TED.com

[jayseven]

I know several of you guys know of this site already, but recently I've been spending an hour or so before bed watching anything and everything on here. Perhaps it's the subliminal effects of teh cameo it has on the ipad adverts, I don't know for sure.

 

For those who don't know, TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and the whole idea is that TED puts on conferences and invites people to come and talk about their field of expertise.

 

I tend to go for the videos labelled 'fascinating' as they are truly thought provoking. Some of the videos I can remember enjoying are below.

 

The Intelligence of Crows

Hacker and writer Joshua Klein is fascinated by crows. (Notice the gleam of intelligence in their little black eyes?) After a long amateur study of corvid behavior, he's come up with an elegant machine that may form a new bond between animal and human.

 

The Birth of a Word

MIT researcher Deb Roy wanted to understand how his infant son learned language -- so he wired up his house with videocameras to catch every moment (with exceptions) of his son's life, then parsed 90,000 hours of home video to watch "gaaaa" slowly turn into "water." Astonishing, data-rich research with deep implications for how we learn.

 

Optical Illusions Show How We See

Beau Lotto's color games puzzle your vision, but they also spotlight what you can't normally see: how your brain works. This fun, first-hand look at your own versatile sense of sight reveals how evolution tints your perception of what's really out there.

 

What Hallucination Reveals About Our Minds

Neurologist and author Oliver Sacks brings our attention to Charles Bonnet syndrome -- when visually impaired people experience lucid hallucinations. He describes the experiences of his patients in heartwarming detail and walks us through the biology of this under-reported phenomenon.

 

(Gleaned from the 'most viewed' list :P)

 

One of the things I love is the comprehensive subtitling (not that I use more than one option, there :P) which means I can watch it late at night on mute, if need be!

 

Basically you can start by seeing what interests you already (Moot has done a video, that may be something to search for it you like) - but quickly you'll see that you can watch any of the videos and come away feeling like you've learned something new. I watched videos about trying to find the platonic foot, how bacteria communicates, the modern boundaries that define countries, tomato sauce, string theory...

 

Talks are largely restricted to 15 minute time limits, and you'll be surprised how compelling they are. Has anyone else got a favourite they wish to share, perhaps?

Edited December 16, 2011 by jayseven

[Yvonne]

Watching birth of a word now. I'd heard the concept before but never got round to watching it. So much useful data!

[jayseven]

That video goes from "aww cute!" to "ohmigod companies must be tripping over each other for this method of data gathering" -- The videos tend to show you some quirky idea that, if applied correctly, means world-changing stuff. There was a video I saw yesterday from 1984 (lol) that predicted much of today's motion sensitive/touchscreen tech that was fantastic.

[dwarf]

My favourites:

 

 

Why do we like an original painting better than a forgery? Psychologist Paul Bloom argues that human beings are essentialists -- that our beliefs about the history of an object change how we experience it, not simply as an illusion, but as a deep feature of what pleasure (and pain) is.

 

 

 

Sarah Kaminsky tells the extraordinary story of her father Adolpho and his activity during World War II -- using his ingenuity and talent for forgery to save lives.

I cried a tad at this one.

 

 

I would cite more but that would involve more clicky-clicky. A lot more clicky-clicky.

[datamonkey]

Yeah got this on my iPad, there's some interesting stuff on there...

[edza]

I was at the one in Dublin I think in 2009. Came away all hopeful for humanity.

Everyone should watch these vids as they really do show the human race for what it can be, bleedin awesome.

 

....and when you're finished with them, watch Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman and even Brian Cox (who is as close to Sagan as we have right now).

[Diageo]

I thought this one was very interesting. Blurring the line between living and non-living.

 

http://www.ted.com/talks/martin_hanczyc_the_line_between_life_and_not_life.html

[Frank]

I'm sifting my way through a lot of them now -- they are fantastic! good to pass the time with.

[LaIkMoSh]

I remember seeing this one some years ago, its about, but it talks about global warming and biofuels also, i think is great!

 

it seem im to noob to post links... it wont allow me until i get 15 posts...

can anyone post it for me please?

its titled Juan Enriquez wants to grow energy

[jayseven]

 

There ya go I'll watch it this evening.

[bob]

I should really get into watching some of these. I can pretend i'm working while doing it!