.
    🌏Egypt🇪🇬.

    Thank you.
    🌏
    ☕☕☕
    ###
    .

  11. 🆃🅺𝓐 〘Pra𝖕a𝖙anKa𝖑i𝖘ar⃝i〙

    March 22, 2022 at 5:25 am

    🌍🌏🌎
    حضرات السيدات والسادة النبلاء…

    فأي نظام عالمي يعلي شعبا أو مجموعة من البشر فوق غيرهم سيبوء بالفشل لا محالة،

    وبغض النظر عن أفكارنا حول أحداث الماضي يجب أن لا نصبح أبدا سجناء لأحداث مضت،

    وإنما يجب معالجة مشاكلنا بواسطة الشراكة كما يجب أن نحقق التقدم بصفة مشتركة.

    لا يعني ذلك بالنسبة لنا أن نفضل التغاضي عن مصادر التوتر،

    وفي الحقيقة فإن العكس هو الأرجح، يجب علينا مجابهة هذه التوترات بصفة مفتوحة،

    واسمحوا لي انطلاقا من هذه الروح أن أتطرق بمنتهى الصراحة وأكبر قدر ممكن من البساطة إلى بعض الأمور المحددة التي أعتقد أنه يتعين علينا مواجهتها في نهاية المطاف بجهد مشترك.

    أشكرك.

  12. 🆃🅺𝓐 〘Pra𝖕a𝖙anKa𝖑i𝖘ar⃝i〙

    March 22, 2022 at 5:26 am

    حضرات السيدات والسادة النبلاء…

    فأي نظام عالمي يعلي شعبا أو مجموعة من البشر فوق غيرهم سيبوء بالفشل لا محالة،

    وبغض النظر عن أفكارنا حول أحداث الماضي يجب أن لا نصبح أبدا سجناء لأحداث مضت،

    وإنما يجب معالجة مشاكلنا بواسطة الشراكة كما يجب أن نحقق التقدم بصفة مشتركة.

    لا يعني ذلك بالنسبة لنا أن نفضل التغاضي عن مصادر التوتر،

    وفي الحقيقة فإن العكس هو الأرجح، يجب علينا مجابهة هذه التوترات بصفة مفتوحة،

    واسمحوا لي انطلاقا من هذه الروح أن أتطرق بمنتهى الصراحة وأكبر قدر ممكن من البساطة إلى بعض الأمور المحددة التي أعتقد أنه يتعين علينا مواجهتها في نهاية المطاف بجهد مشترك.

    أنقذ كوكبنا🌍🌏🌎 !!!.

    أشكرك.

  13. 🆃🅺𝓐 〘Pra𝖕a𝖙anKa𝖑i𝖘ar⃝i〙

    March 22, 2022 at 5:30 am

    — 🌏Indonesian Language. —

    Yang mulia,
    Bpk. President 🇺🇳🇺🇳🇺🇳.
    Mr. ABDULLA SHAHID beloved 🇺🇳.

    Aku seorang Gadis yang cantik dan Manis.

    Aku juga admin. Kayak layaknya mereka Gadis Indonesia umumnya.


    Bpk. President..
    Setelah aku baca Sejarah,
    Mengapa Peristiwa-Berdarah selalu dimulai dari Europe?

    – World War I
    – World War II
    tambah lagi Europe: Mereka menyalakan Perang dalam Cold-War/ Perang dinging, antara Soviets dan USA.
    Kita pun secara tidak langsung, ikut terpengaruh dalam tragedy itu. Mengapa?

    Tuan Presiden..

    Bisnis mereka adalah Peperangan.

    Ya, dan Bagaimana tidak!
    Perdagangan mereka adalah; SENJATA, BOM,
    AMUNISI, dan PELEDAK.

    Sejatinya, merekalah: Perusak Bumi yang SEBENARNYA.

    Kemungkinan ya, Mereka akan meraup banyak UNTUNG
    dalam tiap – tiap peperarang itu.

    Namun, mengapa??

    – mereka menuding secara luas,

    bahwa:
    ” AGAMA adalah BIANG dari misi Perang-Dunia. ”

    ” AGAMA adalah Sumber penyebab
    dalam Conflicts berdarah berikutnya. ”

    Sungguh,
    Anggapan yang demikian, tidaklah selamanya benar!.

    Argument mereka, nampaknya Keliru.
    serta Ucapan mereka, ‘ hanyalah Omong Kosong.’

    Ketahuilah, setiap # Agama mengajarkan
    Kedamaian, mengatakan kebenaran bahwa:
    Membunuh satu orang tak bersalah,
    Sama halnya, merusak bumi dan membunuh umat Keseluruhan.

    Justru, # Agama sebagai soluti

    Tuhan menurun kan # KITAB SUCI.
    dan # PeranAgama di # Bumi🌎🌏🌍,
    itulah # Solusi.

    Thank you | Terimakasih.
    dan Salam Sehat!.

    We love you.
    🙂

  14. Аб дулла

    March 22, 2022 at 5:33 am

    TED, tell me.. really facts TRANSPARENTLY ✍️!.

    TED ✓ 🤔

    “In the END we must REMEMBER that no amount of rules or their enforcement will defeat those who STRUGGLE with # JUSTICE on their side.”

    By # 🌍Nelson Mandela✓

    at the 50th anniversary of the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade),

    🌍Geneva, Switzerland,

    🌍19 May 1998.

    Thank you.
    And good health always!.

    Thank you very much.

    Thank you.

  15. Аб дулла

    March 22, 2022 at 5:33 am

    TED ✓
    🤔

    “In the END we must REMEMBER that no amount of rules or their enforcement will defeat those who STRUGGLE with # JUSTICE on their side.”

    By # 🌍Nelson Mandela✓

    at the 50th anniversary of the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade),

    🌍Geneva, Switzerland,

    🌍19 May 1998.

    Thank you.
    And good health always!.

    Thank you very much.

    Thank you.

  16. Thant Myo

    March 22, 2022 at 6:43 am

    From a place there is no culture of having an insurance, I realized insurance can be great protection if we do it the right way. Without life insurance no one really care about road safety. There are a lot of negligence on the road and loop holes in safety enforcement. Recent events killed many civilians by security forces should not happened if we have a national life insurance program enrolled by most people. If the lost of lives will cost someone dearly, the tragic events would have been protected. If we consider health insurance as a social responsibility of an individual for the overall good of the group, make our lives a little more balanced than it naturally is. Whoever pay the premium will use to pay for our fellow citizen who is not fortunate enough to get sick, who wants to be the sick person in order to get claims from the insurance. I would rather be healthy and happy that I don’t need to claim the insurance. It is not a loss but it is a responsibility towards each other in a community. When you are not very lucky and need care for your illness, the necessary funds would come from the collective insurance. Not everyone will need to spend that insurance fund and we should be happy if we don’t need to use that fund so that the person who is in need can use it in his difficult time. There is one condition tho. We all need to be extremely honest not to abuse or defraud the insurance fund from both side. Otherwise such a great tool to level out our society will not work!

  17. Priyanka Garai

    March 22, 2022 at 6:56 am

    Cosmos=quantum adjustment! Life=molecular adjustment! Consciousness=memetic adjustment!

  18. Lost in Phoenix

    March 22, 2022 at 7:03 am

    @TED I interview homeless fentanyl addicts here in Phoenix for my YouTube channel as we currently have an epidemic going on here with 5 Arizonans dying each day from opioid overdoses. Most of the people I interview are teens and young adults. I’ve interviewed about 300 people in a year and a half. 3 of them are dead from overdoses and 2 are in prison for murder. If you ever do an episode on addiction please invite me to speak on this subject to help create awareness and possibly save a life. Thank you 🙏🏼

  19. Whatsapp†①➋③➏⑧④➏➋①➋⑦

    March 22, 2022 at 7:53 am

    I had a life filled with debt and regrets but after meeting David Mancini my life was changed for the better. For investment advice and tips I highly recommend you contact him above ☝️

  20. Yutong Yutong

    March 22, 2022 at 10:54 am

    i can learn English here😁

  21. gaurav kumar

    March 22, 2022 at 2:15 pm

    Like Insurance, pretty useless TED talk ever. Or maybe my fears are unrealistic.

  22. James Stevens

    March 22, 2022 at 2:40 pm

    Being reminded that you have insurance may cause a mental adjustment to what we consider an “emergency,” explaining the phenomenon

  23. danathema dan

    March 22, 2022 at 2:56 pm

    that was the worst TED talk I’ve ever seen

  24. Michael Kelly

    March 22, 2022 at 6:21 pm

    Risk is a combination of probability and consequence. When I buy insurance I know the probability is not impacted by the purchase but I may have an issue determining the probability because those are general based on statistics across a population. The difference to me is the consequence of an adverse outcome to me and mine.

    • Home Wall

      March 22, 2022 at 7:17 pm

      Most people are bad at risk, bad at probabilities, and bad at consequences.

  25. Home Wall

    March 22, 2022 at 7:13 pm

    Insurance also increases the risks people will take. When they feel protected, they are less concerned with being safe.

  26. L. Eliz

    March 23, 2022 at 3:08 am

    Insurance companies have so many reasons why they won’t cover your claim. I didn’t have insurance for a brief time last year, and I ended in the ER for a kidney stone. Since I didn’t have coverage, the bill was reduced 50% if I paid in cash with a credit card. A month later, I signed up for Blue Cross Blue Shield, but I was given a practitioner’s name who was no longer in practice, and I never received a wallet-sized card in the mail. When I called, I wasn’t even in the Blue Cross Blue Shield system, but they sure wanted the monthly premium payments from me. I ended up paying premiums for three months and still no sign that I even existed in their system. I stopped paying the monthly premiums. I guess I’m still not covered by health insurance. I’m supposed to sign up for Medicare three months prior to turning 65 in 2023, but I read that Medicare doesn’t cover seven important medical costs, so what’s the point of having Medicare. Besides, when I’m old and decrepit, some nursing home will take everything I own. Some nursing homes are horrible to end up in. I witnessed this with a really close friend of mine. When he ran out of money and assets and couldn’t pay the $6000 per month, they dropped him off at a homeless shelter. I hope I can die quickly and peacefully in my own home and not be dependent on anyone. Four things a person doesn’t want to be in this country: old, sick, poor, and alone.

  27. Some Body

    March 23, 2022 at 3:28 am

    I worked over a decade in insurance so what you are telling me is stupid. You might as well tell me that the sky is blue , water is wet or fire is hot.

  28. Prosenjeet Das

    March 23, 2022 at 5:11 pm

    I LOVE TED TALK

  29. Ruthless Cardigan

    March 24, 2022 at 12:46 am

    7:11 we are conditioned to believe that state has our best interests at heart when they require things like insurance for various reasons… BUT INSURANCE IS A MULTI-TRILLION DOLLAR RACKET
    which means all the money is cozy in bed with each other, while the average person gets the shaft out in the cold

  30. Ligia Sommers

    March 24, 2022 at 2:04 am

    Uauuu she did transform a supposedly boring subject into something quite interesting 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🙏🏻✨

  31. gsftb

    March 24, 2022 at 9:54 pm

    Here is a simple logical claim. Proof me wrong. If people would be getting the insurance money they (really) needed (or at least 50% of the money paid accumulatively) then insurance companys wouldn’t be the money collecting tanks as they in fact are.

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