TED Talk Tuesday: Karen Armstrong

Karen Armstrong, who wrote the main article from yesterday, provides this TED Talk.  Her main premise, "let's revive the Golden Rule".  I love this idea.  Many brush off the idea as simplistic and grade-schoolesque.  Treating others as we wish to be treated somehow displays a naivete about the way the world really works.  I disagree.  If we all treated others the way we wish to be treated, we may see others as human beings and not instruments.  Most problems in our world begin the the dehumanization of other peoples- holocausts to genocides to terrorism.  I believe love and compassion will always win in the long run over hate and evil.

Enjoy!

TED Talk Tuesday: Michael Shermer

Michael Shermer writes a great column for Scientific American each month and edit Skeptic Magazine.  In this TED Talk, he looks at why people believe weird things- including hidden messages in music.  Enjoy.

TED Talk Tuesday: Ben Dunlap

The President of Wofford College, Ben Dunlap, brings his interesting dialect and oratorical skills to 2007 TED Conference.  In this talk, he talks about a Hungarian Jew who escaped a Concentration Camp in World War II and fled to South Carolina.  Sandor Teszler lived a life of passion and learning.  After auditing every class at Wofford, they asked him to teach a class.  Amazing story.

TED Talk Tuesday: Clifford Stoll

I love this guy!  Clifford Stoll reminds me of a real life Emit Brown.  He talks incredibly fast and exudes enthusiasm in his passion for science.  In the midst of his manic 17 minutes, he makes some interesting points.

I can't say too much more in preparation of this talk.  The words do not exist.  So, enjoy!

TED Talk Tuesday: Sir Ken Robinson

Today is the first day for teachers to report back to their schools in preparation for the new school year.  In that spirit, I have chosen a TED talk about education.  TED features 71 talks tagged with education.  In this talk, Sir Ken Robinson describes the necessity of a learning revolution.  Not all kids learn the same way or do the same things and we must remember that point (leading to an humorous comparison between himself and Eric Clapton).

Please enjoy and "Bring On the Learning Revolution".

TED Talk Tuesday: Joachim de Posada

This TED Talk was given by Joachim de Posada, a psychologist studying the concept of delayed gratification.  In the original experiment, kids were given a marshmallow.  However, if they could last 15 minutes without eating the marshmallow, then they would get a second one.  The results were very surprising- only 1/3 of the kids could wait the entire 15 minutes.  Even more intriguing, following the kids from the experiment later in life, that 1/3 group tended to do far better in school and had less discipline problems.

The impact of these studies carries throughout society and schools in general.  Instant gratification affects a large part of society and explains why some kids do better in school than others.  Can we teach this restraint?  Can we impart this requirement for success on our children?  I certainly hope so.  Enjoy the TED Talk, and remember:  Don't eat the marshmallow, yet!

TED Talk Tuesday: Philip Zimbardo

I enjoyed this TED Talk so much that I went out and bought the guy's book, The Lucifer Effect.  Philip Zimbardo is best known as the psychologist that ran the Stanford Prison Experiment.  In the experiment (which he describes briefly in the video and in great detail in his book), Zimbardo took a group of "normal" college age kids and put them in a prison.  Randomly, some kids became prisoners while others became the guards.  After 4 days, the prisoners suffered such extreme breakdowns, the study was cut off.  The acts of abuse by the guards in such a short time helped lead Zimbardo into a lesson about evil.  The guards were good, average kids, but in charge of a prison they morphed into power-driven, sadistic, control freaks.  In the 2000's, the good men and women of the US Army disgustingly tortured the prisoners of Abu Grab prison in Iraq.  Zimbardo's talk answers an age old question: How can good people do bad things?  Perhaps we a too quick to place ALL of the blame on the criminal.  Yes, the criminal should be punished, but some situational forces pushed him/her towards that choice.  Finally, Zimbardo offers a little hope by discussing how to train the heroes-in-waiting in all of us.

Zimbardo does a great job during this talk, and covers far more in 23 minutes than I can on this blurb.  I must warn you: some of the images are quite graphic.  For a short period, he shows some of the pictures from Abu Grab.  They are disturbing to say the least, but the horrifying images invoke a curiosity to understand how it could have happened.

Enjoy.

TED Talk Tuesday: Chip Conley

CEO Chip Conley gave an inspiring speech at the 2010 TED in February.  We often measure success in terms of income, status, friends, etc.  But is that the right way to define success.  Conley creatively suggests measuring success in terms of the intangible- happiness, health, and more.  He relates the stories of a Vietnamese maid in his motel and the impact of the King of Bhutan and their impact on effective leadership in business.

I think this applies not only to business but also to education.  Due to No Child Left Behind, schools only measure success in standardized test scores and graduation rates.  Is that truly education?  I don't think so.  A successful school not only has high test scores but also develops critical thinking, creative processes, cooperation, and collaboration.  Likewise, effective coaching does not find itself in the number of wins in a season but by the successes of the players in their lives after that final snap.

As you watch this TED talk, ask yourself if you are counting on what truly counts.

TED Talk Tuesday: Beau Lotto

In this TED Talk, Beau Lotto's demonstrates and explains optical illusions.  What we perceive is not necessarily what we see or even what other people see.  As individuals, we view the world through our own lenses, our own experiences.  As humans, we created words to describe what we see.  Sometimes, the words can get in the way of real meaning, especially when we see different things.

TED Talk Tuesday: David Gallo

For those of you who don't know what TED is, TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design.  Basically, some of the brightest minds in the world come together in Long Beach, California to discuss their work and how to make the world a better place.  The speakers are given strict time limits to discuss massive topics.  Some of the talks are humorous, inspiring, engaging, beautiful or just interesting.

This is the TED talk that began my interest in all of this.  Some blog somewhere posted a list of amazing animal videos and linked to this.  I must admit, I was utterly amazed.  David Gallo spends 5 minutes chronicling the astonishing creatures below the surface.  At this moment, public awareness of our impact on the ecosystem has skyrocketed.  So please, enjoy the wonders of nature under the sea.



Let this remind you of what will be missing in the wake of the Gulf Oil Spill crisis.  In addition, a newly published TED Talk from TEDxOilSpill can be found at this link.  If want to understand the cost of the crisis, Carl Safina lays it all on the line.