I have come to regard the TED online lectures as an excellent way to gain a wide education, not only by viewing the hundreds of amazing videos, but also of using them as a spring board of inspiration towards further learning, insight & creative critique.
This blog is a good way for me to keep tabs of the ones I have read, and to share my candid thoughts on each as I go. Enjoy, give me ted-back and be sure to view the originals as well.
Mel the smellwell.com, thinkwell & bewell fellow
Skip the lecture and watch him strut his stuff playing with the likes of Diana Kra
What a letdown! Peter Erskine, phenomenal jazz drummer, at TEDxUSC, spends almost twelve minutes talking about next to nothing . Could those jokes about drummers be true?
Don’t waste your time watching this one, go straight to Youtube and watch him strut his stuff playing with the likes of Diana Krall. Hasshebeen on TED? Now, that would be something.
There is no doubt in my mind that Naif Al-Mutawah is trying to do the right thing in creating 99 supercharacters based on the positive attributes of Islam. His talk is erudite and well worth watching, although there is something troubling in his tale. He talks about the similarity between the Bible and the North American superheroes, batman, superman and spiderman (I grew up on the first two), and how Jews were involved in dreaming them up in the first place (did I miss something?). But here’s the point. Regardless of the similarity between the tales of ancient Egypt and Krypton, you don’t need to invoke religion to bond with Superman. Superman is religionless, he’s there for everyone. So, if we now have 99 Islamic superheroes, maybe all the religions should have their own. I for example would favor Moishe, who flies except on Shabbes and never shmooses in the synagogue, and Peter, who encourages rogues, bandits and ousted CEOs to turn the other cheek. So definitely watch this one and ponder its implications. Will the real super hero please stand up?
I suppose that TED invited Dan Pink to speak because he is so erudite both with the written word , and so entertaining with the spoken one. I think he also finds himself entertaining, because it takes him thirteen minutes to get to the point (future speakers take note, make your point early on) which is that people are motivated primarily by ideas, sense of belonging, and sense of purpose and humanity rather than money. Even Americans (although perhaps less so). Hey, Dan. Anyone who has raised a family, who has religion, who has volunteered for their church, synagogue or mosque knows that. His point is that many companies don’t get it. Should we be surprised? Just consider what cutthroat personal traits you usually need to get ahead in the business world.
He wisely cites Wikipedia as an example of how people compete to share their knowledge and expertise without remuneration. This model has beat the pants off any professional (and remunerating) encyclopedias, online or off. Rock on, Jimmy Wales.
Not one of my favorite TED presentations, and I haven't seen all too many (yet).
Don’t watch this TED if you get seasick. You will see Dean Kamen driving around on his segway as he gives his TED presentation, and while following what he has to say is easy and straightforward, following him ride across the stage is rather daunting. It also detracts from concentrating on what he has to say, which is “I have invented this really cool thing which will change the way regular people move around cities.”
Eight years and over 100 million dollars later, it hasn’t yet. Yes, you do see the odd professional (e.g. policeman) driving one, and they are allowed here in Israel on sidewalks, so a lot of people rent one for an hour to have a real joy ride (they are great fun, if a bit scary at first). But they have not become any kind of mass transport and I can’t remember the last time I saw a regular Joe drive one around the streets of Tel Aviv. We do have one Segway at our cool engineering college , Afeka Tel Aviv Academic College of Engineering, but that is because our previous CEO had a real Otaku about these machines.
That does not detract one bit from Dean’s message, because it is generic: I want to bring positive change to the world and I have put my money (and other people’s) where my mouth is, and developed this invention which represents a true paradigm shift. I am guessing that the segway is like the first ballpoint pen. It was clunky, dripped and had other technical issues, the company failed, but subsequent ones did work, and caught on. Nowadays, how many people do you know still use a feather and ink well? What I am saying is that thirty years from now when everyone is using a lightweight, solar-propelled safe version of this, folks will look at this and say WOW! The same way we would have if there were a TED video of the Wright brothers explaining how they flew a few meters in the air.
So, Dean Kamen, keep on rollin’ and sharin’.
Personal disclosure: I am involved in a project called the ‘redseamobile’ with Hagai Cohen, which duplicates the experience of water skiing on land. We haven’t sold a single modelJ. - Demo of Red Sea Mobile
There are two inherent challenges in giving a TED talk about being remarkable. First, aren’tallTED talks supposed to be remarkable? Secondly, TED talks are taped and available for all to see, so they should withstand the test of time. I was not sure that Seth Godin’s talk from 2003 fulfilled either criterion, so I watched it twice.
I do like his definition of ‘remarkable’ as something that people remark about. And yes, the internet is all about ‘otaku’ (if you don’t know, see the presentation or learn Japanese). But the TV industrial complex is still going strong, seven years later, and no, Procter and Gamble have not learned that you need to be special, and hey, they are still advertising and selling an ocean of products (I wish they were selling mine!!).
Finally, I have a problem with the speakers who tell us that their talk could be about anything, but they just happen to be using business as an example. Seth and Cameron, please share with us (if only for a minute or two) how your understanding of the business and advertising world impacts on the worlds that really count – philosophy, art, science, and medicine, to name a few. Business is all about making money now, often at any cost. TED is not business or advertising school, and it should touch our hearts and minds, not our pockets.
Sir Ken Robinson gave such a remarkable talk in 2006 that he was invited back for a sequel a few months ago. But, as sequels go, it doesn't live up to its predecessor. Yes, it is delightful and funny, there is the poignant story of the fireman, and the hilarity of a three year old submitting his CV to try to get into a worthy kindergarten. My suggestion is to have a look at this one first, get excited, and then go for the slam dunk presentation of 2006.
What Sir Ken does not do in his sequel is provide the blueprint for engendering the revolution in education that he dreams about. Is this because he flourished in the same arcane industrial system he seeks to overthrow (so did I for that matter, but I haven't been invited to TED). Compare Sir Ken's talk with Cameron Herold's analogous presentation at TEDx. For Cameron, and many other success stories, formal schooling is pretty irrelevant. It's what Cameron learned from his father about entrepreneurship and what he passes on to his children.
In his presentation, Sir Ken continues to talk about replacing linear thinking. However the powers that be invited him back to continue his line of thought from 2006 where he left off. Big mistake. He didn't leave off, and you can't top a perfect presentation. Sir Ken, when they invite you back in 2014, please change the subject, and be as fresh, entertaining, and provocative as you were in 2006. Eighty million people are waiting.
This is the best TED talk I've seen so far, and I'll let you know if anything tops it. Here is a guy who not only has something to share, but shares it with humor, grace and intellect. He is almost as funny as Bill Cosby during Bill's early years (Junior Barnes comes to mind). He shines. He talks about one of my favorite topics, how schools quash creativity, how kids are innately creative, but lose their ability to be spontaneous, lateral and silly when they start conventional education.
Sir Ken says that even if kids " don't know, they'll have a go."
When I was a youngster, I once congratulated my uncle on receiving his "commotion". These are things that are hilarious, ingenious and endearing when a four year old says them, but hugely embarrassing when you are ten. Yossi Vardi reassures me that silliness is the uncle of innovention. This is something that schools and life like to suck out of our bone marrows as we grow up.
The talk (actually it's half talk, half stand-up) has many moments, my favorite is the story of Gillian Lynne, and how an astute professional saved her from an ignominious future at a regular school. The rest, as they say, is history.
The discovery of the structure (and working mechanism) of DNA is one of my all-time favorite stories since I was a graduate biology student, and has to be one of the most amazing discoveries of the twentieth century. It’s amazing because the two main protagonists did not do any experimentation at all. Mainly, they read relevant papers (as my friend Neal Farber likes to remind me, half a year in the laboratory can save you an hour in the library), correctly interpreted other people's research, built cute three dimensional models, and put two and two together (in this case A with T and G with C). Watson's somewhat self-deprecatory demeanor is enchanting (although after over fifty years I might have expected him to give Rosalind Franklin a little of the credit she probably deserved and died without).
This great man originally wanted to be an ornithologist but ended up telling us the main secret of how life works. This film is so much fun, You might not want to read the book (The Double Helix). Read it anyway.
Great talk, I think he is a bit too focused on the 'making money model' of entrepreneurship. He might have broadened it to include the 'going with your passion/talent' or 'changing the world mode'. I enjoyed every minute of it of his life epic. Cameron and I share many things, Ottawa, Winnipeg, a 61 average in the first two years of college, attention deficits etc., and selling things since the age of five.
This guy was brought up from babyhood to be an entrepreneurial businessman and is bringing up his kids the same way, But, hey, what if your kid's passion is about playing the violin? As you say, the world might not need any more lawyers (especially now that my daughter is finished law school), buthow about all kinds of passions for changing the world that don't involve buying on the cheap and selling to those who can pay?
It was clear that this talk was a 'coming out' for this remarkable Canadian. Give it a www (Well worth watching).
