# Your favorite TED/TEDx talk **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-ted-tedx-talk/677701 "2014-01-02T15:20:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-ted-tedx-talk/677701/1 "2014-01-02T15:20:14Z")
There are hundreds of [TED/TEDx presentations available on sites like YouTube.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TED_(conference)) At this point I’ve watched dozens of them, and they are invariably fascinating. Here are two of my favorites: [Morality Without Religion:](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le-74R9C6Bc) A primate researcher shows how non-human primates exhibit what appears to be a sense of morality, fair play, and cooperation to achieve common goals. [Usman Riaz and Preston Reed:](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIwbuS526PI) some masterful percussive guitar work by a young wizard and a seasoned professional. This one was so amazing I watched it about half a dozen times on a flight home from Japan about a year ago. What other TED/TEDx presentatations have made you say “WOW”? ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-ted-tedx-talk/677701/2 "2014-01-02T18:12:23Z")
[Why We Shouldn’t Bike with a Helmet:](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07o-TASvIxY) Copenhagen’s bicycle ambassador talks about how important the bicycle is for liveable cities and how bicycle helmets are threatening bicycle culture. ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-ted-tedx-talk/677701/3 "2014-01-02T20:37:44Z")
TED??? ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-ted-tedx-talk/677701/4 "2014-01-02T21:01:28Z")
[http://www.ted.com/talks/peter\_van\_uhm\_why\_i\_chose\_a\_gun.html](http://www.ted.com/talks/peter_van_uhm_why_i_chose_a_gun.html) A superb speech by a man who embraced “ **Si vis pacem, para bellum** ”. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-ted-tedx-talk/677701/5 "2014-01-02T21:19:22Z")
I get a big kick out of Ursus Wehrli’s [Tidying Up Art](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57eeP31s-Rs). His delivery just kills me- and it takes the audience a long time to catch on. But definitely an interesting approach to thinking about art. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-ted-tedx-talk/677701/6 "2014-01-02T21:34:51Z")
> [@Fleetwood](#): > > TED??? Are you asking what TED Talks are? Google can tell you that. One of my old favorites was [Ken Robinson’s](http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html) about teaching and its underemphasis on creativity. So many of the talks are brilliant though. I’m looking forward to suggestions in this thread. My favorite moment from TED was Tony Robbins talking about how we blame others for our lack of success … parents, bosses, etc. He started working the crowd for suggestions of who people blamed for blocking their own success, and Al Gore sitting in the front row (presumably waiting to give a talk of his own) said, “The Supreme Court”. Big laughs. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-ted-tedx-talk/677701/7 "2014-01-02T21:38:04Z")
Tim Harford: Trial, error and the God complex [http://www.ted.com/talks/tim\_harford.html](http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_harford.html) > [@](#): > > Economics writer Tim Harford studies complex systems – and finds a surprising link among the successful ones: they were built through trial and error. In this sparkling talk from TEDGlobal 2011, he asks us to embrace our randomness and start making better mistakes. I do take it into account when many critics of things like health care reform pontificate over the trouble, and acts like if trial and error are not supposed to be expected or that we should only act and solve issues only until everything is perfect. Jeff Hawkins: How brain science will change computing [http://www.ted.com/talks/jeff\_hawkins\_on\_how\_brain\_science\_will\_change\_computing.html](http://www.ted.com/talks/jeff_hawkins_on_how_brain_science_will_change_computing.html) > [@](#): > > Treo creator Jeff Hawkins urges us to take a new look at the brain – to see it not as a fast processor, but as a memory system that stores and plays back experiences to help us predict, intelligently, what will happen next. > > Jeff Hawkins pioneered the development of PDAs such as the Palm and Treo. Now he’s trying to understand how the human brain really works, and adapt its method – which he describes as a deep system for storing memory – to create new kinds of computers and tools. > [@](#): > > ``` > Some people say, brains can't understand brains. Very Zen-like. Whoo. (Laughter) You know, it sounds good, but why? I mean, what's the point? It's just a bunch of cells. You understand your liver. It's got a lot of cells in it too, right? So, you know, I don't think there's anything to that. And finally, some people say, well, you know, I don't feel like a bunch of cells, you know. I'm conscious. I've got this experience, I'm in the world, you know. I can't be just a bunch of cells. Well, you know, people used to believe there was a life force to be living, and we now know that's really not true at all. And there's really no evidence that says -- well, other than people just have disbelief that cells can do what they do. And so, some people have fallen into the pit of metaphysical dualism, some really smart people, too, but we can reject all that. > > ``` > > (Laughter) Great review of new theories of intelligence and how to replicate those theories into working AIs, with comparison and a nice use and defense of evolution too. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-ted-tedx-talk/677701/8 "2014-01-02T22:02:27Z")
[Child Driven Education](http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_the_child_driven_education.html) I watched this entire one with my mouth open. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-ted-tedx-talk/677701/9 "2014-01-03T07:41:56Z")
[Everything is moleeds.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcnYqyQyHd8) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-ted-tedx-talk/677701/10 "2014-01-03T11:25:48Z")
I have been a big fan of TED for a while now but was very taken with this a few days ago: [We need to talk about TED | Benjamin Bratton](http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/30/we-need-to-talk-about-ted) > [@](#): > > Science, philosophy and technology run on the model of American Idol – as embodied by TED talks – is a recipe for civilisational disaster > [@](#): > > This article first appeared on Benjamin Bratton’s website and is republished with permission. It is the text of a talk given at TEDx San Diego ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-ted-tedx-talk/677701/11 "2014-01-03T14:07:56Z")
[Improv Everywhere](http://www.ted.com/talks/charlie_todd_the_shared_experience_of_absurdity.html) ---
**Author:** ![QuarkChild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c5a1d2/32.png) [@QuarkChild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuarkChild)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-ted-tedx-talk/677701/12 "2014-01-03T18:15:29Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I have been a big fan of TED for a while now but was very taken with this a few days ago: > > [We need to talk about TED | Benjamin Bratton](http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/30/we-need-to-talk-about-ted) That’s way harsh, but also spot-on. He puts his finger on what has always bothered me about TED talks: reducing complex problems to falsely-optimistic soundbites. And I agree that our economic system is part of the problem, but no one wants to talk about how fragile it really is. Sometimes TED talks can be good for changing the way you see the world, though–overcoming misconceptions. Hans Rosling has some famous ones that are good for that. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2014, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-ted-tedx-talk/677701/13 "2014-01-03T18:34:15Z")
I’m totally going to schill for my friend’s TED talk. It’s not one of the big ones or anything, but a friend of mine was able to give a TED talk about teaching kids about money(financial responsibility). [It’s only 5 minutes long if you’d like to see it.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTUfiei-NvU)