TED Conversations

Hayden Swanick

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Is there a lack of "ideas worth spreading" in TED's conversations feature ?

Browsing all of the ideas, questions and debates here on the TED website I cannot help but distress. I've witnessed a self indulgent young man proclaiming his own question as great in his explanation and whats more, a number of "new age" questions about spiritualism, astrology and "the information field" (I don't dare ask).
People give themselves a right to express, for better or for worse. But TED permitting should we not bestow upon ourselves the right to not hear?

Should TED not be about solving problems and sharing experiences rather than narcissism and the loch ness monster?

GO!

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    Debra Smith 200+

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    Jun 1 2012: I wonder about anyone who diagnoses such a large and diverse groupof people. On what basis do you do so?

    We are all free to read a stream or not. If you read it- you chose it- why?

    just as there are different forms of memory there are different topics for persons of all persuasions. If you don't need or want it- do not click on it!

    Your complaint reminds me of the person in a restaurant who eats the meal and then triies not to pay for it by saying it was bad. If so, why did he eat it in the first place????????????????

  • Michael Froemmcke

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    May 31 2012: It should be but any public forum will attract people with narcissistic streaks.
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    Allan Macdougall 30+

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    May 30 2012: Some ideas, including those contained in 'new age' philosophy, spiritualism, and the 'information field', dare to tread into territory outside the bounds of conventional wisdom. Sometimes that takes a narcissistic and self-indulgent character to achieve that. So what? It's the idea that counts, isn't it?

    If everything has to be evidence-based on what is already known, we can only - at best - intuit the present or the past. The future can only be brought to light via hypotheses. Sometimes we have to use metaphor, analogy - and yes, mythology to achieve it - if that is appropriate, in the absence of scientific certainty at that particular time.

    The ideas worth spreading lie mostly within that area - the hypothetical, but based on the solid evidence gained from experience.

    To dismiss the ideas of someone just because you don't like their image, automatically restricts you to accepting only a very narrow spectrum of ideas that you have pre-judged as being 'normal', within your own comfort zone, and often stuck within the bounds of stagnating wisdom.

    Would it not be better to be a bit more accepting of the wilder ideas (within reason) and to discuss, instead of dismissing them?
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    Kris Rosvold

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    May 30 2012: Hayden,
    I do see some of what you're talking about, however, I have seen some of those "sad" conversations turn very interesting because they provoked a "random" what-if for someone else (or for me). I think the value in keeping the format rather than editing it is that we don't miss those "a-HA" moments by filtering the conversations for "quality". If a particular conversation doesn't do it for you, my suggestion would be to try another until you find one that inspires you.
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      Bharath Kumar Kunjibettu 10+

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      Jun 1 2012: Completely agree with you Kris,
      It has so happened that when I expect a huge turn out on certain TED Conversation or idea or debate ,nobody responds (eg: How do we restore our ecosystem) (Maybe due to time zone differences)
      But I got interesting responses for the topic (What is the significance of planets in our solar system) .
      So TED Conversations are interesting and because it is an open forum for the global community,we are bound to get surprising or no replies .
      So if we are short of questions or ideas or debate topics , we can definitely participate and contribute to some conversation.
      If the conversation seems boring , at some point of time ,we can definitely watch TED talks and you have over 100s of beautiful presentations that can blow your mind.

      Regards,
      Bharath
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        Kris Rosvold

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        Jun 2 2012: Bharath, The lack of response may also be due to American hubris (TED is a uniquely American style organization)...Most Americans...even the reasonably smart/thoughtful ones seem to be relatively inflexible in translating unfamiliar phrasing. It's a prejudice that I've seen over 50 years and in many settings; and that prejudice is so ingrained that the carriers of it are (often) not even aware that they are carriers.
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          Bharath Kumar Kunjibettu 10+

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          Jun 3 2012: Hi Kris,
          Well , I really don't know how to respond to your opinion ,well here are some facts..
          Being an Indian, I have got response from people all around the globe(including Indians) and honestly I did not find out what their nationality was? What mattered to me was their opinions because TED is all about sharing opinions.
          We need to understand TED is gaining popularity exponentially so its possible that our topics are similar to the one among the 100s of topic people like us post , I have earned 4 TED cred points in a matter of 3 months so our conversations are being watched by a panel.
          So this is my opinion,I hope it is making sense

          Regards,
          Bharath
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    Verble Gherulous 20+

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    May 30 2012: Stepping back and looking at the conversations, it reminds me much of meetings. In meetings, especially those geared toward brainstorming, there are hundreds of ideas thrown out and only a few really good ones. What makes a company work is when people can put their ego aside if their idea is in the 99% and everyone start working toward that last one percentile idea.

    TedTalks are like that.

    I agree with your frustration that it seems as though there is a certain amount of arrogance. Everybod does seem to hold strongly to their ideas and believe them to be solid, respectable, and above all, right. That is perhaps a byproduct of the idea of freedom of speech. Since we all have a freedom to speak, we thus feel we have a right to be heard,which in our minds eventually translates to "i have the right for you to listen to me mecause my thoughts are important."

    However, that's life, my friend. 7.5 billion of us, all with wonderfully important things to say, and such a small few have found TED. I don't mind the cacaphony so much, because I always find a gem of a quote in a conversation, and remarkably, it is never from me, always from someone else.

    Even though everything I say is brilliant! :-)
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    edward long 100+

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    May 30 2012: There is much talk here on TED conversations about education reform; transcendental issues; socio-political matters; requests to share experience and knowledge; imaginative propositions; and some light-hearted amusement. If you imagine every post being a TED Talk you will be disappointed. I think your reminder to keep the charter of TED in mind is well-timed and I thank you for it, it may be an idea worth spreading! PS- the "informational field" conversation is actually pithy, take another look at it. Thanks Mr. Swanick.
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    Fritzie Reisner 100+

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    Host
    May 29 2012: I think it is important to recognize and appreciate that TED Conversations includes a range of people, from high school kids with questions that are very serious to them, to adults who sincerely believe that the issues that most concern them are worth discussing with others, to people with specific areas of expertise and practical experience.
    Each of us chooses which conversations concern ideas we want to discuss and we engage only in those.
    I assume some people reply entirely or almost entirely to questions that tag TED talks and don't get involved in questions that are unrelated to talks or about a particular person. This is one way of staying focused on ideas that TED hosts/administrators deem suitable for the site and that you may also.
    I don't respond when a person seems mainly to be trying to draw people to his own writing or his website or an idea he wants to market, because that's the sort of use of the site I don't prefer. As I believe there are TED talks of a spiritual nature, I think that subject is quite fair here. I don't personally participate in conversations about spiritualism, but I have no problem if others do.
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