Rather than wade through the X+1 thread on September 11th, 2001, I thought to myself, why not why not ask those on the board what their favourite Ted Talks are. For those who don't know about Ted Talks the website is www.ted.com
Personally I find there are two which stick out for me
Jill Bolte Taylor - Stroke of Insight
Sam Harris - Science Can Answer Moral Questions
Last edited by Mean Mr. Mustard; 10-23-2010 at 07:43 PM.
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It's a long time since I'd last watched that Jill Bolte Taylor talk about her stroke. I really enjoyed seeing that again. It's a very thought provoking emotional talk.
I practice meditation on a regular basis, which is basically a practice of sitting and focusing on breathing and reducing the internal monologue that is usually taking place in my brain. Trying to get away from constantly thinking in language and instead focusing just on my immediate situation and sensual experience. What Jill Taylor describes in her presentation as her right brain experience sounds like a much more pronounced experience of what I get out of this practice of meditation. I feel it's a very valuable life tool.
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Sam Harris is completely wrong. I'm an atheist too, but he just has a warped view of things. I'd say he was bordering on tribal about being an atheist.
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Sam Harris is completely wrong. I'm an atheist too, but he just has a warped view of things. I'd say he was bordering on tribal about being an atheist.
I just enjoyed listening to it, creates a dialog in my head of points I agree with and points that I disagree with. I do think that he raises a number of good points but he tends oddly to act like the religious people he critiques by taking those points to the extremes.
That first Ken Robinson talk is truly excellent. One of the best talks I've ever seen about education. That video is what I started our staff induction week with this year in order to set a tone and a focus for the coming school year with all our staff. I sometimes think it's very ironic that I work in education when I feel I identify so strongly with what Ken Robinson says in that talk.
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"If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?"
I just enjoyed listening to it, creates a dialog in my head of points I agree with and points that I disagree with. I do think that he raises a number of good points but he tends oddly to act like the religious people he critiques by taking those points to the extremes.
Yeah, he's a smart guy, and he makes you think.
There's a new study out that says religion has much more of a social function, that it serves mostly as a tribal ritual rather than something people genuinely believe. The study said actual religious devotion correlated much higher with peacefulness, while people with high tribal devotion were much more likely to be violent.
From what I've seen of Sam Harris, he's an atheist, but is definitely engaged in his atheism in an emotional, tribal way. It's 'us vs. them', we need to 'fight'. etc. He actually scares me a bit.
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Not sure if this is from Ted or not. Despite that, it's an interesting and amusing talk.
Very interesting, there are 2 or 3 different talks going on here that each could have easily gone 20 minutes. It's almost a shame that he tied them all together without coming to a clear point on each.
Your Favourite Ted Talks
