TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design)

Posted by Matt Gowdy on July 22, 2008 at 10:29pm in General Discussions

I just stumbled onto this website from WebbAlert about 25 minutes ago and I'm pretty blown away by this stuff. TED is a conference where the greatest thinkers of the world at large go and speak about a subject they are working on, for roughly 20 minutes.

The coolest part is that the conference broadcasts the speeches online in embeddable flash players and other formats.

I just finished watching Sir Ken Robinson talk about creativity and how the modern education system is designed to kill it (I say modern, but he makes a point of saying that it's the same system it's always been). It's a pretty funny speech, but it's definitely eye opening.

I always knew I didn't trust being educated, I think maybe I have some ideas as to why now.

Has anyone else heard of this conference before? What presentations are your favorites?

Tags: design, entertainment, technology, ted

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Permalink Reply by GeekyCyberMom on July 23, 2008 at 7:00am: Yeah, I've known about TED for a while and I used to subscribe to their podcast. Great stuff to say the least. I just wish it were a conference anyone could attend, but it is SO expensive. I remember this one woman who did a presentation on ant farms and how communities existed and sustained (I forget her name or what year she presented), and it was a pretty mind-blowing presentation.

There's another conference you may be interested in. I plan to attend the one for 2009.

BIL Conference
http://bilconference.com/
http://bilconference.pbwiki.com/BIL2009; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by J.J on July 23, 2008 at 8:05am: Really good speech. In the last year or so i found out that the education i'm recieving at University is not supposed to take me anywhere unless i do other things. It surely helps, but as Sir Ken Robinson says creativity is being killed so I've started looking for new ways to educate myself (or uneducate me).

I think that in the 21st Century we need to keep learning everyday and focus on the creative process. The mechanic form of doing things : go to college, get a job, retire is no longer available for us if we plan to succeed in anything.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by I'll-turn-native on July 23, 2008 at 11:47am: I love the TED conferences. My friend showed me this particular one when I was upset because one of my professors had come down hard on me for not reading her mind. This made me feel better. Some of my favorite ones are:

Anything in Environmental conferences: but mostly this Edward Burtynsky
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/edward_burtynsky_on_manufactured...

Alisa Miller: Why we know less than ever about the world
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/alisa_miller_shares_the_news_abo...

I actually think there is not one that I dont like.; ▶ Reply to This