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Some of my favorite TED talks: 1. Benjamin Zander's talk about classical music and leadership. "The conductor doesn't make a sound. He depends, for his power, on his ability to make others powerful." https://t.co/ArDe7GXy7T
@blissfulchar @vgr seeing "virtuosity" and "management" in the same phrase immediately brings Benjamin Zander to mind, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic orchestra – if you haven't seen his TED talk I think you'd like it! https://t.co/izCjt331pX
2. Tim Harford's talk about The God Complex - so much of everything is really developed through trial-and-error rather than some top-down expertise - it's valuable to make interesting mistakes - corporations might be more evolved than people https://t.co/Ab1jRbExxM
@vgr I remember when I watched Tim Harford's God Complex TED talk several years ago, I find myself thinking "oh my god, we've used turbocharged trial-and-error to create entities that understand us better than we do, and effectively farm us like animals"
3. Benjamin Barber's suggestion that mayors ought to run the world - cities are more robust than nations - regardless of politics, mayors are in the business of getting things done - networks of mayors already exist and get stuff done in spite of nations https://t.co/ZYg9zAdOps
4. Hans Rosling's (RIP) beautiful, personal story about how washing machines save billions of women from endless hours of labor https://t.co/Rwf3z03pNs
5. Elizabeth Gilbert, on being a creative professional without ruining your mental health https://t.co/R7mwU0Vvo8
6. Tyler DeWitt, a high school teacher talking about the importance of storytelling in education – helping kids (and anybody, really) see how something is interesting. Frame things as exciting and interesting mysteries to solve, with genuine enthusiasm https://t.co/F89arPgCX3
7. Eric Li's comparison of the American and Chinese systems — the grand stories, meta-narratives, narrative-violating facts. It's obviously a simplistic and incomplete picture, but it's a good starting point with lots of compelling trails to explore https://t.co/cS5DOg2aR3
8. Roman Mars on the design of city flags – some are great, many are terrible, and most are a wasted opportunity for cities to rally around a great local identity, for people to feel good about. "In every bad flag, there's a good flag trying to get out." https://t.co/16i0RPbwZC
9. Eve Ensler's 2004 talk about her journey as The Vagina Monologues lady. After every show she did, women would line up to tell her about the horrors they experienced. This bit stuck with me forever: it was by *helping others* that she saved *herself* https://t.co/FvvSvC8XuM
10. Esther Perel's talk re: desire in long-term relationships - we expect an unrealistic amount from our romantic partners - sex isn't just something you do – it's a place you go, a language - the critical thing IMO is *psychological* intimacy https://t.co/2QHdO3MtYk