I constantly look for inspiration and education outside of programming. After all, programming all the time makes Steve a dull boy. The talks below were truly remarkable and are worth sharing.
First up is Malcolm Gladwell who talks about the revelations behind spaghetti sauce made by Howard Moskowitz. He sheds some light on variances in human behavior, which all comes down to personal taste. He even demonstrates how an individual doesn't necessarily know what they want. As Howard Moskowitz puts it: there is no perfect sauce, there are only perfect sauces...
Dan Ariely is a behaviorial economist. His research is truly fascinating and in many cases defies logic. He talks about how seemingly irrational human behavior affects major decisions. And you don't have to know much to see the implications in marketing...