Introducing: TEDTalk Tuesdays

[Occulus]

Each year, in Monterey, California, 1000 extraordinary people gather for an invitation-only conference. At this conference, known as TED, they share their ideas for a more hopeful future, their new, human-centered product designs, artistic performances, and so forth. From their "About" page:

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

This site makes the best talks and performances from TED available to the public, for free. More than 100 talks from our archive are now available, with more added each week. These videos are released under a Creative Commons license, so they can be freely shared and reposted.

Our mission: Spreading ideas.

Beginning today and continuing each Tuesday at noon, I will be shining a spotlight on one of these TEDTalks here in GD. I'd like to inject some sanity and rational discussion of hopeful or inspirational topics in the General Discussion forum- and with everything that's been posted in the past couple weeks, I say a good stiff dose of those things is just what DU needs right now! Without further delay, then, it's time for TEDTALKTUESDAY:

RICHARDDAWKINS

Talk title: The universe is queerer than we can suppose (Video runtime: 22:08)



Richard Dawkins lecturing on his book The God

Wiki bio

About this Talk

Biologist Richard Dawkins makes a case for "thinking the improbable" by looking at how our human frame of reference -- the things we can perceive with our five senses, and understand with our eight-pound brain -- limits our understanding of the universe. Think of it: We can't see atoms, we can't see infrared light, we can't hear ultrasonic frequencies, but we know without a doubt that they exist. What else is out there that we can't yet perceive -- what dimensions of space, what aspects of time, what forms of life? Dawkins calls the human-size frame of reference "Middle World": between the microcosmos of atoms and the macrocosmos of the universe. Middle World thinking limits our ability to see the universe in terms of the improbable, whereas "in the vastness of astronomical space and geological time, that which seems impossible in Middle World might turn out to be inevitable."

Do you think Dawkins is right, that we may be able to understand the realms of the very very tiny and the incredibly huge if we expose children early on to those concepts, greatly simplified? If so, what sort of effect would that have a generation or two from now on human understanding of those realms? Is it even possible for humans to fully understand these things, the very small and the very large, or are we condemned simply by our very natures to being if not completely ignorant of some universal truths, but also unable to ever reach a full understanding?

Are we condemned to never being able to (for just one example) travel at non-relativistic speeds because we cannot understand- ever- how it's done? Is a full understanding of all things in the universe eventually within our grasp, or are there concepts and truths that are forever out of reach?

[IndyOp]

1. TEDTalks ROCK!!

I've found a few gems on the TED site that I think about often. I am at work now and need to be, well... working. But I'll come back later and post a few of my favs.

I'll watch Richard later tonight. I've been a Dawkins fan since:

[villager]

2. been surprised, up to now, that more TED talks haven't been posted on DU

Thanks....

:thumbsup:

[Occulus]

3. So was I...

I just had to recognize the site here somehow, and I thought a weekly selection would be worth throwing out there.

My head has repeatedly exploded while watching these talks...

[Occulus]

4. .

Giving a single, hard kick so more people can see the talk...

[Occulus]

5. .

And one last kickety-kick for the evening crowd...

[Lorien]

6. I love TED talks. I download them on iTunes

they are great to watch in waiting rooms on a video iPod. Also catch "The future we will create; inside the world of TED" on DVD, available at Netflix. Great stuff.

[Lorien]

7. And let's not forget Al Gore:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/1

[ralps]

8. Here are some of my favorite TED Talks

Talks William McDonough: The wisdom of designing Cradle to Cradle
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/104

Talks Burt Rutan: Entrepreneurs are the future of space flight
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/4

Talks Jeff Han: Unveiling the genius of multi-touch interface design
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/65

Talks David Pogue: When it comes to tech, simplicity sells
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/7

Talks Will Wright: Toys that make worlds
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/146

:hi: :loveya: :hug: :pals: :woohoo:

[Occulus]

9. I liked that Will Wright one...

Spore just looks awesome!

[ralps]

11. Yes it does kgfnally!

:hi: :loveya: :hug: :pals: :woohoo:

[robinlynne]

10. cool! Thank-you.