In a world that prizes certainty, hot takes and instant answers, what happens when we celebrate the power of … not knowing? Scientist and storyteller Harini Bhat shares how she built a mega-popular YouTube channel where curiosity, not credentials, drives discovery. From ancient brains turned to glass to the origins of life itself, she reminds us that science isn’t just for scientists — it’s for anyone willing to ask, “Why?” (Recorded at TEDNext 2025 on November 10, 2025)
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#TED #TEDTalks #Curiosity
@shojirohanaki
December 5, 2025 at 11:02 am
First comment 🎉🎉🎉
@Dynasty1818
December 5, 2025 at 11:06 am
More people need to say “I don’t know” instead of spewing their guaranteed limited “insight” they got from Tikcrap or wherever that they of course didn’t fact check. Everyone wants to be right, it’s nonsense. And people will argue over their own argument they know basically nothing about. You have to be careful though, “I don’t know” at work can lead to training and improvement and progression. It can also lead to “well you SHOULD know” or “you don’t know this yet after how long working here?” and casts doubt on your abilities. You can’t know (irony) of what will happen until you say the phrase though.
@TardigradeTough
December 5, 2025 at 12:22 pm
Belief without evidence and cr@p like “my truth” should be outlawed for the benefit of everyone
@Orion22810
December 5, 2025 at 11:14 am
Such a great Ted Talk, Harini! 👏🏻
@GameTimeWhy
December 5, 2025 at 11:29 am
It sucks that society and even schools quickly teach and push for people to either know everything or just bs an answer. Being honest and saying i dont know but lets find the answer is usually looked down upon.
@blipco5
December 5, 2025 at 11:49 am
It’s sometimes a relief to just say “I don’t know”. Try it.
@TardigradeTough
December 5, 2025 at 12:20 pm
And the more you learn the better you can see the gaps in our knowledge! Which is alot
@CurtisBland
December 5, 2025 at 12:35 pm
4:13 – A good point. My guess as to a reason why it’s not braking the internet = Just the DNA Building blocks does not make a reasonable leap to DNA. That’d be like throwing some legos into a box and expecting to see a LEGO Death Star formed within hours of doing so. Time isn’t on the side of available materials transitioning to a functioning biological process, it is the enemy of it. I think because that, maybe it didn’t get much credit despite the interesting results. Very much enjoy her YouTube channel too! @tilscience is great.
@arul_r_learner
December 5, 2025 at 12:38 pm
Once a wise man told – Stay hungry, Stay foolish
@merchant100
December 5, 2025 at 12:42 pm
But the people especially at work that don’t say that and pretend they know make people perceive them as smart and they go up the corporate ladder.
@Getosan
December 5, 2025 at 1:02 pm
Please tell the name the flute music played at last ….it was so peaceful
@jascres
December 5, 2025 at 1:04 pm
And there’s her power, now I have some stuff to go look up. 😂
@user-dj7hg4yt5v
December 5, 2025 at 1:10 pm
OMG SHE’S HERE! I’ve been watching “today I learned science” for a while now, and I WAS NOT expecting to see her on ted talk so soon! I’m really happy to see her here and I hope it boosts her channel up, I always thought social media could be a great teaching tool if it’s done right, and I hope to see more creators like her, who enrich our lives instead of encouraging doom scrolling ❤
@BonnieShadow33
December 6, 2025 at 7:52 pm
There are tons of them. You just gotta look.
@MsAwesomeAnna
December 5, 2025 at 5:33 pm
YES! Be a learner! Great job!
@pavel00995
December 5, 2025 at 6:00 pm
Wow, an actual idea worth sharing. A rare thing to see on Ted these days.
@allivatehope2855
December 5, 2025 at 7:15 pm
Beautiful ❤️
@Vincent67337
December 5, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Back in my day you forgot what you were searching for before you got the computer to boot up. If you remembered then you had to search through a lot of other information to finally find the answer. AI can find the answer in a few seconds.
@BonnieShadow33
December 6, 2025 at 7:53 pm
I don’t need AI for that. Also, AI hallucinates too much for me to trust it. Search engines have gotten so much faster and so much more useful in recent decades, so the situation you’re describing is long gone.
@kevinruus7163
December 6, 2025 at 12:16 am
thank you 🍀
@AhmedAbdullah-g1l7t
December 6, 2025 at 1:42 am
It looks like one of the greatest TED Talks ever🎉❤😊
@rouju
December 6, 2025 at 4:19 am
This is Today I Learned girl? Nice talk
@rimpri
December 6, 2025 at 5:03 am
Not at all, very much so, don’t know.
@techcoachmahi
December 6, 2025 at 9:36 am
Such a great talk 💯
@WayinVideo-DeepQA
December 6, 2025 at 10:33 am
What a refreshing take on curiosity and the unknown! Harini Bhat’s talk really lands the idea that we often rush to lock in answers instead of letting ourselves sit with the questions. I also love how she describes her shift from being a “know-it-all” to becoming a curious explorer—it’s such a relatable evolution.
It makes me wonder if, as a society, we’ve become so focused on the race for expertise that we sometimes forget the joy of discovery. Instead of celebrating curiosity, we often feel pressure to have immediate, polished answers. What if we created more spaces where it’s genuinely okay to ask “why?” without worrying about seeming uninformed?
That kind of mindset feels like a real catalyst for deeper learning, more creativity, and better innovation. I’d love to hear how others think we can nurture this way of thinking in everyday life.
@BonnieShadow33
December 6, 2025 at 7:49 pm
One idea: just stopped caring about the judgments of other people. If I say I don’t know, and people try to judge me for it, I don’t care what they think. That makes me immune to their judgment. In other words, stop letting people steal your power.
@misterfunnybones
December 6, 2025 at 11:04 am
I’m not young enough to know everything.
@nicolecalhoun7670
December 6, 2025 at 11:15 am
I love this lady! I havent even thought about science class since HS, and ive learned so much from her show!❤❤❤
@yasymandi9393
December 6, 2025 at 12:20 pm
Accessible, captivating, science story-telling spurs my curiosity every single time. So important!! So beneficial!! Love this Ted talk
@imamusealways
December 6, 2025 at 12:26 pm
🔥
@Abdominal65
December 6, 2025 at 12:30 pm
Remember the “fake it ’till you make it” thing? That wasn’t supposed to be taken literally. You guys are welcome for the content. 😊
@_negentropy_
December 6, 2025 at 12:40 pm
Love her channel! The world needs more Harini energy! 🙌🙌
@anthonyfickas3435
December 6, 2025 at 12:48 pm
Ignorance is Bliss… But life isn’t meant to be ignorant and arrogant.
Bliss doesn’t last too long for the uneducated or those without knowledge, morals, ethics, philosophy, and structure.
@anthonyfickas3435
December 6, 2025 at 12:49 pm
Nuance and Context is everything
@bertkreft9689
December 6, 2025 at 1:05 pm
I possess a vast wealth of knowledge. But above all, I also see the bigger picture beyond the humongous amount of information. Seing the patterns and I’m fully aware that I’ll never know everything. Strangely enough, many of my friends and acquaintances think that’s my goal.
@TheMaurya3
December 6, 2025 at 1:10 pm
Wow what a great Ted talk 🙌 Harini. So glad i came across your content.. something to learn. Thank you 🙏
@da1911
December 6, 2025 at 1:35 pm
“Science isn’t just for scientists”
I love that
@MostafaHasni-d9f
December 6, 2025 at 2:40 pm
عالیه❤
@sydneyspecialistperioperat5605
December 6, 2025 at 5:26 pm
“Medicine is a science of uncertainty and an art of probability.”
— Sir William Osler
@AndreaCrisp
December 6, 2025 at 8:46 pm
Excellent Harini! I love your channel and enjoyed hearing more about you and its evolution during your TEDtalk. Congratulations!!🎉
@OilCanHarry2U
December 7, 2025 at 5:29 am
The question,
is more important than the answer.
@MihadeseShakeri
December 7, 2025 at 6:17 am
Splendid
@spardakuz
December 7, 2025 at 6:50 am
Pretty boring the speech “oh I did this, I did that, I went here, here’s what I did”… Just get to the point
@spardakuz
December 7, 2025 at 6:52 am
💩 just wasted 8 min of my life
@سیروس.مریدی
December 7, 2025 at 10:04 am
بی خبری بزرگترین خوش خبری هست
@noworries6345
December 7, 2025 at 2:52 pm
Spiral
@noworries6345
December 7, 2025 at 2:53 pm
Like this comment, if we live in a dystopian world
@chasmenear7130
December 7, 2025 at 6:04 pm
Admitting to not knowing is a GREAT way to LEARN THINGS.
@weareparamore1597
December 7, 2025 at 7:32 pm
MAGA people knows everything