Listen to 43 TED Talks

JR’s TED Prize wish: Use art to turn the world inside out

This talk was recommended to me by Stephen. I found it very interesting and inspirational. The premise of the talk is whether art can change the world, but what I really got out of it is that doing what is important to you and listening to your heart (which I think both are fundamental aspects of true art) is what really can change, or rather improve the world. Great talk, and if you have time, I would highly recommend watching it.

Dave Meslin: The antidote to apathy

I really enjoyed this talk. Apathy is something I struggle with quite a bit, and it was an interesting perspective on the topic. Most of the examples were given in the context of being Canadian, but I could relate to them because it’s very similar here in the United States, as well.

Graham Hill: Why I’m a weekday vegetarian

A short talk about some of the health, moral, and environmental benefits of eating less meat and a proposed step or solution for those who have had trouble committing to being a full time vegetarian.

_{Note: I’m not completely sure I buy into the idea really. I’ve spent the last year or so learning quite a bit about a paleo based diet, and there is a lot of compelling evidence that meat and animal fat isn’t as bad for us as traditional thought tends to suggest. Actually, I’m starting to think that a much higher protein based diet is actually very beneficial. I honestly think it’s the overly processed foods, excess starches, over consumption of grains, and sugars that are the main culprits.}

_{However, I have often struggled with the moral implications of meat eating. I often think about the conditions that animals are raised in, the hormones and steroids they are given, and how the animals are slaughtered. I also have read a great deal about how it is more efficient to grow plant based food, from both a monetary and carbon footprint point of view, and that vegetarianism is a more sustainable way of feeding the impoverished nations of the world.}

_{On the other hand, there are a lot of animal species that simply exist in modern times because they are livestock. I don’t think there are too many wild cows, chickens, sheep, goats, and pigs left in the world today. Those species would either cease to exist or we would have to essentially take new steps to preserve them if the world suddenly decided to spontaneously become 100% vegetarian (not very likely, I know, but I don’t know how sustainable and environmentally responsible it would be if the whole decided to become vegetarian in one giant leap, as well). Also, I have been influenced quite a bit by Native American thought, and the traditional belief amongst tribal people is that we as humans fit into the natural cycle of things as a predator and that we should, respectfully, engage our environment and food sources and give thanks for them and the symbiotic relationship that we have with them.}

_{Honestly, the entire food system, both agriculture and livestock, is a mess: workers aren’t treated well (I know this has been a very widely talked about topic lately, but a significant amount of people working to make sure you have veggies to eat or animal products are working in practically slave like conditions), soil is depleted, animals aren’t treated well, dangerous chemicals are used, water sources and air quality is harmed, our food is over processed (a great deal of what we eat today wouldn’t even have been recognizable as food a few generations ago), and the list could go on and on… and honestly, “organic” and “free range” isn’t much better in many ways because those terms are often very vague and even when implemented properly it just increases the cost of food and further widens the gap between those who can eat well and those who have to live with hunger and poverty. It’s not an easy issue to talk about, think about, or to solve. I’ll be the first to admit, we have to eat to survive and food can and should be a great source of pleasure. What we eat is probably the greatest medicine or poison that we take in, as well. It’s a complicated topic. Whether a person chooses to eat meat or not is a personal choice that you could probably justify one way or another in countless ways, but I think everyone, especially myself, needs to be more mindful and aware of what it takes to put food on the plate.}

Sasha Dichter: The Generosity Experiment

Another great talk on generosity. A neat idea for an experiment, but the talk also delves into the pragmatic issues that come along with philanthropy while at the same time emphasizing that we shouldn’t lose our heart for generosity.

Michael Norton: How to buy happiness

A great, thought provoking talk about the relationship between happiness and generosity.

Matthieu Ricard on the Habits of Happiness

Another great TED talk that left me with quite a bit to think about.

Matt Cutts: Try something new for 30 days

A short (4 minutes?) talk that I found inspiring. It’s about getting started on goals, whether it be just to try something out or to fully integrate it into your life. The premises is based on how long it takes to really develop or break a habit and it also allows you to kind of modulate time so that you don’t have to feel like you need to do something forever or let it fully define your life (sometimes I hesitate to do things because I see it as permanent, but that, of course is lack of time perspective). The speaker also points out how it makes time pass more slowly and more memorably because you are living deliberately (Thoreau would be happy). :)

Julian Baggini: Is there a real you?

Not everything in this talk was new to me. I’ve long believed that you are what you do, a sort of collection that makes up the whole… but this talk gave me a few new things to think about in what makes up a real person. I like how he said that you aren’t so much a thing but rather a process. And while I would disagree to a certain point there there are certain intrinsic aspects of who I am, I do believe that for a large part, I am evolving and changing, and unlike a natural process, like a water fall carving out rock, I can control, to a great extent, the direction of the change and evolution but making conscious choices about what I do and what types of people and experiences I let into my life (more or less, anyways).

Jane McGonigal: Gaming can make a better world

A very interesting talk about the values and skills that can be learned from gaming and how they can be transferred into the real world.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on Flow

A very interesting talk about finding the state of mind where we are most happy and where we find the most meaning from what we do… that almost trance like state where we lose ourselves in the ecstasy of what we are doing. According to the speak, finding this state is about balancing a skilled/stimulating task with physical and/or mental challenges. One of the statements he makes is that contentment comes from two things: we must enjoy what we are doing, otherwise we will not be very good at it, and we must find that what we are doing is a worthwhile contribution.