Jonathan Haidt: Religion, evolution, and the ecstasy of self transcendence

Psychologist Jonathan Haidt asks a simple, but difficult question: why do we search for selftranscendence Why do we attempt to lose ourselves In a tour through the science of evolution by group selection, he proposes a provocative answer. TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of 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. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the Sixth Sense wearable tech, and Lost producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of langu