DISQUS

swag · 4 months ago

Unfortunately TED is more about the style of the talk than the substance. It's my biggest complaint: all about the sizzle with little steak. I watch thinking I'm supposedly enlightened, but when I look back I realize I have little to show for the 20-minute investment.

MizFitz · 4 months ago

Try looking at it this way - if nothing else you've been able to make an informed personal judgement on the matter. The 'return on investment' on those '20 minutes' should see you saving hours of unnecessary 'sizzle with little steak' which can be better invested in something of greater fulfilment to you ;-)

nanoturkiye · 4 months ago

I use TED for learning about new inspiring people. If you want more information go and read the speaker's books, articles. That's my view of point.

Michiel · 4 months ago

You forgot Ray Kurzweil...

2020Science · 4 months ago

Actually, I was saving him up for a complementary TED tech talks blog :-)

boxtech · 4 months ago

My favorite talk is actually Malcolm Gladwell's Spaghetti Sause talk. It's strangely intreging. - http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/malcolm_gladw...

Jannell · 4 months ago

I think Swag's comment is valid - but I'm sure that sort of experience is relative to how much thought a person has given to said topic. Some of the talks are things I've already given a lot of thought to and can only pick out bits and pieces of things that are "enlightening." But on subjects I've never read about or know little about - whoa. Maybe I don't feel like a scholar afterward - but they definitely get one to think. Also, the criteria you used to select these videos was dead-on. Thanks a lot.

margaret wertheim · 4 months ago

andrew - thanks for this surprising endorsement of my talk. my personal favorite TED science talk is Bonnie Bassler on quorum sensing, also Nalini Nadkarni on tree canopies. people misunderstand how hard it is to give a TED talk. its like no other forum on earth. you get 18 mins (ONLY), you are on a procenium stage surrounded by lights and cameras in front of an audience of 1400 super-smart, super-successful people. you are being recorded for posterity, your every error and stumble will be online Forever. you have just been proceeded by Oliver Sacks and Elizabeth Gilbert - both media superstars - and now its YOUR turn. i have never seen so many competent people (my fellow speakers) reduced to jelly. i include myself in this quivering camp. i think the science talks at TED are consistently the standouts and its marvelous that TED is providing these free to us all.

Tamas Gloetzer · 3 months ago

Margaret, if you were nervous during your TED talk, I could understand that, but I didn't notice... If you stumbled, I didn't catch that... Why? Because what did come through for me is your energy and passion for the topic. I enjoyed your presentation very much... both your style and the new approach of a complex mathematical problem. Thank you for both!

margaret wertheim · 4 months ago

andrew - thanks for this surprising endorsement of my talk. my personal favorite TED science talk is Bonnie Bassler on quorum sensing, also Nalini Nadkarni on tree canopies. people misunderstand how hard it is to give a TED talk. its like no other forum on earth. you get 18 mins (ONLY), you are on a procenium stage surrounded by lights and cameras in front of an audience of 1400 super-smart, super-successful people. you are being recorded for posterity, your every error and stumble will be online Forever. you have just been proceeded by Oliver Sacks and Elizabeth Gilbert - both media superstars - and now its YOUR turn. i have never seen so many competent people (my fellow speakers) reduced to jelly. i include myself in this quivering camp. i think the science talks at TED are consistently the standouts and its marvelous that TED is providing these free to us all.