TED Community » Robert Grimm

More About Me

I'm passionate about

all things linguistics

An idea worth spreading

You may not be right about how the world works. People tend to forget that and become entrenched in their conditioning to a point where they lack the mental flexibility required to think outside the box. Be more mentally flexible!

Talk to me about

science fiction, computers, books

Comments

• TEDCred score: +23.00 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A reply on Talk: Rebecca Saxe: How we read each other's minds

  Sep 11 2009: I can see what you mean, but dont you think that for the discipline to develop, they need to do basic research like that? As Rebecca says, its still a very young field, studying the distincitve features of the brain that make us human.

• A comment on Talk: Gordon Brown: Wiring a web for global good

  Jul 29 2009: Most, if not all, of the anger directed at Gordon seems have to do with the fact that he is a politician. But what if we all pretended he wasnt a politician? Lets just say hes another speaker who%u2019s trying to convey an idea. Decontextualize the idea, as it were. Seen from that perspective, I actually think this talk isn%u2019t too bad.
  
  But as soon as I direct my attention to the fact that he%u2019s a head of government, I immediately become wary of the hypocrisy and showmanship politicians are known to betray. (And how else could you make it as a politician, if not through hypocrisy and showmanship, to be fair.)
  
  Ultimately its probably a bad idea to have heads of states speak at TED, because this turns the whole thing into a platform for them to win some votes, or to be popular with the geeks, simply by virtue of their being there.
  
  I mean, just look at the comments so far. Most of them are about Gordon as a politician, not his ideas %u2013 which is what TED is supposed to be all about.
• +1

  A comment on Talk: Gordon Brown: Wiring a web for global good

  Jul 29 2009: Most, if not all, of the anger directed at Gordon seems have to do with the fact that he is a politician. But what if we all pretended he wasn%u2019t a politician? Let%u2019s just say he%u2019s another speaker who%u2019s trying to convey an idea. Decontextualize the idea, as it were. Seen from that perspective, I actually think this talk isn%u2019t too bad.
  
  But as soon as I direct my attention to the fact that he%u2019s a head of government, I immediately become wary of the hypocrisy and showmanship politicians are known to betray. (And how else could you make it as a politician, if not through hypocrisy and showmanship, to be fair.)
  
  Ultimately it%u2019s probably a bad idea to have heads of states speak at TED, because this turns the whole thing into a platform for them to win some votes, or to be popular with the geeks, simply by virtue of their being there.
  
  I mean, just look at the comments so far. Most of them are about Gordon as a politician, not his ideas %u2013 which is what TED%u2019s supposed to be all about.