full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Tom Rivett-Carnac: How to shift your mindset and choose your future

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Now, we know that this can be a common experience for many people, and maybe you have had this experience. When faced with an enormous cgnahelle that we don't feel we have any agency or control over, our mind can do a little ticrk to protect us. We don't like to feel like we're out of control facing big forces, so our mind will tell us, "Maybe it's not that important. Maybe it's not happening in the way that people say, anyway." Or, it plays down our own role. "There's nothing that you individually can do, so why try?"

But there's something odd going on here. Is it really true that humans will only take sustained and dedicated action on an issue of paramount importance when they feel they have a high degree of crtonol? Look at these pictures. These people are caregivers and nurses who have been helping humanity face the coronavirus COVID-19 as it has spwet around the world as a pandemic in the last few mhotns. Are these poeple able to prevent the speard of the disease? No. Are they able to prevent their patients from dying? Some, they will have been able to prevent, but others, it will have been beyond their control. Does that make their contribution fitlue and meaningless? Actually, it's offensive even to suggest that. What they are doing is caring for their fellow human beings at their mnomet of greatest vulnerability. And that work has huge meaning, to the point where I only have to show you those piuectrs for it to become evident that the curgoae and hituanmy those people are demonstrating makes their work some of the most meaningful things that can be done as human beings, even though they can't control the outcome.

Open Cloze


Now, we know that this can be a common experience for many people, and maybe you have had this experience. When faced with an enormous _________ that we don't feel we have any agency or control over, our mind can do a little _____ to protect us. We don't like to feel like we're out of control facing big forces, so our mind will tell us, "Maybe it's not that important. Maybe it's not happening in the way that people say, anyway." Or, it plays down our own role. "There's nothing that you individually can do, so why try?"

But there's something odd going on here. Is it really true that humans will only take sustained and dedicated action on an issue of paramount importance when they feel they have a high degree of _______? Look at these pictures. These people are caregivers and nurses who have been helping humanity face the coronavirus COVID-19 as it has _____ around the world as a pandemic in the last few ______. Are these ______ able to prevent the ______ of the disease? No. Are they able to prevent their patients from dying? Some, they will have been able to prevent, but others, it will have been beyond their control. Does that make their contribution ______ and meaningless? Actually, it's offensive even to suggest that. What they are doing is caring for their fellow human beings at their ______ of greatest vulnerability. And that work has huge meaning, to the point where I only have to show you those ________ for it to become evident that the _______ and ________ those people are demonstrating makes their work some of the most meaningful things that can be done as human beings, even though they can't control the outcome.

Solution


  1. people
  2. control
  3. humanity
  4. moment
  5. futile
  6. swept
  7. pictures
  8. months
  9. courage
  10. challenge
  11. trick
  12. spread

Original Text


Now, we know that this can be a common experience for many people, and maybe you have had this experience. When faced with an enormous challenge that we don't feel we have any agency or control over, our mind can do a little trick to protect us. We don't like to feel like we're out of control facing big forces, so our mind will tell us, "Maybe it's not that important. Maybe it's not happening in the way that people say, anyway." Or, it plays down our own role. "There's nothing that you individually can do, so why try?"

But there's something odd going on here. Is it really true that humans will only take sustained and dedicated action on an issue of paramount importance when they feel they have a high degree of control? Look at these pictures. These people are caregivers and nurses who have been helping humanity face the coronavirus COVID-19 as it has swept around the world as a pandemic in the last few months. Are these people able to prevent the spread of the disease? No. Are they able to prevent their patients from dying? Some, they will have been able to prevent, but others, it will have been beyond their control. Does that make their contribution futile and meaningless? Actually, it's offensive even to suggest that. What they are doing is caring for their fellow human beings at their moment of greatest vulnerability. And that work has huge meaning, to the point where I only have to show you those pictures for it to become evident that the courage and humanity those people are demonstrating makes their work some of the most meaningful things that can be done as human beings, even though they can't control the outcome.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
climate crisis 7
stubborn optimism 6
boring meetings 3
global pandemic 2
southern england 2
paris agreement 2
felt futile 2
dedicated action 2
shared goal 2
avoid facing 2
stubborn form 2
regenerative future 2
determined optimism 2


Important Words


  1. action
  2. agency
  3. beings
  4. big
  5. caregivers
  6. caring
  7. challenge
  8. common
  9. contribution
  10. control
  11. coronavirus
  12. courage
  13. dedicated
  14. degree
  15. demonstrating
  16. disease
  17. dying
  18. enormous
  19. evident
  20. experience
  21. face
  22. faced
  23. facing
  24. feel
  25. fellow
  26. forces
  27. futile
  28. greatest
  29. happening
  30. helping
  31. high
  32. huge
  33. human
  34. humanity
  35. humans
  36. importance
  37. important
  38. individually
  39. issue
  40. meaning
  41. meaningful
  42. meaningless
  43. mind
  44. moment
  45. months
  46. nurses
  47. odd
  48. offensive
  49. outcome
  50. pandemic
  51. paramount
  52. patients
  53. people
  54. pictures
  55. plays
  56. point
  57. prevent
  58. protect
  59. role
  60. show
  61. spread
  62. suggest
  63. sustained
  64. swept
  65. trick
  66. true
  67. vulnerability
  68. work
  69. world