Ideas worth spreading

TED: Technology Entertainment Design

I’ve always been blown away by Ted talks.  Think of a place where the greatest thinkers, speakers, and innovators of our time gather and share their ideas with one another; that’s TED.  It’s like Justice League, but instead of Flash, Superman, Batman, and Wonderwoman putting their heads together, it’s some of the smartest and most interesting people on the planet.

TED’s scope is broad.  However, they’re extremely successful in their mission, succinctly “Spreading Ideas.”

TED has featured engineers, politicians, musicians, magicians, neurosurgeons, graphic designers, and directors among others.  Each speaker has about 20 minutes to speak.  In that allotted time, I don’t think a single speaker has ever ceased to inspire, inform, or wow me.

Visit: ted.com

Here are a few videos to get you started:

JJ Abrams Producer/Writer/Actor/Director/Composer traces how much his love of unseen mystery influences his work.

Dirty Jobs host Mark Rowe tells some insightful stories about the nature of hardwork. (And how he had to castrate sheep once.)

Cognitive scientist, psychologist, and author Steven Pinker  has an interesting argument: violence has actually declined from Biblical times to the present…despite how many shootings you hear about on nightly news.

Best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell talks about the nature of choice and happiness by blowing your socks off with a fascinating story about…spaghetti sauce?

Alisa Miller, head of Public Radio International, in her talk “Why we know less than ever about the world”