The hidden power of smiling - Ron Gutman

Summary

This inspiring speech explores the power of smiling, revealing how it's a natural human expression linked to happiness and longevity. Studies show smiles can predict life span and marriage success, with babies even smiling in the womb. Smiling's contagious nature and its ability to boost mood and health are highlighted, suggesting it's a superpower we're all born with.

Takeaways

• 🌟 The speaker's childhood dream was to become a superhero to save the world and make everyone happy.
• 🔍 In adulthood, the speaker turned to real science to find truth, starting with a UC Berkeley study on student photos and their future success.
• 🤔 The study found that the width of a student's smile in a photo could predict the success and fulfillment of their future marriage and life.
• 🏆 A Wayne State University study showed that the span of a baseball player's smile could predict their lifespan.
• 👶 We are born smiling, as evidenced by 3D ultrasound images of babies smiling in the womb.
• 🌍 Smiling is a universal human expression, even among isolated tribes like the Fore in Papua New Guinea.
• 👶🏻 Children smile as many as 400 times per day, which is more than most adults.
• 😊 Smiling is contagious and can suppress our usual facial muscle control, making it hard not to smile back.
• 🧬 Charles Darwin's facial feedback response theory suggests that smiling makes us feel good, not just a result of feeling good.
• 🍫 Smiling stimulates the brain's reward mechanism more than chocolate, according to British researchers.
• 💰 Smiling is as pleasurable as receiving a significant amount of money, and it can also reduce stress and improve health.

Q & A

What did the speaker initially believe was the source of superheroes' powers?

The speaker initially believed that superheroes' powers came from science fiction and intergalactic objects from Planet Krypton.

What did the UC Berkeley 30-year longitudinal study find about students' smiles?

The study found that the span of a student's smile in their yearbook photo could predict the success and wellbeing throughout their life, including the fulfillment and longevity of their marriage, their scores on standardized tests of well-being, and their inspiring nature to others.

What discovery was made from the Wayne State University research on baseball cards?

The research found that the span of a baseball player's smile in their pre-1950s card could predict the span of his life, with players who didn't smile living an average of 72.9 years and those with beaming smiles living an average of almost 80 years.

At what stage of development can babies be seen smiling?

Babies can be seen smiling even in the womb, as evidenced by 3D ultrasound technology.

What did the study by Paul Ekman in Papua New Guinea reveal about the universality of smiles?

The study revealed that even members of the Fore tribe, who were completely disconnected from Western culture and known for their unusual cannibalism rituals, attributed smiles to descriptions of situations the same way Westerners would.

How often do children smile on average per day?

Children smile as many as 400 times per day.

Why is it difficult to frown when looking at someone who smiles?

Smiling is evolutionarily contagious and it suppresses the control we usually have on our facial muscles, causing us to mimic the smile and experience it physically.

What did the mimicking study at the University of Clermont Ferrand in France show about our ability to judge smiles?

The study showed that our ability to judge whether a smile is real or fake is impaired when we cannot mimic the smile ourselves, such as when holding a pencil in our mouths to suppress smiling muscles.

What does Charles Darwin's facial feedback response theory suggest about the act of smiling?

Darwin's theory suggests that the act of smiling itself makes us feel better, rather than smiling being merely a result of feeling good.

How does smiling stimulate the brain according to the British researchers' study?

Smiling stimulates the brain's reward mechanism to a degree that even chocolate cannot match, with one smile generating the same level of brain stimulation as up to 2,000 bars of chocolate.

What are the health benefits of smiling mentioned in the script?

Smiling can help reduce stress by lowering cortisol levels, enhance mood by increasing endorphin levels, and reduce overall blood pressure.

How does smiling affect one's appearance and perception by others according to the Penn State University study?

Smiling makes a person appear more likable, courteous, and competent.

Outlines

00:00

😃 The Power of Smiling

The speaker begins by sharing their childhood dream of becoming a superhero and the realization that real superpowers come from within. They delve into the science of smiling, referencing a UC Berkeley study that correlated smiles in yearbook photos with future success and happiness. The speaker also mentions a Wayne State University study that found the span of a baseball player's smile could predict their lifespan. Smiling is a universal human expression, even present in babies and disconnected tribes like the Fore tribe in Papua New Guinea. The speaker highlights that smiling is contagious and can suppress our facial muscles, making it hard not to smile when others do. They also touch on Charles Darwin's facial feedback response theory, which suggests that the act of smiling can improve our mood.

05:01

😄 The Benefits of Smiling

This paragraph discusses the neurological and psychological benefits of smiling. The speaker references a study that shows smiling can stimulate the brain as much as eating chocolate or receiving a significant amount of money. Smiling is also linked to reduced stress hormones and increased mood-enhancing hormones, which can lead to better health. A Penn State University study is mentioned, indicating that smiling makes a person appear more likable, courteous, and competent. The speaker concludes by emphasizing the superpower of smiling, suggesting it can lead to a longer, healthier, and happier life.

Keywords

💡Superpowers

In the context of the video, 'superpowers' initially refers to the fantastic abilities attributed to superheroes, which the speaker aspired to have as a child. However, as the narrative progresses, the term is redefined to symbolize the positive impact of smiling, suggesting that the true superpower lies in the simple act of smiling, which can lead to a happier and healthier life.

💡Longitudinal study

A 'longitudinal study' is a type of research that observes subjects over a long period. In the video, this concept is used to describe a UC Berkeley study that analyzed yearbook photos to predict the success and well-being of students throughout their lives, highlighting the predictive power of a smile on life outcomes.

💡Well-being

Well-being refers to the state of being comfortable, healthy, and happy. The video emphasizes that smiling, as measured in the longitudinal study, is correlated with an individual's well-being, suggesting that the act of smiling can be a significant indicator of a person's overall life satisfaction and happiness.

💡3D ultrasound technology

This technology allows for the visualization of developing fetuses in the womb. The video uses this technology as evidence that even unborn babies appear to smile, indicating that the act of smiling is a natural and inherent human behavior from a very early stage of life.

💡Facial expression

Facial expressions are movements of the face that convey emotions. The video discusses how smiling is a universal facial expression of joy and satisfaction, using the research of Paul Ekman to show that even individuals from isolated tribes recognize and use smiles in the same way as those from more connected societies.

💡Contagious

In the video, 'contagious' is used to describe the tendency of smiles to spread from one person to another. It illustrates how seeing someone smile can trigger a similar response in observers, creating a positive feedback loop that enhances the collective mood.

💡Mimic

Mimicking, as discussed in the video, refers to the act of imitating another's behavior, such as smiling. The study mentioned in the script shows that when people are unable to mimic a smile (due to holding a pencil in their mouth), their ability to judge whether a smile is genuine is impaired, underscoring the importance of facial mimicry in emotional understanding.

💡Facial feedback response theory

This theory, proposed by Charles Darwin and discussed in the video, suggests that the act of smiling can actually make a person feel happier, rather than smiling being a mere consequence of happiness. The video uses this theory to argue that the physical act of smiling has a direct impact on our emotional state.

💡Botox

Botox is a substance used to temporarily paralyze muscles, often for cosmetic purposes. The video references a study where Botox was used to suppress smiling muscles, and the results showed that this suppression affected the brain's emotional processing, supporting the idea that facial expressions influence our emotions.

💡Brain stimulation

The video mentions that smiling can stimulate the brain's reward mechanism, providing a level of pleasure that surpasses even that of chocolate. This concept is used to emphasize the powerful effect that smiling can have on our mood and overall well-being.

💡Stress hormones

Stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline, are chemicals in the body that increase in response to stress. The video explains that smiling can help reduce the levels of these hormones, contributing to a decrease in overall stress levels and an improvement in health.

Highlights

Childhood dream of becoming a superhero and the realization that superpowers are not found in science fiction but in real science.

UC Berkeley longitudinal study that used student smiles to predict future success and well-being.

Barry Obama's smile in a yearbook was initially thought to be a 'superpower' but was later understood as a sign of happiness.

Wayne State University research found that the span of a baseball player's smile could predict their lifespan.

Babies are born smiling, as seen through 3D ultrasound technology.

Smiling is a universal human expression, even among isolated tribes like the Fore in Papua New Guinea.

Smiling is a common expression of joy and satisfaction across cultures.

More than a third of people smile more than 20 times a day, while less than 14% smile less than five times.

Children possess the 'superpower' of smiling up to 400 times a day.

Smiling is evolutionarily contagious and can suppress our facial muscles' control.

A study showed that mimicking a smile helps us understand whether it is genuine or fake.

Charles Darwin's facial feedback response theory suggests that smiling makes us feel better.

A study using fMRI imaging supports Darwin's theory by showing that smiling affects neural processing of emotions.

Smiling stimulates the brain's reward mechanism more than chocolate.

Smiling can be as stimulating as receiving a significant amount of money.

Smiling can reduce stress hormones and increase mood-enhancing hormones, leading to better health.

Smiling makes you appear more likable, courteous, and competent.

Encouragement to tap into the superpower of smiling for a longer, healthier, and happier life.

Transcripts

[Music]

[Applause]

when I was a child I always wanted to be

a superhero I wanted to save the world

and make everyone happy but I knew that

i' need superpowers to make my dreams

come true so I used to embark on these

imaginary Journeys to find Intergalactic

object from Planet Krypton which was a

lot of fun but didn't need much result

when I grew up and realized that science

fiction was not a good source for

superpowers I decided instead to embark

on a journey of real science to find a

more useful truth I started my journey

in California with a UC Berkeley 30-year

longitudinal study that examined the

photos of student in an old yearbook and

tried to measure their success and

wellbeing throughout their life but by

measuring the student Smiles researcher

were able to predict how fulfilling and

longlasting a subject marriage will

be how well she would score in

standardized tests of well-being and how

inspiring she would be to

others in another yearbook I stumbled

upon Barry Obama's picture when I first

saw his picture I thought that his

superpowers came from his super

color but now I know it was all in a

smile another aha moment came from a

2010 Wayne State University uh research

project that looked into pre-1950s

baseball cards of major league players

the researchers found that the span of a

player's smile could actually predict

the span of his life players who didn't

smile in their pictures lived an average

of only 72.9 years where players with

beaming Smiles lived an average of

almost 80

years the good news is that we're

actually born smiling using 3D

ultrasound technology we can now see

that developing babies appear to smile

even in the womb when they're born

babies continue to smile initially

mostly in their sleep and even blind

babies smile to the sound of the human

voice smiling is one of the most basic

biologically uniform expressions of all

humans in studies he conducted in Papa

new guini Paul emman the world most

renowned researcher on facial expression

found that even members of the fory

tribe who were completely disconnected

from Western culture and also known for

their unusual cannibalism

rituals attributed smile to descriptions

of situation the same way you and I

would so from Papa nug

guini to Hollywood all the way to Modern

Art in Beijing we smile often and use

smile to express joy and satis action

how many people here in this room smile

more than 20 times per day raise your

hand if you do oh wow outside of this

room more than a third of us smile more

than 20 times per day whereas less than

14% of us smile less than five in fact

those with the most amazing superpowers

are actually children who Smile as many

as 400 times per day have you ever

wondered why being around children who

smile SM so frequently make you smile

very

often a research study at oopsa

University in Sweden found that it's

very difficult to fra when looking at

someone who Smiles you ask why because

smiling is evolutionary contagious and

it suppresses the control we usually

have on our facial muscles mimicking a

smile and experiencing it physically

help us understand whether a smile is

fake or real so we can understand the

emotional state of The Smiler in a

recent mimicking study at the University

of claron Fon in France subject were

asked to determine whether a smile was

real or fake while holding a pencil in

their mouth to repress smiling muscles

without the pencil subjects were

excellent judges but with the pencil in

their mouth when they could not mimic

the smile they saw their judgment was

impaired in addition to theorizing on

evolution in the Origin of Species

Charles Darwin also wrote the facial

feedback response Theory his theory

states that the act of smiling itself

actually makes us feel better rather

than smiling being merely a result of

feeling good uh in his study Darwin

actually cited the French neurologist

Julian duam who used electric jolts to

facial muscles to induce and stimulate

Smiles please don't try this at

home in a related jour study researchers

used fmri Imaging to measure brain

activity before and after injecting

Botox to suppress smiling muscles the

finding supported Darwin's theory but by

showing that facial feedback modifies

the neural processing of emotional

content in the brain in a way that helps

us feel better when we

smile smiling stimulates our brain

reward mechanism in a way that even

Chocolat a well regarded pleasure

inducer cannot match British researchers

found that one smile can generate the

same level of brain stimulation as up to

2,000 bars of

chocolate wait the same study found the

smiling is as stimulating as receiving

up to 16,000 Sterling in

cash that's like 25 Grand of smile it's

not

bad and think about it this way 25,000 *

4 400 quite a few kids out there feel

like Mark Zuckerberg every

day and unlike lots of chocolate lots of

smiling can actually make you healthier

smiling can help reduce the level of

stress enhancing hormones like cortisol

adrenaline and dopamine increase the

level of mood enhancing hormones like

endorphin and reduce overall blood

pressure and if that's not enough

smiling can actually make you look good

in the eyes of others a research study

at Penn State University found that when

you smile you don't only appear to be

more likable and courteous but you're

actually appear to be more

competent so whenever you want to look

great and competent reduce your stress

or improve your marriage or feel as if

you just had a whole stack of high

quality chocolate without incurring the

caloric cost or as if you found 25 Grand

in a pocket of an old jacket you hadn't

worn for ages or whenever you want to

tap into a superpower that will help you

and everyone around you live a longer

healthier happier life

[Applause]

[Music]

smile