Digital Delights - Digital Tribes

The problem with TED Talks is that they often elevate the speaker, along with the idea, to a place of power where we seldom get a chance to offer criticism. TED Talks are the megaphones in the midst of a conversation.

I am not opposed to platforms for sharing ideas. I am not opposed to experts offering advice. I'm not against someone offering a new idea and starting a dialogue. Yet, that's not how TED Talks work. They tend to be sales pitches, offering ideas that will fix humanity. Often, they offer simplistic solutions with glamorous stories.

Yet, that's not even the real issue. The bigger problem is in the way people react to them. TED Talks become a sort of Secular Scripture offering a script to fix humanity. It is as if the TED Talk itself is a text we need to use to validate our ideas. When I tweet about vulnerability, someone will be quick to send a link to a TED Talk. If I question whether students can truly be entirely self-directed (especially in the realm of reading), someone tweets me Mitra's TED Talk on minimally invasive learning. When I question the nature of creativity and the role of limitations in fostering it, the first response is nearly always Sir Ken Robinson's famous TED Talk.