TED: Ideas Worth Spreading

I'm sad I lost max in this battle for ilx hearts and minds but imo once you have become a ted speaker it has ruined you as a human being forever, even cool people like nate silver or david byrne. everytime I learn something new I make sure the thing I'm learning about wasn't shared on ted, if it was I try to figure out a way for the opposite to be true.

when i learn something new i try to not share it at all because people can get a lil weird sometimes

Eazy, I enjoyed your talk. I'm really interested in relational aesthetics and socially driven art experiences, both as a participant and as an artist. I agree that the talkback and the post-show discussion are often a little awkward, and with the exception of a theatrical workshop open to the public, sometimes of limited use. I feel like a lot of arts organizations are experimenting with experiences incorporating or built around organic social interaction. A lot of this is being driven by independent artists in our local arts scene.

On a related subject, have you had the opportunity to participate in a Gob Squad, Blast Thoery, or Rimini Protokoll performance? Some great stuff.

I'm sympathetic within my own lol disciplines about the accusations of learning-lite but at the same time it seems so weirdly grad-school to get mad about something like this stuff. if people spend an hour hearing a lite version of important shit that glosses over stuff that'd cause them to tune out if it came up, that's still better than nothing, which is the default. it's like: ideally, your kids don't watch any TV at all, it's not really good for 'em. guess what, they're gonna watch tv. might as well have some ok TV. is it going to be Really Good TV? of course not, you can't really do much with an hourlong program, but what the hell, it beats sniffing glue

relatedly, I turned down a TEDx talk earlier this year because I'm too busy to put together a talk & the objections people have to this are exactly why I wouldn't presume to squash the issues that're important to me into a brief talk from a dude (me) who doesn't really know that much anyway

I am looking at the list of TED fellows and everyone on it is alive except for MLK

http://www.ted.com/speakers?orderedby=TALKPOSTED&page=45

it's like when mormons baptize you posthumously except w/ conference speaking as a religion

always kinda felt that way about: http://www.egs.edu/

look at the faculty bar on the right

if mlk were alive today he would def have a laser pointer and a headset and the freakeconomics guys would help him figure out new smartphone apps w/ which we can defeat racism

btw outside of my claimed cynicism, I am mainly annoyed when TED doesn't go into detail! I kind of wish there was a built-in curriculum of long-form articles and the worst is when someone is very energetic but doesn't pull deeper content. You can give a quick talk that the layperson will get while still hinting at the depth of expertise.

I would watch the hell out of aero's talk, should it happen, because his ilx posting style betrays an ability to draw on a depth of experience to insert deep zings into content.

A friend and I used to joke about going to that EGS thingy that Mordy linked because, wow, what a list. Recently it's really seemed that it is a front for people to extract money from being known intellectuals.

yeah EGS always seemed like such a scam

i mean, dj spooky! get real everyone

Plus also fuck a freakanomics.

I saw one of the founders of this thing speak: http://alldaybuffet.org/

The Feast convenes the most remarkable entrepreneurs, radicals, doers and thinkers who are revolutionizing the way things work for the betterment of humanity.

Probably a good time, but $$ and I am not sure about conferences that bill themselves as "salons"

tbh I have enjoyed some local salons that are v entertaining and deliver. Not really TED style, but not wholly unrelated.

I guess it really depends on who shows and what kind of community it is. I'd enjoy a salon with ilxors.

TED basically makes me feel like Dr Morbius

http://gastronongrata.blogspot.com/

http://www.salonsaloon.info/

Plus also fuck a freakanomics.

― Unleash the Chang (he did what!) (Austerity Ponies), Monday, February 20, 2012 11:41 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

freakanomics is in fact actual bullshit

lag∞n needs a whole boxful of OTMs here

think I just officially 'won' the debate

the objections people have to this are exactly why I wouldn't presume to squash the issues that're important to me into a brief talk from a dude (me) who doesn't really know that much anyway

this is pretty much exactly why we need an underrated aerosmith to give one of these things!

u should hold yr own tedx at yr house, just u n areo tedxing

btw I watched the bjarke ingels ted talk this morning and there was a moment for the "is it racist?" thread! dude totally had a comedic gong noise as a punchline after talking about a project in china

Anyone feel like listing off some of these TED videos that are worth it? I have a few I want to watch and might as well make a week of this shit.

this is pretty much exactly why we need an underrated aerosmith to give one of these things!

"Why You Should Definitely Not Expect Me To Say Anything Worthwhile During the Next Hour-Plus," a talk by Underrated Aerosmith Bootlegs I Have Owned

That's pretty good. It takes some people only about 20 minutes to say nothing worthwhile!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpjVgF5JDq8

the tone of TED can also be "What If Everything We Know About _____ Is Wrong?" pop iconoclasm, lets turn conventional wisdom upside down stuff. I think that's what it has in common with freaknomics and is what irks people.

everytime I learn something new I make sure the thing I'm learning about wasn't shared on ted

I do exactly this, but with QI. I think that show is related to this discussion somehow.

Like, something to do with people being smart by proxy? You know the kind, who have a world of facts at their fingertips, but take them away from an internet connection or ask them to develop a thought or bring ideas together for themselves and they fall to pieces.

Gah some of u guyz can be so damn cynical sometimes :(

hey, I feel that way about myself when I go through a lurking phase on ILX, where all I do is read smart people making smart points and feel as if I'm learning something when actually I'm not learning very much at all. It's easier to listen to a TED talk then give one.

ILX is excellent in that it's participatory, though. I'm much more of a consumer than a participator and could get sucked into the world of TED. Here, I can learn things and then type the well-earned "otm" into the text box.

otm

lol

This piece is a good reminder that Davos is pretty much the model for TED, without offering up the talks and panels:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/03/05/120305fa_fact_paumgarten?currentPage=all

how to tie your shoes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAFcV7zuUDA

http://nymag.com/news/features/ted-conferences-2012-3/

starts off weak/cheesy, picks up

yeah that's a good read

"Summit Series is the anti-Aspen, targeting twentysomething entrepreneurs, 1,000 of whom last year paid $3,500 to spend four days on a cruise to the Bahamas. The event featured glow sticks, condoms, Russell Simmons–led yoga, a shark-tagging excursion with Timothy Ferriss, and talks on philanthrocapitalism by people like Richard Branson and Peter Thiel."

I'm not saying you could have made the world a better place with one well-aimed torpedo... I'm just saying.

Sounds like a pretty crazy time and I bet Richard Branson knows how to party. I'd also like to listen to Peter Thiel on "philanthrocapitalism" and how that relates to his libertarian island nation. Possibly not for too long, though.

http://i43.tinypic.com/22mj5e.png

hah! beat me to it.

Ridley Scott likes TED:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7YK2uKxil8

what is that scary red green-eyed creature?!?

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/03/ted_a_publishing_platform.html?cm_mmc=npv-_-AWAREN-_-GANS_POST-_-030512

i defy anyone not to loathe everything about this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_6SfMZxoLc

it's like it was engineered by robots to cause maximum hatred

Has anyone here ever been to the Summit Series?

https://twitter.com/#!/RandomTEDTalks