A conversation on TED.com: What is the single most important question that the youth of this era need to ask themselves?

Corvida Raven
Brooklyn, NY
United States

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What is the single most important question that the youth of this era need to ask themselves?

The youth of today are growing up in a completely different world from their parents and grandparents. With all the technology, media, and economic problems of today, it makes me wonder about the questions that the youth should ask themselves.

What do you think is the single most important question that the youth need to ask themselves? What was a question you wish you would've asked your younger self?

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Topics: life tedxyouth youth

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Bob Van Oosterhout 20+
- +4
Sep 13 2011: I believe that youth need to ask about the value of systems that define our reality. We assume that educational, economic and political systems are "the way things are" and no one seems to ask "Based on current understanding, what's the best way to do this?"
Soumitra Sen
- 0
Sep 13 2011: Is what I see on the screen in front of me (in response to a query) the real deal, or a set of abstracts delivered by algorithms that profess to know me, hence "personalise" the world for me? Is it what I am looking for, or something that's engineered for "people like me"?

Whither wisdom?
Joshua Westmoreland
- 0
Sep 13 2011: I believe there are many questions one needs to ask themselves, no matter their age. How can we overcome anger? Why should we create a better future when conventional science says we won't see its glory? What can I do to help humanity?
Where are my talents best placed? When will I die? Who on this planet could possibly create such an important question?

I believe the answers can be found everywhere. Look to yourself and everyone else for not only the answers you wish to have but for the questions that inspire the quest for knowledge.

Oddly enough the question that keeps coming to mind to ask my younger self is-"Why didn't you try better?"

P.S. The answer to this question could very well be the question in question.
Aida Raissi
- +1
Sep 12 2011: Youth need to ask themselves "if they have the courage to live the life that they want?" In today's society love has come to mean to suffer. A lot of youth tend to make decisions in life based on what their parents want because they love them even though that decision is NOT what they want. If youth have the courage to follow their interest despite disappointing their parents, they are much more likely to be successful in their careers and actually make a difference in the lives of the people around them.
Robert Waititu
- 0
Sep 12 2011: Am i passionate and courage enough to face the challeges of the modern world ?How is my thinking going to influence me and my community?
Harold Saxon
- 0
Sep 12 2011: Where are we going? I feel like a lot of my peers are just sort of living without thinking about the future and I think we could really benefit from some... direction, I guess.
Sophia Zhang
- 0
Sep 12 2011: As a younger ,i think i should know what i want to get it . i haven't no idea. sometimes, i think to do something that i like it . maybe that is a job .i want to try my best to do it .
Nanjira Sambuli
- 0
Sep 12 2011: We need to ask ourselves, especially youth in Africa, who are ever on a crossroads between the old and new school of thought,(what Prof. Ayittey refers to as the hippo vs cheetah generation...http://goo.gl/Dvg7p) whether through our words/silence, actions/inactions we are part of the problem or the solution.
Chance Nobra
- 0
Sep 12 2011: We need to ask ourselves how we can fix what the previous generation ruined for us I.E. The Billions of dollers of debt we are gonna to receive from them or the global warming they started with fossil fuels if you ask me that's a pretty important question
Simone Lackerbauer 100+
- 0
Host TED Translator Associate

Sep 11 2011: "How can I make a change with the technical and communicational possibilities I have today which my grandparents did not have fifty years ago?" -- New media, innovative communication technologies, virtual platforms for debates: we take all these things for granted, spend hours on polishing our Facebook profiles, but forget to ask how we could make use of them for the future of humanity.
Yusuf Habib
- 0
Sep 11 2011: all of the answers are around this temporary world. whatever question you ask, the idea of darwinism adn atheism flags the only one criteria for sucess which the the power, money, dominance and imperialism. all atheists are in the competition for these "values" whatever else they would defend verbaly. when money and conscousceness and equity nad fairness come accross money will always win. therefore, at the end of the day, you all ask one question, what shall I do to earn more money. there are certainly the reasons for that and you will find answer to this question if you analyse hisotory of europe starting from the times when Konstantin, rome empiror accepted christianity and untill the industrial revoilution.
Walter Radtke
- +1
Sep 11 2011: Wanting to fix a problem inherently changes your level of consciousness.
mega drummer2009
- +1
Sep 11 2011: "How can I help?" If we all adopted this outlook and helped each other we would be in a much better place
Jesse Stallknecht
- +1
Sep 11 2011: I would say, How can i make the world a better place through the job(s) i will choose?
Manmin Jang
- 0
Sep 11 2011: the youth of this era has confronted with the chaos world. this world doesn't give you various virtues of life.
something like 'Being just', 'Being generous', 'Sense of existence of others, other world, other time.'
so we know why we have to live with 'others' by our head, but we really don't know it by our heart.
these chaos world is breaking down 'the meaning' of the things you can't see but exists in life of mankind.
destruction of 'the meaning.' ......

So I think we should ask ourselves
'Which 'meaning' is the most valuable thing as dear as life itself to me?'
not the thing, but the meaning.
Courtney Schumacher
- 0
Sep 11 2011: "Since society will be responsible for building my life in their reactions to MY actions, how should I act so that society will accept my views, even if they differ from everyone else's?"
Kevin Chow
- +1
Sep 11 2011: "What kind of man do I want to strive to become, and what do I do to become that" Although we ask our self different questions at different points in our lives, so its a tricky question this topic is....
Bernie Espero
- +1
Sep 11 2011: 'The single most important question' is a tricky question. Personally, I think that anything important requires more than 'single question'. It is simply because we ought to know whether we are asking the right question for the right matter.

Anyway, we should be asking ourself two most important question which is 1st - 'what do we want?" and 2nd - 'what choice do we have?'

These two probably the most important questions that not only the youth but the adult should be asking themselves and the rest is only the detail.
sj smith
- +1
Sep 11 2011: The same as adults. What is my purpose and how do I achieve it.You may or may not need formal education to pursue your purpose. It may change, evolve, become achieved and need to be replaced. Not everyone's purpose is to change the world. I make things better where I can. The small things around me that people aren't noticing. I seek them and serve to fulfill them. I know that I have impacted others who have gone on to impact others. The ripple effect may create more good than I can ever know. Every great achievement can be traced down to small ones. Each step along the way someone served a purpose. Many others may find what appears to be a grander purpose. Someone's purpose may be to teach them how to achieve it.
Seo Rim Kim 100+
- +2
TED Translator Associate

Sep 11 2011: I'm a teenager, and if there's one question that's important to me, it's "Why?"

I think it's crucial to have that sense of healthy skepticism to question why the world is the way it is.
I also think if this world is open enough for me to dare ask the question "Why?" to the given information or the established "norms", it's a world where we can hope and create a better future.
Scott Guptill
- +1
Sep 11 2011: Personally I think that it's not always important to "be happy" but to be able to recognize and deal with different moods in ourselves as well as others. Sometimes I just want to be left alone and sometimes I need to just leave others alone. If we can be cognisant and accepting of each other, I guess that will help us to navigate life and leave life on earth with peace in our souls. So if the youth can ask themselves "how can I create civility and peace in this world?", they'll be doing okay in my book.
elias manortey
- 0
Sep 11 2011: how do i fix what my parents couldnt fix
Walter Radtke
- +1
Sep 10 2011: How can I fix what is broken?
- jag . 50+
  - 0
  Sep 10 2011: “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” Albert Einstein
Silvia Marinova 20+
- 0
Sep 10 2011: While we are discussing here the youth is already asking that important question: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHqFWYYOUAM&feature=related
And as I guess there's nothing much new under the sun here's the original for pleasure's sake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NXnxTNIWkc&ob=av2e
MUSIC IS GREAT, MUSIC IS GRAND!
Aidan Nickel
- 0
Sep 10 2011: I think we (youth) need to ask ourselves what will be best for mankind in the long run. I feel that we are at a point technologically where a few bad decisions could be the end of civilization. We need to ask ourselves how every decision and budget cut will affect our planet and it's inhabitants.
JIN KANG
- +1
Sep 10 2011: Who am I and are we? Where do I and we come from? Where am I and we going?
What is this world? How should I live?
Linda Varrell
- +1
Sep 10 2011: How do I make things better than I found them?