Why some people find exercise harder than others
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0:01 - 0:03Vision is the most important
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0:03 - 0:06and prioritized sense that we have.
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0:06 - 0:07We are constantly looking
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0:07 - 0:09at the world around us,
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0:09 - 0:11and quickly we identify and make sense
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0:11 - 0:14of what it is that we see.
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0:14 - 0:16Let's just start with an example
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0:16 - 0:17of that very fact.
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0:17 - 0:19I'm going to show you
a photograph of a person, -
0:19 - 0:21just for a second or two,
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0:21 - 0:23and I'd like for you to identify
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0:23 - 0:25what emotion is on his face.
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0:25 - 0:26Ready?
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0:26 - 0:29Here you go. Go with your gut reaction.
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0:29 - 0:31Okay. What did you see?
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0:31 - 0:33Well, we actually surveyed
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0:33 - 0:36over 120 individuals,
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0:36 - 0:37and the results were mixed.
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0:37 - 0:40People did not agree
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0:40 - 0:43on what emotion they saw on his face.
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0:43 - 0:44Maybe you saw discomfort.
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0:44 - 0:46That was the most frequent response
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0:46 - 0:48that we received.
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0:48 - 0:50But if you asked the person on your left,
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0:50 - 0:52they might have said regret or skepticism,
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0:52 - 0:54and if you asked somebody on your right,
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0:54 - 0:57they might have said
something entirely different, -
0:57 - 1:00like hope or empathy.
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1:00 - 1:02So we are all looking
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1:02 - 1:05at the very same face again.
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1:05 - 1:06We might see something
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1:06 - 1:09entirely different,
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1:09 - 1:12because perception is subjective.
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1:12 - 1:14What we think we see
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1:14 - 1:15is actually filtered
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1:15 - 1:18through our own mind's eye.
-
1:18 - 1:20Of course, there are many other examples
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1:20 - 1:22of how we see the world
through own mind's eye. -
1:22 - 1:24I'm going to give you just a few.
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1:24 - 1:27So dieters, for instance,
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1:27 - 1:29see apples as larger
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1:29 - 1:32than people who are not counting calories.
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1:32 - 1:35Softball players see the ball as smaller
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1:35 - 1:38if they've just come out of a slump,
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1:38 - 1:41compared to people who
had a hot night at the plate. -
1:41 - 1:44And actually, our political beliefs also
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1:44 - 1:46can affect the way we see other people,
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1:46 - 1:49including politicians.
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1:49 - 1:52So my research team and I
decided to test this question. -
1:52 - 1:56In 2008, Barack Obama
was running for president -
1:56 - 1:57for the very first time,
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1:57 - 2:00and we surveyed hundreds of Americans
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2:00 - 2:02one month before the election.
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2:02 - 2:04What we found in this survey
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2:04 - 2:06was that some people, some Americans,
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2:06 - 2:08think photographs like these
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2:08 - 2:11best reflect how Obama really looks.
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2:11 - 2:14Of these people, 75 percent
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2:14 - 2:17voted for Obama in the actual election.
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2:17 - 2:20Other people, though,
thought photographs like these -
2:20 - 2:22best reflect how Obama really looks.
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2:22 - 2:2489 percent of these people
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2:24 - 2:26voted for McCain.
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2:26 - 2:29We presented many photographs of Obama
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2:29 - 2:31one at a time,
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2:31 - 2:34so people did not realize
that what we were changing -
2:34 - 2:36from one photograph to the next
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2:36 - 2:38was whether we had artificially lightened
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2:38 - 2:40or darkened his skin tone.
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2:40 - 2:42So how is that possible?
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2:42 - 2:45How could it be that
when I look at a person, -
2:45 - 2:46an object, or an event,
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2:46 - 2:48I see something very different
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2:48 - 2:50than somebody else does?
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2:50 - 2:53Well, the reasons are many,
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2:53 - 2:55but one reason requires that we understand
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2:55 - 2:57a little bit more about how our eyes work.
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2:57 - 2:59So vision scientists know
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2:59 - 3:01that the amount of information
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3:01 - 3:03that we can see
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3:03 - 3:05at any given point in time,
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3:05 - 3:07what we can focus on,
is actually relatively small. -
3:07 - 3:10What we can see with great sharpness
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3:10 - 3:12and clarity and accuracy
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3:12 - 3:14is the equivalent
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3:14 - 3:16of the surface area of our thumb
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3:16 - 3:19on our outstretched arm.
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3:19 - 3:21Everything else around that is blurry,
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3:21 - 3:23rendering much of what is presented
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3:23 - 3:26to our eyes as ambiguous.
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3:26 - 3:28But we have to clarify
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3:28 - 3:30and make sense of what it is that we see,
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3:30 - 3:34and it's our mind that
helps us fill in that gap. -
3:34 - 3:37As a result, perception
is a subjective experience, -
3:37 - 3:39and that's how we end up seeing
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3:39 - 3:41through our own mind's eye.
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3:41 - 3:43So, I'm a social psychologist,
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3:43 - 3:44and it's questions like these
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3:44 - 3:46that really intrigue me.
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3:46 - 3:48I am fascinated by those times
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3:48 - 3:50when people do not see eye to eye.
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3:50 - 3:52Why is it that somebody might
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3:52 - 3:55literally see the glass as half full,
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3:55 - 3:56and somebody literally sees it
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3:56 - 3:57as half empty?
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3:57 - 4:01What is it about what one person
is thinking and feeling -
4:01 - 4:02that leads them to see the world
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4:02 - 4:04in an entirely different way?
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4:04 - 4:07And does that even matter?
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4:07 - 4:10So to begin to tackle these questions,
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4:10 - 4:13my research team and I
decided to delve deeply -
4:13 - 4:14into an issue that has received
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4:14 - 4:16international attention:
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4:16 - 4:18our health and fitness.
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4:18 - 4:19Across the world,
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4:19 - 4:22people are struggling
to manage their weight, -
4:22 - 4:24and there is a variety of strategies
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4:24 - 4:27that we have to help us
keep the pounds off. -
4:27 - 4:31For instance, we set
the best of intentions -
4:31 - 4:33to exercise after the holidays,
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4:33 - 4:36but actually, the majority of Americans
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4:36 - 4:38find that their New Year's resolutions
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4:38 - 4:41are broken by Valentine's Day.
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4:41 - 4:42We talk to ourselves
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4:42 - 4:44in very encouraging ways,
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4:44 - 4:46telling ourselves this is our year
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4:46 - 4:48to get back into shape,
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4:48 - 4:50but that is not enough to bring us back
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4:50 - 4:51to our ideal weight.
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4:51 - 4:53So why?
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4:53 - 4:55Of course, there is no simple answer,
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4:55 - 4:58but one reason, I argue,
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4:58 - 5:00is that our mind's eye
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5:00 - 5:01might work against us.
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5:01 - 5:04Some people may literally see exercise
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5:04 - 5:06as more difficult,
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5:06 - 5:08and some people might literally
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5:08 - 5:10see exercise as easier.
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5:10 - 5:14So, as a first step
to testing these questions, -
5:14 - 5:16we gathered objective measurements
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5:16 - 5:19of individuals' physical fitness.
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5:19 - 5:21We measured the
circumference of their waist, -
5:21 - 5:25compared to the
circumference of their hips. -
5:25 - 5:26A higher waist-to-hip ratio
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5:26 - 5:28is an indicator of being
less physically fit -
5:28 - 5:30than a lower waist-to-hip ratio.
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5:30 - 5:33After gathering these measurements,
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5:33 - 5:34we told our participants that
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5:34 - 5:36they would walk to a finish line
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5:36 - 5:38while carrying extra weight
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5:38 - 5:39in a sort of race.
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5:39 - 5:41But before they did that,
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5:41 - 5:43we asked them to estimate the distance
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5:43 - 5:45to the finish line.
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5:45 - 5:47We thought that the physical
states of their body -
5:47 - 5:51might change how
they perceived the distance. -
5:51 - 5:53So what did we find?
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5:53 - 5:55Well, waist-to-hip ratio
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5:55 - 5:58predicted perceptions of distance.
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5:58 - 6:01People who were out of shape and unfit
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6:01 - 6:03actually saw the distance
to the finish line -
6:03 - 6:04as significantly greater
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6:04 - 6:06than people who were in better shape.
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6:06 - 6:08People's states of their own body
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6:08 - 6:11changed how they
perceived the environment. -
6:11 - 6:13But so too can our mind.
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6:13 - 6:15In fact, our bodies and our minds
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6:15 - 6:17work in tandem
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6:17 - 6:20to change how we see the world around us.
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6:20 - 6:22That led us to think that maybe people
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6:22 - 6:23with strong motivations
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6:23 - 6:25and strong goals to exercise
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6:25 - 6:28might actually see
the finish line as closer -
6:28 - 6:32than people who have weaker motivations.
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6:32 - 6:34So to test whether motivations
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6:34 - 6:38affect our perceptual
experiences in this way, -
6:38 - 6:40we conducted a second study.
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6:40 - 6:42Again, we gathered objective measurements
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6:42 - 6:44of people's physical fitness,
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6:44 - 6:46measuring the circumference of their waist
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6:46 - 6:48and the circumference of their hips,
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6:48 - 6:52and we had them do a
few other tests of fitness. -
6:52 - 6:54Based on feedback that we gave them,
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6:54 - 6:56some of our participants told us
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6:56 - 6:58they're not motivated
to exercise any more. -
6:58 - 7:00They felt like they already
met their fitness goals -
7:00 - 7:02and they weren't going
to do anything else. -
7:02 - 7:04These people were not motivated.
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7:04 - 7:06Other people, though,
based on our feedback, -
7:06 - 7:09told us they were highly
motivated to exercise. -
7:09 - 7:11They had a strong goal
to make it to the finish line. -
7:11 - 7:14But again, before we had them
walk to the finish line, -
7:14 - 7:16we had them estimate the distance.
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7:16 - 7:18How far away was the finish line?
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7:18 - 7:20And again, like the previous study,
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7:20 - 7:22we found that waist-to-hip ratio
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7:22 - 7:24predicted perceptions of distance.
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7:24 - 7:29Unfit individuals saw
the distance as farther, -
7:29 - 7:31saw the finish line as farther away,
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7:31 - 7:33than people who were in better shape.
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7:33 - 7:35Importantly, though, this only happened
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7:35 - 7:37for people who were not motivated
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7:37 - 7:38to exercise.
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7:38 - 7:40On the other hand,
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7:40 - 7:43people who were highly
motivated to exercise -
7:43 - 7:45saw the distance as short.
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7:45 - 7:47Even the most out of shape individuals
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7:47 - 7:49saw the finish line
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7:49 - 7:50as just as close,
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7:50 - 7:52if not slightly closer,
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7:52 - 7:55than people who were in better shape.
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7:55 - 7:57So our bodies can change
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7:57 - 7:59how far away that finish line looks,
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7:59 - 8:03but people who had committed
to a manageable goal -
8:03 - 8:05that they could accomplish
in the near future -
8:05 - 8:07and who believed that they were capable
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8:07 - 8:09of meeting that goal
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8:09 - 8:12actually saw the exercise as easier.
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8:12 - 8:14That led us to wonder,
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8:14 - 8:17is there a strategy that we could use
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8:17 - 8:19and teach people that would help
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8:19 - 8:21change their perceptions of the distance,
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8:21 - 8:24help them make exercise look easier?
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8:24 - 8:26So we turned to
the vision science literature -
8:26 - 8:28to figure out what should we do,
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8:28 - 8:31and based on what we read,
we came up with a strategy -
8:31 - 8:34that we called, "Keep
your eyes on the prize." -
8:34 - 8:36So this is not the slogan
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8:36 - 8:38from an inspirational poster.
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8:38 - 8:40It's an actual directive
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8:40 - 8:43for how to look around your environment.
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8:43 - 8:45People that we trained in this strategy,
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8:45 - 8:49we told them to focus
their attention on the finish line, -
8:49 - 8:51to avoid looking around,
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8:51 - 8:52to imagine a spotlight
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8:52 - 8:54was shining on that goal,
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8:54 - 8:56and that everything around it was blurry
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8:56 - 8:58and perhaps difficult to see.
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8:58 - 9:00We thought that this strategy
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9:00 - 9:03would help make the exercise look easier.
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9:03 - 9:04We compared this group
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9:04 - 9:06to a baseline group.
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9:06 - 9:07To this group we said,
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9:07 - 9:09just look around the environment
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9:09 - 9:10as you naturally would.
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9:10 - 9:12You will notice the finish line,
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9:12 - 9:13but you might also notice
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9:13 - 9:15the garbage can off to the right,
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9:15 - 9:18or the people and the
lamp post off to the left. -
9:18 - 9:20We thought that people
who used this strategy -
9:20 - 9:22would see the distance as farther.
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9:22 - 9:25So what did we find?
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9:25 - 9:27When we had them estimate the distance,
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9:27 - 9:29was this strategy successful
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9:29 - 9:31for changing their perceptual experience?
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9:31 - 9:32Yes.
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9:32 - 9:34People who kept their eyes on the prize
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9:34 - 9:37saw the finish line as 30 percent closer
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9:37 - 9:39than people who looked around
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9:39 - 9:40as they naturally would.
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9:40 - 9:42We thought this was great.
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9:42 - 9:44We were really excited because it meant
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9:44 - 9:45that this strategy helped make
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9:45 - 9:47the exercise look easier,
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9:47 - 9:49but the big question was,
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9:49 - 9:51could this help make exercise
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9:51 - 9:52actually better?
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9:52 - 9:54Could it improve the quality
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9:54 - 9:56of exercise as well?
-
9:56 - 9:58So next, we told our participants,
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9:58 - 10:00you are going to walk to the finish line
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10:00 - 10:02while wearing extra weight.
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10:02 - 10:04We added weights to their ankles
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10:04 - 10:07that amounted to 15 percent
of their body weight. -
10:07 - 10:09We told them to lift their knees up high
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10:09 - 10:11and walk to the finish line quickly.
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10:11 - 10:13We designed this exercise in particular
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10:13 - 10:15to be moderately challenging
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10:15 - 10:17but not impossible,
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10:17 - 10:18like most exercises
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10:18 - 10:21that actually improve our fitness.
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10:21 - 10:23So the big question, then:
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10:23 - 10:25Did keeping your eyes on the prize
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10:25 - 10:28and narrowly focusing on the finish line
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10:28 - 10:31change their experience of the exercise?
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10:31 - 10:32It did.
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10:32 - 10:34People who kept their eyes on the prize
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10:34 - 10:36told us afterward that it required
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10:36 - 10:3817 percent less exertion
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10:38 - 10:40for them to do this exercise
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10:40 - 10:43than people who looked around naturally.
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10:43 - 10:45It changed their subjective experience
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10:45 - 10:47of the exercise.
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10:47 - 10:50It also changed the objective nature
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10:50 - 10:51of their exercise.
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10:51 - 10:54People who kept their eyes on the prize
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10:54 - 10:56actually moved 23 percent faster
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10:56 - 11:00than people who looked around naturally.
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11:00 - 11:01To put that in perspective,
-
11:01 - 11:03a 23 percent increase
-
11:03 - 11:07is like trading in your
1980 Chevy Citation -
11:07 - 11:12for a 1980 Chevrolet Corvette.
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11:12 - 11:14We were so excited by this,
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11:14 - 11:16because this meant that a strategy
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11:16 - 11:18that costs nothing,
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11:18 - 11:20that is easy for people to use,
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11:20 - 11:22regardless of whether they're in shape
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11:22 - 11:24or struggling to get there,
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11:24 - 11:25had a big effect.
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11:25 - 11:27Keeping your eyes on the prize
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11:27 - 11:30made the exercise look and feel easier
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11:30 - 11:32even when people were working harder
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11:32 - 11:34because they were moving faster.
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11:34 - 11:37Now, I know there's more to good health
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11:37 - 11:39than walking a little bit faster,
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11:39 - 11:41but keeping your eyes on the prize
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11:41 - 11:43might be one additional strategy
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11:43 - 11:45that you can use to help promote
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11:45 - 11:47a healthy lifestyle.
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11:47 - 11:49If you're not convinced yet
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11:49 - 11:52that we all see the world
through our own mind's eye, -
11:52 - 11:54let me leave you with one final example.
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11:54 - 11:57Here's a photograph of a beautiful
street in Stockholm, with two cars. -
11:57 - 11:59The car in the back looks much larger
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11:59 - 12:01than the car in the front.
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12:01 - 12:02However, in reality,
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12:02 - 12:05these cars are the same size,
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12:05 - 12:08but that's not how we see it.
-
12:08 - 12:10So does this mean that
-
12:10 - 12:11our eyes have gone haywire
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12:11 - 12:14and that our brains are a mess?
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12:14 - 12:17No, it doesn't mean that at all.
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12:17 - 12:19It's just how our eyes work.
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12:19 - 12:21We might see the world in a different way,
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12:21 - 12:23and sometimes that might not
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12:23 - 12:25line up with reality,
-
12:25 - 12:27but it doesn't mean
that one of us is right -
12:27 - 12:29and one of us is wrong.
-
12:29 - 12:31We all see the world
through our mind's eye, -
12:31 - 12:34but we can teach ourselves
to see it differently. -
12:34 - 12:36So I can think of days
-
12:36 - 12:38that have gone horribly wrong for me.
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12:38 - 12:41I'm fed up, I'm grumpy, I'm tired,
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12:41 - 12:42and I'm so behind,
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12:42 - 12:45and there's a big black cloud
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12:45 - 12:46hanging over my head,
-
12:46 - 12:47and on days like these,
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12:47 - 12:49it looks like everyone around me
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12:49 - 12:51is down in the dumps too.
-
12:51 - 12:53My colleague at work looks annoyed
-
12:53 - 12:56when I ask for an extension on a deadline,
-
12:56 - 12:58and my friend looks frustrated
-
12:58 - 13:01when I show up late for lunch
because a meeting ran long, -
13:01 - 13:02and at the end of the day,
-
13:02 - 13:04my husband looks disappointed
-
13:04 - 13:07because I'd rather go to
bed than go to the movies. -
13:07 - 13:10And on days like these,
when everybody looks -
13:10 - 13:12upset and angry to me,
-
13:12 - 13:15I try to remind myself that there
are other ways of seeing them. -
13:15 - 13:18Perhaps my colleague was confused,
-
13:18 - 13:21perhaps my friend was concerned,
-
13:21 - 13:24and perhaps my husband was
feeling empathy instead. -
13:24 - 13:26So we all see the world
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13:26 - 13:28through our own mind's eye,
-
13:28 - 13:30and on some days, it might look
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13:30 - 13:31like the world is a dangerous
-
13:31 - 13:34and challenging and insurmountable place,
-
13:34 - 13:37but it doesn't have to look
that way all the time. -
13:37 - 13:39We can teach ourselves
to see it differently, -
13:39 - 13:41and when we find a way to make the world
-
13:41 - 13:43look nicer and easier,
-
13:43 - 13:46it might actually become so.
-
13:46 - 13:47Thank you.
-
13:47 - 13:51(Applause)
- Title:
- Why some people find exercise harder than others
- Speaker:
- Emily Balcetis
- Description:
-
Why do some people struggle more than others to keep off the pounds? Social psychologist Emily Balcetis shows research that addresses one of the many factors: Vision. In an informative talk, she shows how when it comes to fitness, some people quite literally see the world differently from others — and offers a surprisingly simple solution to overcome these differences.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 14:08
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Why some people find exercise harder than others | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Why some people find exercise harder than others | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Why some people find exercise harder than others | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Why some people find exercise harder than others | ||
Morton Bast approved English subtitles for Why some people find exercise harder than others | ||
Madeleine Aronson accepted English subtitles for Why some people find exercise harder than others | ||
Madeleine Aronson edited English subtitles for Why some people find exercise harder than others | ||
Madeleine Aronson edited English subtitles for Why some people find exercise harder than others |