How risk-taking changes a teenager's brain | Kashfia Rahman

TED Talks Daily

TED

Creativity, Ted Podcast, Ted Talks Daily, Business, Design, Inspiration, Society & Culture, Science, Technology, Education, Tech Demo, Ted Talks, Ted, Entertainment, Tedtalks

4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 11 April 2019

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Why do teenagers sometimes make outrageous, risky choices? Do they suddenly become reckless, or are they just going through a natural phase? To find out, Kashfia Rahman -- winner of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (and a Harvard freshman) -- designed and conducted an experiment to test how high school students respond to and get used to risk, and how it changes their still-developing brains. What she discovered about risk and decision-making could change how we think about why teens do what they do.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	How will humans and machines work together in the future?
0:04.7	We spend so much time discussing how the world's changing.
0:08.3	It would be absolutely absurd to believe the role of the CEO is not.
0:12.6	This is Imagine This, a podcast from BCG that helps CEOs consider possible futures for our world and their businesses.
0:21.6	Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
0:28.3	This TED Talk features psychology researcher Kashviyah Raman, recorded live at TED Salon,
0:35.8	Imagine If 2019.
0:39.7	Have you ever tried to understand a teenager?
0:44.0	It's exhausting, right?
0:46.3	You must be puzzled by the fact that some teens do well in school,
0:51.0	lead clubs and teams and volunteer in their communities, but they eat tidepods for an
0:57.3	online challenge, speed and text while driving, binge drink, and experiment with illicit drugs.
1:05.6	How can so many teens be so smart, skilled, and responsible, and careless risk-takers at the same time?
1:13.6	When I was 16, while frequently observing my peers in person as well as on social media,
1:20.6	I began to wonder why so many teens took such crazy risks.
1:25.6	It seems like getting a certificate from DARE class in the fifth grade
1:29.5	can't stop them. What was even more alarming to me was that the more they exposed themselves to
1:36.0	these harmful risks, the easier it became for them to continue taking risks. Now this confused me,
1:43.9	but it also made me incredibly curious.
1:47.6	So, as someone with a name that literally means to explore knowledge, I started searching
1:53.0	for a scientific explanation.
1:55.7	Now, it's no secret that teens ages 13 to 18 are more prone to risk-taking than children or adults.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from TED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of TED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.