TED
URL: http://www.ted.com/

I‘ve been hooked to this website the past few weeks. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. In 1984, people from those three worlds came together in a conference to discuss their respective expertise and in order to find ways for possible convergences. The first TED included demos of the newly released Macintosh computer and Sony compact disc, while mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot demonstrated how to map coastlines with his newly discovered fractals and AI guru Marvin Minsky outlined his powerful new model of the mind.

Since that time, the annual conference has brought together scientists, philosophers, musicians, religious leaders, philanthropists and many others. TED brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give “the talk of their lives” (in 18 minutes or less). TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Frank Gehry, Jane Goodall, Al Gore, Billy Graham, Peter Gabriel, Quincy Jones, Bono. And yet, as TED conference participants have found out, the real stars have been the unexpected: Li Lu, a key organizer of the Tiananmen Square student protest; Aimee Mullins, a Paralympics competitor who tried out a new pair of artificial legs onstage; or Jennifer Lin, a 14-year-old pianist whose 6-minute improvisation moved the audience to tears.

I personally liked the talks of Amy Tan (who talked about where creativity is found), and Sir Ken Robinson (who was really funny and talked about how schools actually kill creativity). But the killer talk is one by Eve Ensler who discussed how she got into this whole journey called the Vagina Monologues. I have uploaded it in my multiply page, so check these talks out.

For teaching us that what we have is a global community that seeks an ever deeper understanding of the world, and that we can turn this understanding into a better future for us all, AngPeregrino Recommends TED this week.