TED Is My New Best Friend

I've started getting into this TED Talks website, where at this conference great people/thinkers/talents from all around the world share a bit of what they've discovered and experienced in life. These range from entertaining acts, to great advances in technology, to challenging how we understand the world, to feeling the beauty around us.

I think these talks are a blessing of perspective that we should take advantage of. These individuals were invited to participate because they have important things to say and present. I have only watched a smalled percentage of these videos so far, but I will post some examples that I found interesting, with some of my thoughts afterward.

Open yourself up to the wonder, call to introspection, joy, anger, and forward thinking found in these words and testimonies.


New Insights on Poverty and Life Around the World - The impossible is possible!

This guy is really neat. Simple but incredibly self-aware and funny. He has a really neat program for comparing countries around the world in various aspects on a chart.

I think the end of the talk where he compares what different levels of income really look like, and where the life someone is living really starts to improve on the financial scale. If nothing else, pay attention to the very end where he talks about the goals and the means. I like how he rates the importance of the goals and the means; it really made me think.

Stop thinking of developing countries are going nowhere, they are often moving more forward than we realize. Look at progress rather than state. When you look at progress and the needs to attain the goal, there is hope for what seems impossible.



The future of the Internet - Interconnecting every picture taken on the web (novice or professional) to map the world.

We are currently using the world wide web at Web 2.0. I imagine that what this man is showing will heavily constitute what web 3.0 or 4.0 is all about. Taking what everyone has given and making it one through intuitive links. Experts have already said that web 3.0 will be concerned with interpreting pictures. In this evolution you will be able to find pictures similar to another one by computers analyzing the actual look of the picture. I see that going hand in hand with what this dude is presenting. Insane! Why Microsoft, why not Apple?



Fantastic Voyage Inside A Cell - Truth meets beauty inside the workers of our body.

This isn't huge on thinking, but it's very awe inspiring. You know, I like this because it's a molding together of the Easter and Western thought process. It takes our search for truth to far depths, but at the same time is doing so in a way that makes you sit back and admire.



Music With Your Whole Body - Making music more about hearing the sound with your ears.

This talk is alright until you realize something. The percussionist woman speaking is almost completely deaf. She speaks of music on another level than many of us realize. It is insightful how she encourages us to listen to what is being played by our whole body, in all of our surroundings, with all of our audience. Getting rid of all the rules and making is something moving and holistic. Anyone can be a part of music when you are putting your whole self into it, imagining it in new every time.

If you aren't a musician you may not appreciate this as much.



A Vital Story From A Photojournalist - Hard photos that tell more truth than any government would care to share.

This is a hard recap of the terrors of history over the past 20 years, documented by word and photograph from one man's account. This moving documentation is hard to watch but also necessary. It stirs up anger that must be used. This is what is happening. The world has a responsibility to take action upon information that cannot be refused.



As you navigate the site and view the videos, please leave comments about any that you found to be exceptionally moving/interesting/entertaining.