The more we rely on technology to make us efficient, the fewer skills we have to confront the unexpected, says writer and entrepreneur Margaret Heffernan. In this Ted Talk she shares why we need less tech and more messy human skills like imagination, humility, bravery, to solve problems in business, government and life in an unpredictable age.
Category Archives: TedTalks
Before Avatar…a curious boy
James Cameron’s big-budget (and even bigger-grossing) films create unreal worlds all their own. In this ted talk, he reveals his childhood fascination with the fantastic from reading science fiction to deep-sea diving and how it ultimately drove the success of his blockbuster hits.
How generational stereotypes hold us back at work
Today’s workforce has a number of different generations within it. But are our assumptions about each other holding us back from working and communicating better? Social psychologist Leah Georges shows how we’re more similar than different and offers helpful tactics for navigating the multigenerational workplace.
How to rob a bank (from the inside that is)
In this engaging talk, William Black reveals the best way to rob a bank from the inside. Black is a former bank regulator who’s seen firsthand how banking systems can be used to commit fraud and other tricky tactics that can threaten the international economy.
How We Talk About Love
In love, we fall. We’re struck, we’re crushed, we swoon. We burn with passion. Love makes us crazy and makes us sick. Our hearts ache, and then they break. Talking about love in this way fundamentally shapes how we experience it, says writer Mandy Len Catron. In this Ted talk Catron highlights a different metaphor for love that may help us find more joy, and less suffering, in it.
Dress: Fancy
POTD #18 is Dress: Fancy. Exploring the popularity, prevalence and power of fancy dress this podcast is hosted by Lucy Clayton (who was in our Ted Talk earlier today)
The True Power of a Good Outfit
In this thought-provoking talk, writer and podcaster Lucy Clayton examines the power of ordinary people in extraordinary outfits and describes how we can repurpose fashion in service of political expression.
Creative Houses from Reclaimed Stuff
In this funny and inspiring talk, Dan Phillips tours us through a dozen homes he’s built in Texas using recycled and reclaimed materials in wildly creative ways. It’s worth a watch, and will make you consider how, and what, materials you’ll choose to build with.
To Eliminate Waste We Need To Rediscover Thrift
When you toss a used food container, broken toy or old pair of socks into the trash, those things inevitably end up in ever-growing landfills. But we can get smarter about the way we make, and remake, our products. In this fascinating Ted Talk Andrew Dent shares exciting examples of thrift – the idea of using and reusing what you need so you don’t have to purchase anything new.
A forgotten space-aged technology could change how we grow food.
We’re heading for a world population of 10 billion people but what will we all eat? Lisa Dyson has rediscovered an idea developed by NASA in the 1960s for deep-space travel, and it could be a key to reinventing how we grow food.