Stream Your Event | Partners | Speakers CART ITEMS: - | CHECKOUT

The Drunkard's Walk: Leonard Mlodinow

Watch Full Video | free previews

Commonwealth Club of California

Commonwealth Club

Info
Bio
Chapters
Preview
Zoom In

Can Control Affect How Long You Live?

03 min 31 sec

Add to Profile

Best-selling author and physicist Leonard Mlodinow discusses past studies on the illusion of control in one's environment. Mlodinow presents studies that support the idea that "the need for control is subtle and it’s much deeper than your conscious thought processes."
How Expectations Bias Your Wine Selection

04 min 38 sec

Add to Profile

Best-selling author and physicist Leonard Mlodinow discusses the ways that the power of expectation applies to wine. Red dye can deceive even the most experienced connoisseur, and a false $10 price tag on a $90 bottle of wine can manipulate a test subject's reaction.
Watch Full Program

01 hr 06 min 26 sec

Add to Profile

There are 11 comments on this program

Please or register to post a comment.

Previous FORAtv comments:

Page 1 of 2

JADERSON

Posted: 05.08.10, 07:48 AM

I~ve read this book last year and purchased 25 to give as Christmas presents to my friends. This is one of the most oudstanding books I've ever read on the subject. As Mlodinow wrote, our human brain has not been developed in evolutionary terms to understand ehat chance might be. Mlodinow does explain in a very clear way probability concepts withou the common mathematics notations unfamiliar to those not coping with math concepts. Everyone should include it on his/her reading list. Jaderson Lima

Utsav

Posted: 02.12.10, 08:07 PM

ive actually read the book - he cited his source for that claim - its astonishing

JackieTalbott

Posted: 06.26.09, 01:23 PM

Yup, check out Gary Vaynerchuk at WineLibrary.tv

pokerandwine

Posted: 06.18.09, 01:52 PM

There's a possibility of confusing some light-bodied Chardonnays with French Beaujolais’ and even Californian light Pinot Noirs under the condition that red wines are served slightly chilled.

Nick +
FORA.tv Staff

Posted: 06.17.09, 10:22 AM

Physicist to screenwriter to game producer to bestselling author? Wow, what a bio this guy has! I've also got reservations about the white vs red tests, although I could see how the white / rose test could work. Might a fun theory to try out on some friends...

adambl

Posted: 06.16.09, 05:04 PM

This is actually how Napa wines got their good reputation. They were regarded as inferior until they beat French wines in a blind tasting. However, I agree with the general assessment that no way anybody would be confused about white v. red.

samtheman

Posted: 06.16.09, 12:30 PM

@Rdallas1 - I agree. White wine and red wine have very distinctive tastes. Red wine is usually a lot heavier and I doubt that food coloring would be able to deceive your taste buds. @pokerandwine - I once had a bad experience with really cheap wine and have been leaning towards $15-20 bottled wines. But I have been informed that there are really nice cheap bottled wine that goes down just as smooth as the more expensive ones. Unless you are a wine connoisseur and know what region/how long it has been aged/etc about the bottle, I am not sure if it is really worth getting a $50+ bottle of wine.

HerodotusWept

Posted: 06.15.09, 08:04 PM

And I bet a wine connoisseur has a lot of stock in making sure you believe that.

Rdallas1

Posted: 06.14.09, 08:40 PM

I agree with 8:30dreamer, I find it really hard to believe that a wine connoisseur would not be able to tell the difference of white vs. red when dyed. However, I agree with pokerandwine that price sometimes does not matter when the labels are off. My sister once entered a wine contest and brought her $5 Beringer white zin and actually won out of other more expensive wines. Many people prefer the taste of the affordable wines over the more expensive ones.