EPT
I recently discovered this website, ted.com . It has a collection of talks from prominent academics and professionals. They have the potential to be very informative, insightful, and inspiring.
Below I'll briefly review the videos that I've seen so far, so that others can decide whether they are worth watching. I'll use the following rating system:
3 - Not worth watching. You'd might as well read TLnet forums.
4 - Good, if not necessarily worth watching. (Still much better than TLnet forums, though!)
5 - Definitely worth watching.
6 - Highly recommended.
Chances are, anyone reading this list will enjoy watching anything rated 4 or above. Don't get me wrong: I enjoyed watching ALL of these videos. The rating system is there to separate the good ones from the outstanding ones.
In order of increasing rating, here are the videos I have seen so far:
Talks - Carolyn Porco: Fly me to the moons of Saturn
4.25 / 6
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/carolyn_porco_flies_us_to_saturn.html
If you're interested in space exploration, then you'll probably enjoy this video. She briefly talks about two of Saturn's moons: Titan and Enceladus. She shows some pictures of them and tells us some facts about them. The information is a little bit outdated, unfortunately, e.g. liquid has now been confirmed on Titan. Also, it's not super-informative: you could learn a lot more from those moons' Wikipedia pages.
Talks - Chris Jordan: Picturing excess
4.5 / 6
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/chris_jordan_pictures_some_shocking_stats.html
The first half is a series of scary statistics about the US, with pictures that are intended to help us visualize and understand the enormous numbers we are talking about. The second half is more about effecting change in our (well, in the American) culture. Overall, some of the stats are pretty interesting. It's not particularly great but I still think you'll enjoy it.
Talks - Helen Fisher: The brain in love
4.5 / 6
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/helen_fisher_studies_the_brain_in_love.html
Starts off slow with a bunch of quotes from poems and such. Then talks briefly about brain activity in people who have recently broken up. Talks about how romantic love is similar to an addiction. Next, some stuff I don't remember. Finally, she concludes with an interesting fact: women gain intimacy from looking at each other and talking together, whereas men gain intimacy from doing things side-by-side. I think this last fact was the most intriguing thing I took away from the video... but since you've heard it now, I'm not sure if the rest of the video is worth your time to watch. Up to you.
Talks - Mark Bittman: What's wrong with what we eat
4.75 / 6
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/mark_bittman_on_what_s_wrong_with_what_we_eat.html
At first you might think this is going to be about becoming a vegetarian, or trying to reduce global warming. But actually, its primary focus is looking at how unhealthy the average American diet has become. There's a part where he talks about what the American diet used to be like in the 1900s, and how it has degraded to the state it's in today. He talks about the causes of the current state of poor eating, such as the influence of big businesses and the convenience of not having to cook. He mentions how "organic" foods like "organic salmon" can fail to be any better. Lastly, he talks about how we should change our diets to eat healthier. Overall, I'd say it's worth watching if you're not already very concerned with how you eat.
Talks - A.J. Jacobs: My year of living biblically
5.25 / 6
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/a_j_jacobs_year_of_living_biblically.html
He starts by talking about some of his earlier projects. Then he talks about his recent project where he tried to spend one year living by the rules and laws of the Bible, interpreted literally. Example: the Bible says "be fruitful and multiply" and he actually had twins during this time period! The most educational part is the last half, where he talks about 5 or 6 things that he learned during this experiment. I think they are important for Catholics and Christians to hear, but also equally important for atheists and agnostics to hear as well. It's far from a Bible-bashing video: he talks about both the benefits and the drawbacks of living in this manner. Overall, a very educational and insightful video.
Talks - Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?
5.75 / 6
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
The only downside to this video is that this guy goes off on a lot of anecdotal tangents and, though they're amusing, they can sometimes be distracting. Other than that, it's full of information and insight. Among other things, he talks about how education systems around the world place most emphasis on math and language, and least emphasis on the arts, especially drama and dance. He points out how children are initially not afraid of making mistakes, but over time we teach them to be afraid of making mistakes. This reminded me of the current state of the games industry, where very few companies are willing to take risks, and as a result our games become much less creative. There was so much content in this video that I cannot summarize it all. I definitely recommend it.
