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posted by n1 on Tuesday March 17 2015, @06:55PM   Printer-friendly
from the expensive-echo-chamber dept.

Megan Hustad writes in the NYT that while it’s not exactly fair to say that the TED conference series and web video function like an organized church, understanding the parallel structures is useful for conversations about faith, how susceptible we humans remain to the cadences of missionary zeal, and how the TED style with its promise of progress, is as manipulative as the orthodoxies it is intended to upset. According to Hustad, a great TED talk is reminiscent of a tent revival sermon, a gathering of the curious and the hungry. "A persistent human problem is introduced, one that, as the speaker gently explains, has deeper roots and wider implications than most listeners are prepared to admit," says Hustad. "Once everyone has been confronted with this evidence of entropy, contemplated life’s fragility and the elusiveness of inner peace, a decision is called for: Will you remain complacent, or change?" TED talks routinely present problems of huge scale and scope — we imprison too many people; the rain forest is dying; look at all this garbage; we’re unhappy; we have Big Data and aren’t sure what to do with it — then wrap up tidily and tinily. Do this. Stop doing that. Buy an app that will help you do this other thing. "I never imagined that the Baptists I knew in my youth would come to seem mellow, almost slackers by comparison," concludes Hustad. "Of course they promoted Jesus as a once-and-done, plug-and-play solver of problems — another questionable approach."

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 18 2015, @12:24AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 18 2015, @12:24AM (#159131)

    To be entirely accurate there is evidence that poor people really are less intelligent than rich people, for a very specific measure of intelligence.

    [citation needed]

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 18 2015, @12:56AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 18 2015, @12:56AM (#159140)

    Either way, there is a level of intelligence waaaay beyond that where one can't have wealth. To live with wealth you basically have to limit your world to a tiny circle jerk of rich friends. This while empathy and intellect comes from salving hard problems in the face of death. Rich people never leave the comfort zone. If they stick their head outside ever so briefly it makes them scream like little girls. This is why TED talks have to comfort the viewer that the problem is going to be fixed without their involvement.

    It is why it is called Entertainment.

    They're in the boredom killing business!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmdHIVrDBVQ [youtube.com]

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 18 2015, @01:45AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 18 2015, @01:45AM (#159155)

      I still feel like there is something missing, like, i dunno...maybe an actual citation? Or, are you just going to make this bald assertion and expect that the rest of us won't notice while you strike a self-confident pose? You could redeem yourself by providing actual evidence for your claim, but I'm guessing you have none. Go ahead, prove me wrong. I dare you!