Translator: Chen Kevin Reviewer: Cristina Bufi-Pöcksteiner
OK. Hi.
(Audience) Hi!
So, before I start my little talk with you guys today,
I want to ask you a little question.
How many times do you smile every day?
Once? Twice? Twice everyone? More? More than twice?
Oh, yeah!
We smile every day. We smile when our dog licks us in the face.
We smile when we see a surprise birthday present.
Sometimes, a smile can be even as simple
as hearing the rain tapping clickety-click on your doorstep,
or maybe completing a new X-box challenge.
A lot of sorts of emotions could generate a smile.
But what is a smile?
Why should we smile more? And how do we smile?
Today, I'm going to answer these questions.
So the science behind the smile.
First of all,
I would like to talk about its definition.
Anyone of you knows what a smile is?
What a definition of a smile is?
A smile is the peak of emotions, it is the highest emotional content.
It is like the extreme sensation of joy and of happiness.
Well, I guess I'm extreme all the time then.
Well, I mean, yeah, I smile a lot.
Well, this peak of emotion,
But now that we've known the definition of a smile,
what does our brain do when we smile?
First of all, let's take an example.
For example, you've met a friend on the street
and you haven't met for a long time, and you're like,
"Hey! OMG! Such a long time since I met you. I missed you so much!"
And that time, the neuronal signals are going to travel
to the sensory cortex of your brain.
From there, it is going to be carried down to your brainstem,
which is the oldest part of your brain.
From there, the cranium muscle is going to carry these neuronal signals
even further down towards your smiling muscles,
generating a smile.
Sounds simple enough, right?
Well, as simple as it may sound,
a smile is a very instantaneous process.
After the contraction of our mouth muscle,
it is going to send a feedback loop back to our brain,
signalling that we are feeling good enhancing our sensation of joy.
According to some recent research, a smile excepts...
I mean,
especially the smile of a baby
could be as worthy as 2,000 pounds of chocolate or $16,000.
That's a lot of money and chocolate, right?
So, anyone of you here is a chocolate lover?
Oh yes, yes, yes.
I, myself, am a huge chocolate lover, too.
Well, now we know what to do,
when we don't have a huge bar of Hershey or Reece's in our pocket.
So some of you here may be thinking:
"Oh, this guy is so boring, why is he lecturing us about science?
I want to go back home and play games, play Minecraft.
Well, the ultimate reason of why I'm here today
is not to lecture you about science or about anything,
but it is to tell you a little story,
to ultimately convince you to smile more every day.
So, this story.
Once upon a time,
there was a little boy in a little place
who loves, loves to, dreams of coming to a place called 'America.'
To him, that land is the dream land,
it is the land of free,
where all dreams come true,
where unicorns fly in the sky.
Well, I mean, that's not true, but anyway!
So only a few months earlier, his dream turned to reality
when with the help of his friends and his family,
he had been able to step foot on American ground.
That day, he was the happiest man that he has ever been.
However, that didn't last long,
because only a few days later
he was overwhelmed with the sensation of extreme sadness and desperation.
He wanted to go home with his parents.
He wanted to quit everything.
Everywhere he looked was the sight of his family, of his friends.
It was on a Saturday morning,
that he was seeing.
It was a 13-year-old boy sitting next to the window,
gazing at the direction of home,
thinking of what he would be doing while he was at home,
tears on his face,
when he suddenly spotted a little striving tree sprout.
It was as small as his fingertip, like this small.
But however, it tried,
and it grew even way better than all the trees around it.
It had kind of a life to it
At that exact moment, the boy felt like smiling.
And he smiled,
and that smile made him know
the definition of the word "happy" again.
And without that smile,
without that familiar sensation
of seeing this striving tree sprout and remembering of home,
he would had never been able to stand on this amazing stage,
with this mesmerizing crowd of people,
talking about the science of smiles.
You don't know what little things could do to you.
Well, I am that little boy.
So, coming here today,
I only have one challenge to propose to you:
to smile at least five times generally every day.
Give the janitor a smile when you walk past her at school.
Give the teacher a smile when you see him. Her or him.
Give a new friend at school a little smile.
Give your parents a huge hug and a big smile,
when you come home from school.
They deserve it.
To quote a movie that is my absolute favourite,
that has also been presented here,
'The Book of Life,'
"You can write the story of yourself.
So why not start writing that story by a smile?"
Thank you so much for listening and happy Halloween.
(Applause)