1
00:00:04,604 --> 00:00:07,750
I want to start
by sharing with you two events

2
00:00:07,750 --> 00:00:10,470
that radically altered my life
12 years ago,

3
00:00:10,470 --> 00:00:15,280
and really are the reason why I've become
a professor in positive psychology.

4
00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:18,701
The first was giving birth to my son,

5
00:00:19,491 --> 00:00:21,411
totally life changing.

6
00:00:21,411 --> 00:00:25,027
I went from spending my days
at university writing a book,

7
00:00:25,332 --> 00:00:28,497
to spending my days at home
wiping a bottom,

8
00:00:29,151 --> 00:00:30,929
and I loved it.

9
00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:34,541
The second event
is a bit confusing, really,

10
00:00:34,541 --> 00:00:36,721
because, unlike giving birth,

11
00:00:36,721 --> 00:00:42,182
it wasn't really the kind of event
that you would classify as life-altering.

12
00:00:43,122 --> 00:00:45,155
It was just watching the news.

13
00:00:46,002 --> 00:00:49,791
I was so tender-hearted
from becoming a new mom

14
00:00:49,791 --> 00:00:53,297
that when I watched the news,
I burst into tears.

15
00:00:53,901 --> 00:00:58,321
And you know these really messy tears
where you get the red, swollen, puffy eyes

16
00:00:59,003 --> 00:01:02,138
and where your nose
turns into an instant snot factory?

17
00:01:02,663 --> 00:01:05,449
I'm talking those kinds of tears.

18
00:01:06,083 --> 00:01:08,183
And I'm a psychology researcher, right?

19
00:01:08,183 --> 00:01:13,369
So when I have these unexpected reactions,
I automatically start to analyze myself.

20
00:01:14,053 --> 00:01:15,853
And I'm sitting there thinking,

21
00:01:15,853 --> 00:01:19,709
"Huh, why am I crying?
It's just the news."

22
00:01:20,474 --> 00:01:23,083
But then this other question
bubbled up, and I thought,

23
00:01:23,984 --> 00:01:26,300
"Why haven't I cried before?"

24
00:01:27,565 --> 00:01:29,422
And that's when it hit me.

25
00:01:29,422 --> 00:01:33,110
I've been manipulated
by the media corporations.

26
00:01:33,876 --> 00:01:36,086
They've desensitized me,

27
00:01:36,086 --> 00:01:39,421
and I've grown to accept
a news corporation's version

28
00:01:39,421 --> 00:01:40,840
of human nature.

29
00:01:41,475 --> 00:01:44,060
The meaner, darker version.

30
00:01:44,718 --> 00:01:46,507
I thought, this is wrong,

31
00:01:46,507 --> 00:01:48,628
this is not the version of human nature

32
00:01:48,628 --> 00:01:50,801
that I want my son
growing up to believe in.

33
00:01:51,358 --> 00:01:52,807
Because, actually,

34
00:01:52,807 --> 00:01:56,781
the vast majority of us
are good and decent,

35
00:01:57,417 --> 00:02:01,740
that's why we refer to ourselves
as a 'human-kind.'

36
00:02:03,057 --> 00:02:04,447
And it got me thinking,

37
00:02:04,447 --> 00:02:06,297
"What would happen if the news decided

38
00:02:06,297 --> 00:02:09,861
to show more stories
of the positive qualities in human nature,

39
00:02:10,548 --> 00:02:13,311
and what impact would this have
on my son's life?"

40
00:02:13,958 --> 00:02:17,522
That question was transforming for me

41
00:02:17,522 --> 00:02:21,658
because the minute
I asked that question of myself,

42
00:02:21,658 --> 00:02:25,742
I knew I had to be part of a solution.

43
00:02:26,079 --> 00:02:28,299
I had to start doing something

44
00:02:28,299 --> 00:02:31,539
that was creating
a more positive life for my son

45
00:02:31,539 --> 00:02:33,913
and for all the young people in Australia.

46
00:02:34,289 --> 00:02:37,410
And there is so much good news to share.

47
00:02:37,410 --> 00:02:40,557
For example, did you know that since 1990,

48
00:02:40,557 --> 00:02:45,023
we've lifted 1.1 billion people
out of poverty?

49
00:02:45,530 --> 00:02:46,940
That's more than three times

50
00:02:46,940 --> 00:02:50,168
the population size
of the United States of America.

51
00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:55,060
And in that same time frame,
we've provided clean water services

52
00:02:55,060 --> 00:02:58,363
to 2.6 billion people,

53
00:02:58,970 --> 00:03:03,333
more than the combined population
of China and India.

54
00:03:04,617 --> 00:03:07,551
The world is becoming a better place,

55
00:03:07,551 --> 00:03:10,914
but you're not going to hear
about that on the nightly news.

56
00:03:11,792 --> 00:03:13,700
Let me ask you a question.

57
00:03:13,700 --> 00:03:16,552
Would you let someone
come into your house every day,

58
00:03:16,552 --> 00:03:18,993
and tell you that the group
that you belong to

59
00:03:18,993 --> 00:03:24,494
are greedy, selfish,
violent, and murderous?

60
00:03:25,271 --> 00:03:30,160
This is exactly what the news corporations
do to us on a daily basis,

61
00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,597
and we believe
what we're told about ourselves.

62
00:03:33,597 --> 00:03:35,993
The labels that other people give us,

63
00:03:35,993 --> 00:03:39,625
we internalize those labels,
and they shape our identity.

64
00:03:40,002 --> 00:03:45,725
So whether you know it or not,
the news is shaping your identity.

65
00:03:45,725 --> 00:03:48,045
It's infecting you.

66
00:03:48,922 --> 00:03:52,312
12 years ago, I decided to stop
watching the nightly news,

67
00:03:52,312 --> 00:03:54,597
and you may well do the same,

68
00:03:54,597 --> 00:03:58,353
but even if you are not
actively seeking out the news,

69
00:03:58,353 --> 00:04:00,952
it is still having
a negative impact on you

70
00:04:00,952 --> 00:04:03,776
because the media corporations
are everywhere.

71
00:04:04,572 --> 00:04:05,962
You walk down the street,

72
00:04:05,962 --> 00:04:09,400
you'll see the newspaper headlines
plastered to the shop windows.

73
00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:12,493
The news is on the phone,
it's on your radios,

74
00:04:12,493 --> 00:04:15,236
it's on electronic billboards
at the side of the road.

75
00:04:15,803 --> 00:04:18,922
A few weeks ago,
my eight-year-old daughter was unwell,

76
00:04:18,922 --> 00:04:21,017
and so I took her to see our local doctor.

77
00:04:21,803 --> 00:04:26,727
We're sitting in the waiting room,
TV's on, it's showing the nightly news.

78
00:04:27,053 --> 00:04:30,094
I'm looking around
the waiting room, thinking,

79
00:04:30,094 --> 00:04:34,123
"All of these people are sick,
they're miserable enough,

80
00:04:34,123 --> 00:04:37,527
let alone having to see more bad news."

81
00:04:38,273 --> 00:04:41,324
I'm not saying
that we should ignore the bad stuff,

82
00:04:41,324 --> 00:04:44,095
I'm just saying that it's not all
we need to know about,

83
00:04:44,095 --> 00:04:46,094
and that the news
should be sharing with us

84
00:04:46,094 --> 00:04:48,554
the stories of the bad and the good events

85
00:04:48,554 --> 00:04:51,084
that are occurring
across the globe that day.

86
00:04:51,784 --> 00:04:55,334
I hope you all agree with me on this,
but I wouldn't blame you

87
00:04:55,334 --> 00:04:58,094
if there are a few people out there
wondering about this,

88
00:04:58,094 --> 00:04:59,925
and kind of thinking, "Really?

89
00:04:59,925 --> 00:05:02,563
Do we really need to hear 
more good news?"

90
00:05:03,125 --> 00:05:06,333
My answer to that,
as a research psychologist, is,

91
00:05:06,333 --> 00:05:08,451
"Absolutely, yes."

92
00:05:09,065 --> 00:05:13,824
Firstly, because as I've just explained,
the news is shaping your identity.

93
00:05:14,917 --> 00:05:16,546
But secondly,

94
00:05:16,546 --> 00:05:18,816
because psychology researchers
have shown us

95
00:05:18,816 --> 00:05:21,637
that when you watch negative news,

96
00:05:21,637 --> 00:05:26,133
it triggers in you symptoms
of worry and depression.

97
00:05:27,667 --> 00:05:28,897
And speaking firsthand,

98
00:05:28,897 --> 00:05:32,007
as someone who has suffered
from depression and had therapy,

99
00:05:32,007 --> 00:05:34,464
I can tell you, it sucks

100
00:05:34,988 --> 00:05:38,028
- not the therapy actually,
the therapy is quite good -

101
00:05:38,028 --> 00:05:43,274
but depression itself is beyond awful.

102
00:05:43,959 --> 00:05:47,298
And for me, suffering from depression,

103
00:05:47,298 --> 00:05:51,984
it felt like I had been
hollowed out from the inside,

104
00:05:52,749 --> 00:05:55,995
that there was nothing left
on the inside of me.

105
00:05:55,995 --> 00:06:00,010
I was just this fragile outer shell

106
00:06:00,010 --> 00:06:02,599
with this scream of pain

107
00:06:02,599 --> 00:06:07,925
just bouncing, and echoing,
and reverberating through the insides;

108
00:06:08,690 --> 00:06:14,542
this vast emptiness
and unfathomable darkness.

109
00:06:16,380 --> 00:06:18,099
I couldn't eat properly,

110
00:06:19,010 --> 00:06:20,699
I couldn't sleep properly,

111
00:06:21,410 --> 00:06:23,078
I couldn't think properly.

112
00:06:23,670 --> 00:06:27,402
I'm a researcher; I think for a living.

113
00:06:29,550 --> 00:06:34,071
So, as you can imagine, I'm feeling
a little bit vulnerable right now,

114
00:06:34,071 --> 00:06:38,080
having stood up on stage
and shared with 1,200 people

115
00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:40,570
that I've suffered from depression,

116
00:06:40,570 --> 00:06:42,460
but i'm feeling particularly vulnerable

117
00:06:42,460 --> 00:06:46,137
because i'm also standing up
on stage criticizing the media.

118
00:06:46,731 --> 00:06:51,371
And now I feel like I've just handed them
this retaliation information,

119
00:06:51,371 --> 00:06:53,370
and sometime this week,

120
00:06:53,370 --> 00:06:57,310
the newspapers are going to have
some little story in a corner that says,

121
00:06:57,310 --> 00:07:00,971
"Positive psychology professor
fails to take our own medicine."

122
00:07:00,971 --> 00:07:03,268
(Laughter)

123
00:07:04,901 --> 00:07:06,818
But this is what I can tell you.

124
00:07:07,818 --> 00:07:10,302
The more and more that I've learned about

125
00:07:10,302 --> 00:07:14,112
and come to understand
the positive qualities in human nature,

126
00:07:14,112 --> 00:07:16,856
the less and less depressed I've become.

127
00:07:17,882 --> 00:07:22,336
In fact, it's rare these days that I have
a symptom of depression at all.

128
00:07:23,182 --> 00:07:26,013
If you would have told me in my mid-30s

129
00:07:26,013 --> 00:07:30,113
that I would be depression free,
almost, by my mid-40s,

130
00:07:30,113 --> 00:07:32,626
honestly, I would not have believed you.

131
00:07:33,163 --> 00:07:35,552
But learning about the best in us,

132
00:07:36,113 --> 00:07:41,104
that's made me a better mom,
a better wife, a better friend,

133
00:07:41,104 --> 00:07:43,558
a better colleague, a better person.

134
00:07:44,544 --> 00:07:47,617
And it's done this
in three really concrete ways.

135
00:07:48,363 --> 00:07:50,616
Learning about the best in us

136
00:07:50,616 --> 00:07:54,139
has helped me to clarify
the type of person that I want to be:

137
00:07:55,056 --> 00:08:00,950
a woman who is brave, and kind,
and persistent, and ethical.

138
00:08:02,337 --> 00:08:05,426
Learning about the best in us
has helped me to clarify

139
00:08:05,426 --> 00:08:08,741
the type of person I want to be
in relationship with.

140
00:08:09,596 --> 00:08:13,056
And learning about the best in us
has helped me to walk away

141
00:08:13,056 --> 00:08:15,891
from some unhealthy
relationships in my life.

142
00:08:17,858 --> 00:08:21,761
I started this journey in order
to help my son and my daughter.

143
00:08:22,697 --> 00:08:25,147
It turns out it helped me too,

144
00:08:25,147 --> 00:08:28,371
and not just helped me, transformed me.

145
00:08:28,947 --> 00:08:34,343
Because what it did was
it injected hope into my bloodstream,

146
00:08:34,343 --> 00:08:41,111
and now I walk around every day
with this healing pulse of hope.

147
00:08:43,078 --> 00:08:46,328
If the news corporations
were to show more positive news stories,

148
00:08:46,328 --> 00:08:49,028
they too could be agents of hope.

149
00:08:49,028 --> 00:08:52,888
We need to be asking the media
to share more good news with us,

150
00:08:52,888 --> 00:08:55,788
and better yet, I personally think
we should be demanding

151
00:08:55,788 --> 00:08:58,607
a whole new form of journalism,

152
00:08:58,607 --> 00:09:02,372
one that shows TED content
on the nightly news, for example.

153
00:09:02,758 --> 00:09:04,588
- Yeah! -

154
00:09:04,588 --> 00:09:07,361
(Applause)

155
00:09:07,679 --> 00:09:09,530
But, you know, I'm a realist

156
00:09:09,530 --> 00:09:11,960
and I do understand
that the media corporations

157
00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:14,724
aren't going to change
what they report to us anytime soon.

158
00:09:15,379 --> 00:09:19,078
So rather than asking
the media to change their news,

159
00:09:19,078 --> 00:09:22,796
I think we need to start
changing our news.

160
00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:25,311
We need to take on the responsibility

161
00:09:25,311 --> 00:09:29,146
of sharing the stories
of the positive qualities in human nature.

162
00:09:29,792 --> 00:09:35,132
When we share good news,
we inject the healing pulse of hope

163
00:09:35,132 --> 00:09:36,683
into our families,

164
00:09:36,683 --> 00:09:40,416
our friends, our neighbors,
our schools, our workplaces.

165
00:09:41,033 --> 00:09:43,933
Have you ever wondered why it is
when the Olympics are on,

166
00:09:43,933 --> 00:09:46,469
you see so many more people
out running on the street?

167
00:09:47,163 --> 00:09:50,123
And have you ever taken out running
when the Olympics are on?

168
00:09:50,124 --> 00:09:51,525
I know I have.

169
00:09:52,193 --> 00:09:56,303
Psychologists explain this phenomenon
using the elevation effect,

170
00:09:56,303 --> 00:09:58,853
and simply put,
the elevation effect occurs

171
00:09:58,853 --> 00:10:01,715
when we witness excellence in another.

172
00:10:02,344 --> 00:10:06,625
It inspires and elevates us
to also want to strive for excellence.

173
00:10:07,274 --> 00:10:09,093
So when we're watching the Olympics,

174
00:10:09,093 --> 00:10:13,203
and we're seeing all these examples
of physical and athletic excellence,

175
00:10:13,203 --> 00:10:14,834
it inspires us.

176
00:10:14,834 --> 00:10:19,195
It elevates us to also want
to become fitter and stronger,

177
00:10:19,195 --> 00:10:21,055
and so we take up exercise.

178
00:10:22,035 --> 00:10:23,973
Well, here's the interesting thing.

179
00:10:23,973 --> 00:10:25,893
Psychologists have also found

180
00:10:25,893 --> 00:10:28,105
that we don't just have
the elevation effect

181
00:10:28,105 --> 00:10:30,285
when we witness physical excellence,

182
00:10:30,745 --> 00:10:35,496
we also have the elevation effect
when we witness moral excellence.

183
00:10:36,275 --> 00:10:40,466
When we witness great acts
of kindness or courage,

184
00:10:40,466 --> 00:10:42,795
it inspires and elevates us

185
00:10:42,795 --> 00:10:46,180
to also want to be kinder
and braver ourselves.

186
00:10:47,046 --> 00:10:48,696
There are lots of examples

187
00:10:48,696 --> 00:10:52,379
of the elevation effect
being triggered by moral excellence,

188
00:10:52,379 --> 00:10:56,360
but one example that we all know about
is Nelson Mandela.

189
00:10:57,177 --> 00:11:01,786
His moral excellence,
his capacity for forgiveness

190
00:11:01,786 --> 00:11:04,630
elevated an entire country,

191
00:11:05,246 --> 00:11:09,331
and shifted them from an apartheid regime
to a democratic government.

192
00:11:10,656 --> 00:11:13,617
I'm not saying
that we can all be like Nelson Mandela,

193
00:11:13,617 --> 00:11:17,656
I'm not even saying we can all know
someone like Nelson Mandela,

194
00:11:17,656 --> 00:11:21,987
but what I am saying 
is that you can all train yourself

195
00:11:21,987 --> 00:11:25,367
to look for the examples
of everyday excellence

196
00:11:25,367 --> 00:11:27,247
that are all around us;

197
00:11:27,247 --> 00:11:29,567
that every day moral excellence

198
00:11:29,567 --> 00:11:33,677
when we see the people around us
being brave, and kind,

199
00:11:33,677 --> 00:11:36,217
and acting with integrity, and honesty,

200
00:11:36,217 --> 00:11:38,338
and teamwork, and leadership.

201
00:11:38,338 --> 00:11:41,978
We can train ourselves to look
for the examples of moral excellence,

202
00:11:41,978 --> 00:11:44,340
and we can share those stories.

203
00:11:45,220 --> 00:11:47,519
A few weeks ago, 
I caught public transport,

204
00:11:47,519 --> 00:11:49,309
and in the space of ten minutes,

205
00:11:49,309 --> 00:11:54,031
I saw three young people stand up
and offer their seats to senior citizens.

206
00:11:54,650 --> 00:11:58,520
That's everyday moral excellence,
and I tweeted about that.

207
00:11:59,310 --> 00:12:02,631
If you share those examples
of everyday moral excellence,

208
00:12:02,631 --> 00:12:04,311
you are triggering hope,

209
00:12:04,311 --> 00:12:06,911
and you are triggering
the elevation effect.

210
00:12:07,591 --> 00:12:09,440
But you're doing more than that

211
00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:11,690
because researchers have also found

212
00:12:11,690 --> 00:12:15,261
that when you share positive news
on your social media sites,

213
00:12:15,261 --> 00:12:19,571
64% of your network
will respond with happiness.

214
00:12:20,411 --> 00:12:23,811
So if you want to make
people happy, share good news.

215
00:12:24,371 --> 00:12:26,631
And the research goes further than that

216
00:12:26,631 --> 00:12:29,811
because we've also discovered,
in the field of positive psychology,

217
00:12:29,811 --> 00:12:32,751
that positive emotions are contagious.

218
00:12:33,222 --> 00:12:36,741
We literally catch
positive emotions of other people.

219
00:12:37,111 --> 00:12:40,472
So when you post good news
up onto your social media site,

220
00:12:40,472 --> 00:12:44,103
the researchers have found
that those positive emotions

221
00:12:44,103 --> 00:12:48,951
spread through your networks
by up to three degrees of separation.

222
00:12:49,879 --> 00:12:53,223
What that means 
is if you share positive news,

223
00:12:53,223 --> 00:12:55,063
you're making your friend happy,

224
00:12:55,063 --> 00:12:57,313
you're making your friend's friend happy,

225
00:12:57,313 --> 00:13:01,502
and you're making
your friend's friend's friend happy.

226
00:13:02,412 --> 00:13:05,893
Your one simple act of sharing good news

227
00:13:05,893 --> 00:13:10,480
sets off a positive ripple effect
beyond what you could imagine.

228
00:13:11,583 --> 00:13:14,353
I'm not advocating for blind optimism,

229
00:13:14,353 --> 00:13:18,023
and I'm not saying 
we should ignore the world's problems,

230
00:13:18,023 --> 00:13:22,373
but what I am saying is we will have
a better understanding

231
00:13:22,373 --> 00:13:25,164
and a better perspective
of the world's problems

232
00:13:25,164 --> 00:13:28,909
if we also understand
the world's strengths.

233
00:13:28,909 --> 00:13:31,614
The media corporations
are not going to share with us

234
00:13:31,614 --> 00:13:32,974
the stories of our strengths

235
00:13:32,974 --> 00:13:35,928
because it's not
in their interest to do that;

236
00:13:35,928 --> 00:13:38,718
but we can share
those stories with each other.

237
00:13:39,343 --> 00:13:43,824
And when we do, we trigger hope,
we trigger the elevation effect,

238
00:13:43,824 --> 00:13:45,594
and we trigger happiness;

239
00:13:45,594 --> 00:13:47,325
this is science.

240
00:13:47,854 --> 00:13:52,104
So what I'm asking you to do
is to become a positive detective,

241
00:13:52,104 --> 00:13:54,713
to go out into the world
and commit yourself

242
00:13:54,713 --> 00:13:59,617
to finding at least one example
every day of moral excellence

243
00:13:59,617 --> 00:14:02,229
and share that example with others.

244
00:14:03,005 --> 00:14:06,899
And parents, please share
that example with your children.

245
00:14:07,496 --> 00:14:09,675
Our children need to grow up knowing

246
00:14:09,675 --> 00:14:13,469
that the vast majority of us
are good and decent.

247
00:14:13,956 --> 00:14:18,479
They need to grow up knowing
that they're part of a human-kind.

248
00:14:19,256 --> 00:14:21,239
And they need to grow up with hope.

249
00:14:21,986 --> 00:14:26,181
So my invitation to all of us
is to become a positive detective.

250
00:14:26,647 --> 00:14:29,867
But I also need to let you know
that with that invitation,

251
00:14:29,867 --> 00:14:32,216
I've also attached a warning label.

252
00:14:32,697 --> 00:14:35,217
And the label reads like this,

253
00:14:35,217 --> 00:14:39,989
"Warning, being positive
is not for the faint-hearted."

254
00:14:40,708 --> 00:14:44,137
My experience as a positive
psychology researcher?

255
00:14:44,918 --> 00:14:49,364
In that experience, I've been
on the receiving end of scorn,

256
00:14:49,364 --> 00:14:53,799
mockery, derision,
and outright aggression.

257
00:14:54,588 --> 00:14:57,463
There are people who have been
hostile towards me

258
00:14:57,463 --> 00:15:00,559
because I've chosen
a career as a positive psychologist.

259
00:15:01,058 --> 00:15:04,458
And to give you a recent an example,
I joined Twitter two months ago

260
00:15:04,458 --> 00:15:06,258
- finally got with the program -

261
00:15:06,258 --> 00:15:11,468
and in a space of two months
I have two trolls.

262
00:15:11,468 --> 00:15:12,929
(Laughter)

263
00:15:12,929 --> 00:15:15,218
- I know, what's up with that? -

264
00:15:15,218 --> 00:15:18,018
When I first told my colleagues

265
00:15:18,018 --> 00:15:21,688
that I was shifting my research focus
over to positive psychology,

266
00:15:21,688 --> 00:15:24,667
I had a number of my colleagues treat me

267
00:15:24,667 --> 00:15:29,317
as if I had also just automatically
dropped 20 IQ points.

268
00:15:30,509 --> 00:15:31,739
And it's weird

269
00:15:31,739 --> 00:15:34,599
because these were the researchers,
who, the year before,

270
00:15:34,599 --> 00:15:38,671
had awarded me a prize
for excellence in research.

271
00:15:39,565 --> 00:15:41,958
You know that t-shirt
that says, "I'm with stupid,"

272
00:15:41,958 --> 00:15:44,363
and it has an arrow
that points to someone else?

273
00:15:45,119 --> 00:15:48,259
I felt like when I was walking
into the faculty staff room,

274
00:15:48,259 --> 00:15:51,038
they were looking at me
as if I was wearing that t-shirt,

275
00:15:51,038 --> 00:15:54,208
it said "I'm with stupid,"
but the arrow was pointing at me.

276
00:15:55,229 --> 00:15:56,717
And here's the crazy thing:

277
00:15:57,209 --> 00:16:00,429
when I was studying stress
in the workplace,

278
00:16:00,429 --> 00:16:03,186
I was deemed to be a rigorous researcher.

279
00:16:03,981 --> 00:16:06,169
But when I shifted my focus across

280
00:16:06,169 --> 00:16:09,636
to study gratitude
and virtue in the workplace,

281
00:16:09,636 --> 00:16:12,840
I was classified
as an academic lightweight

282
00:16:13,849 --> 00:16:17,616
even though I was using
the same scientific methodologies

283
00:16:17,616 --> 00:16:20,258
and publishing in the same
high-quality journals.

284
00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:25,409
I was devalued because I chose
to focus on the positive.

285
00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:29,080
Now luckily for me, five years ago,

286
00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:32,648
I teamed up with professor Field Rickards
at the University of Melbourne,

287
00:16:32,648 --> 00:16:35,863
and he's transforming
education in Australia.

288
00:16:36,460 --> 00:16:38,921
He also understands the importance,

289
00:16:38,921 --> 00:16:42,603
and the meaning, and the value
of taking a positive approach.

290
00:16:43,082 --> 00:16:44,751
So, with his help,

291
00:16:44,751 --> 00:16:48,242
and with the help of some significant 
other people at the university,

292
00:16:48,242 --> 00:16:51,472
and outside of the university,
over the last five years,

293
00:16:51,472 --> 00:16:55,312
we've now been able to build a center
for positive psychology

294
00:16:55,312 --> 00:16:57,084
at the University of Melbourne.

295
00:16:57,443 --> 00:16:59,853
- Yes, yes! -

296
00:16:59,853 --> 00:17:01,725
(Applause)

297
00:17:03,115 --> 00:17:04,756
Thank you.

298
00:17:05,443 --> 00:17:07,154
So persistence pays off,

299
00:17:07,154 --> 00:17:09,756
but I want to bring us back
to this warning label.

300
00:17:10,094 --> 00:17:13,114
Being positive is not
for the faint-hearted,

301
00:17:13,114 --> 00:17:14,655
and it's hard to stay positive

302
00:17:14,655 --> 00:17:17,119
when there is so much
negative news around us.

303
00:17:17,726 --> 00:17:20,115
If you choose to take my advice,

304
00:17:20,115 --> 00:17:23,035
if you choose
to become a positive detective,

305
00:17:23,035 --> 00:17:25,804
if you choose to spread positive news,

306
00:17:26,184 --> 00:17:28,725
be prepared for a negative backlash.

307
00:17:29,975 --> 00:17:31,735
And I thought about this a lot,

308
00:17:31,735 --> 00:17:34,607
given my own experience
in the last ten years,

309
00:17:34,607 --> 00:17:36,653
and this is what I've come to understand.

310
00:17:37,436 --> 00:17:39,185
If you choose to be a person

311
00:17:39,185 --> 00:17:42,196
who shines light
on the good things in the world,

312
00:17:42,616 --> 00:17:46,717
you are actually acting
in a way that is counterculture,

313
00:17:47,148 --> 00:17:52,267
you are going against the dominant message
of fear and scarcity.

314
00:17:53,136 --> 00:17:55,457
And if you act
in a way that's counterculture,

315
00:17:55,457 --> 00:17:57,506
you will receive a backlash.

316
00:17:58,256 --> 00:18:00,316
But for me, I think
this is even more reason

317
00:18:00,316 --> 00:18:03,056
why we need to share positive news;

318
00:18:03,056 --> 00:18:06,096
because the more positive news we share,

319
00:18:06,096 --> 00:18:09,305
the less dominant
those negative messages become.

320
00:18:10,098 --> 00:18:14,197
And for me personally, I can tell you
that in the last ten years,

321
00:18:14,197 --> 00:18:16,816
every time I've been at the receiving end

322
00:18:16,816 --> 00:18:20,808
of scorn, mockery, derision, hostility,

323
00:18:20,808 --> 00:18:23,969
every time I've bounced back,
and I thought,

324
00:18:23,969 --> 00:18:28,450
"This is even more reason
why I need to keep doing what I'm doing."

325
00:18:29,449 --> 00:18:32,226
The other thing
that I've discovered, in closing,

326
00:18:32,660 --> 00:18:35,730
in reflecting on why I've received
this negative backlash

327
00:18:35,730 --> 00:18:37,999
- when in the first ten years
in my career,

328
00:18:37,999 --> 00:18:42,036
I was studying the negative phenomena,
and I never received any of this stuff -

329
00:18:42,039 --> 00:18:45,851
is that there are people out there
who genuinely believe

330
00:18:45,851 --> 00:18:50,261
that our negative qualities
are somehow more real

331
00:18:50,261 --> 00:18:52,980
and more important
than our positive qualities.

332
00:18:53,390 --> 00:18:58,543
I have to say to you,
I will never understand that mentality;

333
00:18:59,041 --> 00:19:03,572
because how can this version
of human nature

334
00:19:04,211 --> 00:19:07,873
be more real and more important

335
00:19:08,770 --> 00:19:11,404
then this version of human nature?

336
00:19:13,550 --> 00:19:15,871
My call to action is simple:

337
00:19:15,871 --> 00:19:19,901
if every single one of us commits
to being a positive detective,

338
00:19:19,901 --> 00:19:23,820
to sharing our own good news
and to spreading the good news of others,

339
00:19:23,820 --> 00:19:27,061
we set off hope,
we set off the elevation effect,

340
00:19:27,061 --> 00:19:28,600
and we set off happiness,

341
00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:31,559
and we really can make
a collective difference to the world.

342
00:19:32,305 --> 00:19:36,601
If we are truly committed
to the ideas worth spreading,

343
00:19:36,601 --> 00:19:38,935
we need to start spreading
a few of our own.

344
00:19:39,602 --> 00:19:40,775
Thank you.

345
00:19:40,775 --> 00:19:42,305
(Applause)