TED Talks

Some of you may have noticed the links to Ted.com I've posted here and on face book a few times. A friend asked my what Ted was. Since I just found out about, I thought I'd been out of the loop or something, and that everyone knew about it.

Ted was a private invitation only conference where the world leaders in many fields were invited to speak to the leaders in other fields. They could give an eighteen minute talk or presentation about their research or their field, or in the case of artists they could perform for eighteen minutes. It was a great idea encouraging experts to be able to network with and cross reference other experts.It's the printing press all over again.

The ability to exchange ideas freely and easily created the renaissance. We could use another renaissance, and Ted seemed to be helping with that. Except it was ivory tower exclusive. Not only did you have to be an intellectual giant to present, you had to be one to be in the audience as well. Ted fixed that.

All of the Ted talks are posted online and available for free to anyone with internet access and the desire. It is maybe one of the most amazing websites I've ever seen. I know everyone is super busy, but what would happen if you took eighteen minutes a week and devoted to learning from the experts? Or that little time the check out a great performance. TED