Forty Minutes to a Happier You?

If you're ready to think over some big ideas about happiness and aging, here's a website that can get you started in twenty minutes.

At the TED conferences, respected speakers have 20 minutes to present their take on important and interesting questions ("what is humanity's family tree?"). The result is a collection of videos that provide concentrated overviews of broad areas of knowledge. It's like the last class of the semester, when the professor summarizes everything -- but in 1/3 the time.

One of our favorite LifeTwo-related talks is by Martin Seligman, a key figure in the development of the field of positive psychology. He explains how that new area supplements traditional psychology, and what he and others have discovered about how people can become happier.

Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert gives another insightful discussion as he explains why, one year after their life has changed forever, lottery winners and paraplegics are equally happy. Generally speaking, he says, "if (a major life event) happened over three months ago ... it has no impact whatsoever on your happiness." Blame your brain, he says.

Another happiness-related video on the site is a presentation by Matthieu Ricard, scientist turned Buddhist monk, in which he discusses how meditation can improve happiness. His speech isn't as meaty as Seligman's or Gilbert's.

Another talk of interest: Aubrey de Grey's "Why We Age and How We Can Avoid It." de Grey is a controversial figure who believes that the first humans who will live to 1,000 have already been born. His TED lecture outlines the ways people age and how each can be defeated or at least held at bay.

You can view the videos on the TED site, download them from there, or find them at iTunes -- search podcasts for "TED."