Your Favorite Ted Talks

[Yuwipi Woman]

It looks like I'll be in the office for an extended period of time for the next few weeks. I need something to listen to that isn't going to make my head explode. I've come to really love Ted Talks. If anyone would be so kind as to post a few, I'd really appreciate it.

Any topic is fine.

 

[Delroy Booth]

 

[bmd]

 

[slainte]

 

[slainte]

 

[Mumbles274]

good thread.. damiit... will i have enough time to watch these

 

[littlebabyjesus]

http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_savage_rumbaugh_on_apes_that_write#t-7053

Bonobos

 

[Dr Jon]

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Edited. Not the full vid.

 

[Wilson]

 

[skyscraper101]

^dammit beaten to it

 

[slainte]

Well since this thread is derailed in the "spirit of piss take and fun "... have you any f**king chips

 

[bubblesmcgrath]

 

[Awesome Wells]

 

[mango5]

TED's alright I spose. But it's all a bit too shiny and formulaic for me.
See also "TEDification vs edification" and Umair Haque's twitter rant last year.

 

[bmd]

That's the first time I've seen that perception of Ted Talks mango5. I can't think of anyone I know who watches them that thinks they're some kind of substitute for in depth knowledge of a subject. An appetiser, motivation to know more, thought provoking? Yes. Thought replacing? No.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

TED has an organisational model that is very US-style philanthropy - ultra-rich people are asked to pay well over the odds for the privilege of attending live, and the subject matter and its treatment are very much aligned towards reflecting the audience's values back at them. It is socially liberal, pro-science, but also very much pro-capitalist. You will find few talks that seriously question the process by which the rich audience came to take so much wealth to itself.

 

[mango5]

I kid you not.

 

[bmd]

TED has an organisational model that is very US-style philanthropy - ultra-rich people are asked to pay well over the odds for the privilege of attending live, and the subject matter and its treatment are very much aligned towards reflecting the audience's values back at them. It is socially liberal, pro-science, but also very much pro-capitalist. You will find few talks that seriously question the process by which the rich audience came to take so much wealth to itself.

They're available for free very soon after they're live. I can think of a fair few that have questioned the status quo too. And the speakers aren't exactly Capitalist mouth pieces.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

They're available for free very soon after they're live. I can think of a fair few that have questioned the status quo too. And the speakers aren't exactly Capitalist mouth pieces.

I've watched some very interesting ted talks. It's great that they all go online. But questioning the status quo? Really? In what ways? Here's an example of what I mean - Salman Khan. It's a really good lecture, I think.



In many ways the Khan Academy is a great thing and a great concept. However, when you examine the KA in more detail, you do see that it is exporting a peculiarly liberal American idea of education, and outside of science subjects, it most certainly reinforces a particular ideology. That Bill Gates is a big fan is no coincidence. TED and Bill Gates go together rather well.

 

[bmd]

I'll have a look at that in a minute, thanks. I understand what you're saying but then what are you hoping for from them? America is a very judgemental place and they seem to favour funding those projects that have as little stigma attached as possible. I despair when I see the poverty in parts of the States and I don't really understand how that can happen in such an affluent country.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

I'll have a look at that in a minute, thanks. I understand what you're saying but then what are you hoping for from them? .

I watch TED talks and enjoy them. They are progressive by US standards. But they are also very much a US liberal elite project, and so reflect (in very general terms) a US liberal elite agenda. Unconsciously, in many cases, no doubt. I suspect that Salman Khan might be surprised to hear that he is pushing a particular ideology.

What do I hope from them? I dunno. What do I hope from the world? They do come across to me as extremely self-satisfied affairs, as m5's ten commandments hint at.

Another example that I've watched was a lecture by a US sociologist asking people to put themselves in the position of an Iraqi man who has become an 'insurgent'. What struck me about that whole lecture was how obvious everything he was saying was, yet he was being extremely careful not to offend anyone. Useful perhaps in explaining to Americans how other people view them, but also revealing to me of where TED comes from.

 

[bmd]

Yeah they do. They are and sometimes my teeth hurt just watching them but that KA talk for instance, he was a Hedge Fund manger and now he's doing something socially helpful. That's progress in my book. Even though it gets right on my tits that people like him fuck the world to make their life's cash and then soothe their conscience by 'giving back'.

 

[slainte]

Hmm they are just a talk on a subject ..however if we are on about "they're some kind of substitute for in depth knowledge of a subject" what annoys the shit out of me being a physicist but not working as one any more to clarify is people whom read "science lite " deliberately spelt as such on purpose of Stephen Hawking books etc. feeling very intellectual and knowledgeable but with fuck all maths knowledge or the chemistry or the biology speaking about quantum particles properties of light and WHAT THIS MEANS..really so how is your calculus and isn't transcendental equations a bitch ..what no. isn't it ironic that polar cordinates can be demonstated with cartesian cordinates..isn't making sense do you actually have a fucking clue what you are reading about ...
Logarithmic Differentiation with substitution really quite an intutitative process....eh no don't understand ..isn't quaternions great for describing spacetime 4 dimensional calcuations...eh emm no but "quantum mechanics states that ...blah blah blah..is the usual response ...
..so fine not everyone can understand the full and rich issues or the mechanics so you have to explain simply then it doesn't mean the that the recipient is stupid just not their knowledge of expertise.
Talk about reading too much into a simple talk to describe aspects of various things to an audience which may not fully understand a topic is simply that.
Sorry about the micro rant but what was the fucking point of some of the above posts in beyond me in terms only of just simply moaning

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Good rant.

 

[Psychonaut]

 

[mango5]

...They do come across to me as extremely self-satisfied affairs, as m5's ten commandments hint at.

I like TED talks but it's helpful to know a bit about how they are selected and produced. Not much info about this is public, despite a 20+ year history and major international participation. Thousands of people have probably been involved in the process, not including TEDx which is a whole other kettle of fish.
Both giving and receiving talks are exclusive affairs. Selected speakers get sent the 'commandments' on a real stone tablet

 

[FridgeMagnet]

 

[bubblesmcgrath]

Was thinking about Robin Williams' sad death today....... which..
Led to thinking about creativity and genius.....which...
Led to thinking about how a creative person deals with successes and failures....which...
Led to finding this......

 

[maya]