TED Talks: Deb Roy's "The Birth Of A Word"
I've recently voiced the thesis that TED Talks are aimed at pseudo-intellectuals and promote a pseudo-intellectual culture. They do not inform so much as they persuade people into following a cult of personality. I'm not saying they aren't informative at all. They can be, but I think the information is generally misleading and at the expense of a particular, emotionally-driven agenda. However, I have not seen a majority of the many, many TED talks that are out there. I don't want to jump to any conclusions, so I'm only offering this idea as a hypothesis. To make a stronger argument about TED Talks in general, a lot more Talks would have to be analyzed. (It is also important to look at how TED Talks are planned, organized and promoted, but I'll save that for another day). I know some people who claim to watch TED Talks because they offer a brief, entertaining glimpse into the future of science and technology. I question how accurate that ...