# What ping-pong taught me about life

- Institution: TED
- Department: TEDSummit 2019
- Speaker: Pico Iyer
- Year: 2019
- Level: For everyone
- Language: English
- Subjects: History
- Source: [TED](https://www.ted.com/talks/pico_iyer_what_ping_pong_taught_me_about_life)
- Licence: [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) (Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions.)
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

Growing up in England, Pico Iyer was taught that the point of a game was to win. Now, some 50 years later, he's realized that competition can be "more like an act of love." In this charming, subtly profound talk, he explores what regular games of ping-pong in his neighborhood in Japan have revealed about the riddle of winning -- and shows why not knowing who's won can feel like the ultimate victory.

## Lectures

1. [What ping-pong taught me about life](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/ted/pico_iyer_what_ping_pong_taught_me_about_life/3fe261f0b064), 13 min (TED's player)