Let’s have a TED-Moment…

I’ve mentioned the TED Talks to a few friends recently and to my surprise found that one didn’t know what it was and the other thought the talks were only about technologies and therefore not interesting. So I thought that I would write a post to inform anyone who might have missed this eminent information and inspiration site what it is, and list some of the videos I think you should not miss!

When a cat smiles at you everything will be fine. Sketch from April this year.

Ted.com is a video site where “talks” by interesting people are posted, ideas worth spreading filmed at yearly conferences and spread through the internet to the whole wide world. You can download the talks as mp3 podcasts, subscribe to the RSS, view them online as video (sometimes texted in your own language!) or read/print the transcription of some talks!

Let’s have a TED-Moment

These are what I recommend that you watch right now, if you haven’t already. Now, let’s have a TED-moment:

♥ Chimamanda Adichie The danger of a single story
Writer Chimanada Adichie talks about how our world view is formed by many different stories, and how important it is to embrace diversity and to listen to both good and bad about a country – and not judge the world from “a single story”. I too believe in the power of stories, and loved this talk found in TED theme Master Storytellers! Lots more there to see.

♥ Karen Armstrong – the Charter for Compassion
Karen Armstrong is an author with provocative, original thoughts on the role of religion in the modern world. I recently read her book about Buddha’s life (it’s called just Buddha, and it’s a great read, I truly recommend it!).

♥ Bob Thurman – says we can all be buddhas
The first American to be ordained a Tibetan Monk by the Dalai Lama, Robert A.F. Thurman is talking about compassion and happiness. Among many smart things he says: “With all of us knowing everything, we’re kind of forced by technology to become Buddhas or something, to become enlightened.”

♥ Richard Dawkins – on militant atheism
Oxford professor Richard Dawkins urges all atheists to openly state their position – and to fight the incursion of the church into politics and science. A fiery, funny, powerful talk, not for the faint of heart – maybe only for the open minded? ;-)

♥ David Griffin – photography connects us
Photo director for National Geographic David Griffin knows the power of photography to connect us to our world. In his talk he shows images and talks about how we all use photos to tell our stories. Interesting!

♥ Dan Pink – on the surprising science of motivation
Career analyst Dan Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don’t: Traditional rewards aren’t always as effective as we think. Listen for illuminating stories – and maybe, a way forward. I love how he talks about how motivational freedom is, and how important to creativity and new ideas it is!

♥ Alain de Botton – A kinder, gentler philosophy of success
de Botton examines our ideas of success and failure – and questions the assumptions underlying these two judgments. Is success always earned? Is failure? He urges us all to move beyond snobbery to find true pleasure in our work.

Many time linked from other blogs, but if you have missed them, this one is a must-watch-at-once:
♥ Elizabeth Gilbert – on creative genius

I also like:

What is a moment? -a video about moments found via molskinerie [via radiolab]:

* Piano Escalator in Stockholm, more fun at Swedish rolighetsteorin.se or English the fun theory.com – because fun is more fun – and motivational obviously!

* My day yesterday where Garrett Murray has a mission for you:

Shoot video throughout a day in your life, then put it together and upload it the next day. Don’t add any music or sound effects, just use what the camera recorded. It’s easy. DO IT.

Inspirational short clip video that I would want to make a version of my own some time… How about you?

Which is your favorite video?