How do you know you exist?

But, really. How do you know you’re real?

In his ‘Meditations on First Philosophy’, René Descartes tried to answer that very question, demolishing all of his preconceived notions and opinions to begin again from the foundations.

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Sure, you have your senses. But your senses often deceive you. Maybe the body you perceive yourself to have isn’t really there. Maybe all of reality, even its abstract concepts like time, shape, color, and numbers are false.

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And, who’s to say you’re not dreaming? When you’re awake, you know you’re awake. But, when you’re not, do you know you’re not? How do we know that this right here is not a dream? What if you’ve been tricked into believing that reality is real? The world, your perceptions of it, your very body - you can’t disprove that they’re all just made up. And how could you exist without them? You couldn’t, so - you don’t.

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Life is but a dream, and I bet you aren’t row-row-rowing the boat merrily at all. You’re rowing it wearily. Like the duped, non-existent doof you are/aren’t. 

Don’t buy it? Good. Have you been persuaded? Even better. Because by being persuaded, you would prove that you are a persuaded being. You can’t be nothing if you think you’re something, even if that something…is nothing. Because no matter what you think, you’re a thinking thing.

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Or, as Descartes put it, “I think, therefore I am.”

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And so are you. Really.

From the TED-Ed Lesson How do you know you exist? - James Zucker

Animation by Stretch Films, Inc.

It’s obvious that knowing more than one language can make certain things easier — like traveling or watching movies without subtitles. But there are other advantages to having a bilingual brain. While bilingualism won’t necessarily make you smarter, it does make your brain more healthy, complex and actively engaged. So even if you didn’t have the good fortune of learning a second language as a child, it’s never too late to make a linguistic leap! After all, a little brain exercise can go a long way.Which language will you learn this summer?From the TED-Ed Lesson The benefits of a bilingual brain - Mia NacamulliAnimation by TED-Ed

It’s obvious that knowing more than one language can make certain things easier — like traveling or watching movies without subtitles. But there are other advantages to having a bilingual brain. While bilingualism won’t necessarily make you smarter, it does make your brain more healthy, complex and actively engaged. So even if you didn’t have the good fortune of learning a second language as a child, it’s never too late to make a linguistic leap! After all, a little brain exercise can go a long way.

Which language will you learn this summer?

From the TED-Ed Lesson The benefits of a bilingual brain - Mia Nacamulli

Animation by TED-Ed

A common way of sitting is with a curved back, which puts uneven pressure on your spine. Over time, this causes wear and tear in your spinal discs, overworks certain ligaments and joints, and puts strain on muscles that stretch to accommodate your backs’ curved position.

This hunched shape also shrinks your chest cavity while you sit, meaning your lungs have less space to expand into when you breathe. That’s a problem, because it temporarily limits the amount of oxygen that fills your lungs.

Being stationary actually reduces blood flow and the amount of oxygen entering your bloodstream through your lungs. Your brain requires both of those things to remain alert, which means that staying seated all day doesn’t make for better concentration.

So, what can you do? Sitting up straight is a big help, and aim to move around much more - once a half hour, even! Maybe…you should get up and take a walk, right now!

For more reasons to stand up, watch the TED-Ed Lesson Why sitting is bad for you - Murat Dalkilinç

Animation by Oxbow Creative

Sitting for brief periods can help us recover from stress or recuperate from exercise, but nowadays, our lifestyles make us sit much more than we move around. But our bodies are not built for such a sedentary existence.The human body is built to move and you can see evidence of that in the way that it’s structured. Inside of us there are over 360 joints and about 700 skeletal muscles that enable easy, fluid motion. The body’s unique physical structure gives us the ability to stand up straight against the pull of gravity. Our blood depends on us moving around to be able to circulate properly. Our nerve cells benefit from movement and our skin is elastic, which means it molds to our motions.So if every inch of our body is ready and waiting to move, what happens when we just…sit around?For more reasons to stand up, watch the TED-Ed Lesson Why sitting is bad for you - Murat DalkilinçAnimation by Oxbow Creative

Sitting for brief periods can help us recover from stress or recuperate from exercise, but nowadays, our lifestyles make us sit much more than we move around. But our bodies are not built for such a sedentary existence.

The human body is built to move and you can see evidence of that in the way that it’s structured. Inside of us there are over 360 joints and about 700 skeletal muscles that enable easy, fluid motion. The body’s unique physical structure gives us the ability to stand up straight against the pull of gravity. Our blood depends on us moving around to be able to circulate properly. Our nerve cells benefit from movement and our skin is elastic, which means it molds to our motions.

So if every inch of our body is ready and waiting to move, what happens when we just…sit around?

For more reasons to stand up, watch the TED-Ed Lesson Why sitting is bad for you - Murat Dalkilinç

Animation by Oxbow Creative

“There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away…” -Emily DickinsonNeed some summer reading ideas? Check out some inspiring recommendations from students: TED-Ed’s Summer Reading List: 31 great books for students, chosen by students and from educators: 20 books to read in 2015: TED-Ed Educators share their top 5 must-reads.Happy page turning!From the TED-Ed Lesson How fiction can change reality - Jessica WiseAnimation by Augenblick Studios

“There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away…” -Emily Dickinson

Need some summer reading ideas? Check out some inspiring recommendations from students: TED-Ed’s Summer Reading List: 31 great books for students, chosen by students and from educators: 20 books to read in 2015: TED-Ed Educators share their top 5 must-reads.

Happy page turning!

From the TED-Ed Lesson How fiction can change reality - Jessica Wise

Animation by Augenblick Studios

Tattoos have often been presented in popular media as either marks of the dangerous and deviant or trendy youth fads. But while tattoo styles come and go, and their meaning has differed greatly across cultures, the practice is as old as civilization itself. Decorative skin markings have been discovered in human remains all over the world, with the oldest found on a Peruvian mummy dating back to 6,000 BCE.From the TED-Ed Lesson What makes tattoos permanent? - Claudia AguirreAnimation by TOGETHER

Tattoos have often been presented in popular media as either marks of the dangerous and deviant or trendy youth fads. But while tattoo styles come and go, and their meaning has differed greatly across cultures, the practice is as old as civilization itself. Decorative skin markings have been discovered in human remains all over the world, with the oldest found on a Peruvian mummy dating back to 6,000 BCE.

From the TED-Ed Lesson What makes tattoos permanent? - Claudia Aguirre

Animation by TOGETHER

fMRI studies have found that the brains of those with dyslexia rely more on the right hemisphere and frontal lobe than the brains of those without it. This means, when they read a word, it takes a longer trip through their brain and can get delayed in the frontal lobe. Because of this neurobiological glitch, they read with more difficulty.

But those with dyslexia can physically change their brain and improve their reading with an intensive, multi-sensory intervention that breaks the language down and teaches the reader to decode based on syllable types and spelling rules. The brains of those with dyslexia begin using the left hemisphere more efficiently while reading, and their reading improves.

Learn more about dyslexia by watching the TED-Ed Lesson What is dyslexia? - Kelli Sandman-Hurley

Animation by Marc Cristoforidis