If anybody ever believed that TED talks were going to change the world, they were hopelessly naive and deluded. In fact, if anybody ever believed that one singular thing was ever going to change the world, they were hopelessly naive and deluded.

I've seen some good TED talks when they first started, but they quickly degenerated into...well...into letting just about anybody give one.

I'm sure there are enjoyable talks on a case by case level, but most just seem like self-parody.

I will remind everyone that back in the '00's, this site ate them up and honestly, they were of better quality back that.

This is awesome. I can't believe TED allowed it.

http://shoeblogs.com/wordpress/images/average_TED_atendee.jpg

We should really kick this Ted guys ass!

I came to the realization that Karl Pilkington has better ideas than almost any TED speaker.

I love when the grand point of a talk is "stuff is hards, we needs to work harders." Always a useful reminder.

As I leared recently from TED talks: "Imagination is more important that knowledge." - John Lennon

Nice.

I feel like TED is indicative of the larger collapse of American liberalism taking place below the surface. The entire conception of a social/technical elite of systems managers that view their purpose in life as keeping society running smoothly "for the good of everyone" looks like it's mercifully in its death throes.

I liked this, and I'm sure that this is the wrong site to quibble with the a few details, like the "toward a queer history of computer science" line making him sound like any old bullshit academic.
Also, maybe middlebrow and infotainment can stop being such pejoratives someday? He wants to say that too many TED talks are bullshit ideas and solutions for giving the warm fuzzies to a certain crowd.
But it's just that middlebrow infotainment is the medium of much bullshit. It isn't the bullshit itself. Saying 'make the speech not to hard to understand and enjoyable enough' isn't bullshit, it's just not appropriate for all kinds of speeches.

As for 'megachurch', well.... they have awesome lighting and music.

Also, I'm wondering if this is just the Book of Job that TED needed for it to incorporate its own criticism?

If you want to understand why TED is so weird and stilted, remember thatmost people who attend TED events probably attended Steve Jobs product unveils, and the trappings of TED (the little earpiece microphone, the slideshow, the way every single sermon climaxes with a drop to a hushed, sincere whisper and "...if I leave you with JUST ONE THING, IT'S...") are designed to replicated the Steve Jobs style. It's why the Catholic liturgy is patterned not on Christ and his disciples, but St. Bernard's particular mode of dress, preferred manner of presenting the Eucharist, and homiletics.

It's weird how this guy tells people to stop blindly agreeing with everything they heard in a TED talk and the comments are mostly just people agreeing with this dude.

Basically, I think that TED just follows Sturgeon's law just like everything else. Much like every other genera which fell prey to that law it took time before things got shitty. Also, there are still really good TED talks on occasion (I remember a couple linguistics talks I heard that were particularly well researched and well delivered).

In short, fuck Malcolm Gladwell, "The Tipping Point" was stupid. "Blink" was okay though...