The TED Talk that we watched today was "Are We in Control of Our Decisions" by Dan Ariely. The main purpose of this talk was for us to analyze how we make decisions and what may influence why we choose what we do. The pattern that Ariely discovered was that the more complicated the decision becomes we try to find the easiest route possible. It happens to all of us in a multitude of situations.
In the TED Talk he started with a example about countries and their rates of organ donation. The key difference between the rates was the wording on the DMV forum. The forum that said check if you want to donate your organs lead to a lower rate of organ donations. This occurs because to most people what happens to us after we die is a nonissue so we don't think about it. On the flip side when the box said if not checked you are a organ donor most people left the box unchecked because they weren't going to go out of their way to make a decision. In other words, the wording of something as simple as a DMV forum influences a persons decision.
When we were talking about the TED Talk in our groups we immediately thought of how this applies to tragedies, especially Oedipus. We concluded that if Laius and Jocasta had never been told the prophecy they wouldn't have left Oedipus to die. He would have been raised with them and knew who is parents were. Oedipus killed Laius when his carriage was run off the road, completely unaware of that it was his father that did so. If Oedipus had known Laius was his father he would likely have been in the same carriage as Laius. As for Jocasta I think it is rather obvious how the story would have turned out differently.
In the TED Talk he started with a example about countries and their rates of organ donation. The key difference between the rates was the wording on the DMV forum. The forum that said check if you want to donate your organs lead to a lower rate of organ donations. This occurs because to most people what happens to us after we die is a nonissue so we don't think about it. On the flip side when the box said if not checked you are a organ donor most people left the box unchecked because they weren't going to go out of their way to make a decision. In other words, the wording of something as simple as a DMV forum influences a persons decision.
When we were talking about the TED Talk in our groups we immediately thought of how this applies to tragedies, especially Oedipus. We concluded that if Laius and Jocasta had never been told the prophecy they wouldn't have left Oedipus to die. He would have been raised with them and knew who is parents were. Oedipus killed Laius when his carriage was run off the road, completely unaware of that it was his father that did so. If Oedipus had known Laius was his father he would likely have been in the same carriage as Laius. As for Jocasta I think it is rather obvious how the story would have turned out differently.