Valentine’s Day is often associated with roses and chocolates, but what if we used it as an excuse to think about love, too? These three TED Talks take us beyond the heart emojis to questions that make love not just sweeter but wiser.
Would you take a pill that made you love everyone? (TED podcast)
Imagine a philosophical thought experiment: a pill that instantly makes you capable of loving every person you meet. Would you take it? In Would you take a pill that made you love everyone?, Notre Dame philosopher Meghan Sullivan takes this provocative question and turns it into a spotlight on what love really is and why it’s harder (and more rewarding) than any quick fix. Drawing on Aristotle, the Gospels, and modern psychology, she challenges us to consider love not as an emotion we “fall into,” but a deep ethical practice that shapes the good life itself.
Think of this talk as your Valentine’s philosophy quest: what if expanding our capacity to love isn’t just for soulmates, but for neighbors, strangers, and even ourselves?
To Love Is to Be Brave (Kelly Corrigan)
Love isn’t just soft feelings and romantic walks. For bestselling author and storyteller Kelly Corrigan, love is bravery. She brings us into the messy, beautiful world of family love and everyday courage in To Love Is to Be Brave. With her wry humor and emotional clarity, Corrigan shows that loving someone means stepping close to their wounds, asking the hard questions, and staying present through uncertainty. Real love, she suggests, is about showing up anyway.
This is a great Valentine’s watch for anyone who’s ever sat beside someone through grief, laughed through an awkward dinner, or said “Tell me more” and understood how powerful that simple gesture can be.
“Is this person the one?” — we’ve all asked it. But psychiatrist and relationship expert George Blair-West says that’s the wrong question. In this TEDxBrisbane talk, he reframes what really matters in romantic relationships: not a fairy-tale idea of “destiny,” but practical questions about acceptance, commitment, and mutual growth before you make that leap together.
For Valentine’s Day, this talk offers a grounded counterpoint to the butterflies-in-your-stomach narrative. Love turns out to be less about finding a mythical single soulmate and more about choosing — consciously and compassionately — someone you want to grow with, year after year.
On this day of hearts and chocolates, why not give yourself something a little deeper: perspectives on love that are thoughtful, messy, and deeply human. Each of these talks, in its own way, reminds us that love isn’t just something that happens to us; it’s something we do.
Happy Valentine’s Day. May your curiosity be as full as your heart.
