16 December 2009

How to make a splash in social media: Alexis Ohanian on TED.com

In a funny, rapid-fire 4 minutes, Alexis Ohanian of Reddit tells the real-life fable of one humpback whale's rise to Web stardom. The lesson of Mister Splashy Pants is a shoo-in classic for meme-makers and marketers in the Facebook age. (Recorded at TEDIndia, November 2009, Mysore, India. Duration: 4:27)

Twitter URL: http://on.ted.com/344I

Watch Alexis Ohanian's talk on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 500+ TEDTalks.

Technorati tags: Alexis Ohanian

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17 June 2009

Q&A with Diane Benscoter: Joining, leaving and ultimately defeating the cult

Today, we posted Diane Benscoter's revealing talk on being a Moonie and how cult thought can lead people to do the unthinkable. It's a topic that's not often talked about and that fascinates many, so, to bring you more from Diane the TEDBlog caught up with her for an interview. We talked about her time with the Moonies, her efforts as a deprogrammer and her ideas about how we should be fighting cults and extremism around the world.

Could you speak a little more about how you came to join the Moonies?

I had just turned 17. I was very idealistic. The Vietnam War really bothered me. I had a good friend with a brother in Vietnam. I was determined to find a community that would stop the madness. I went off in search of something like that. I went off on this Walk for World Peace. It was a five day walk, and during the entire walk there would be two people walking with me at all times, talking about this new world they were going to build, saying that I was special and chosen by God to be a part of this, otherwise I wouldn’t be there. There were lectures every night. And slowly I came to believe that they were right, and that Sun Myung Moon was the second coming of the Messiah.

What was it like once you were in the group? What was it like to live as a Moonie?

It was constantly reinforced that we had a purpose that was much higher than that of anyone else in the world. It was pretty appealing to be a part of something like that. But, I missed my freedom. There were times when I really missed being like the people I saw on the street every day. But, it was constantly reinforced that I was saving the world, so I trusted my beliefs and gave up my freedom.

I spent most of my days fundraising -- selling candy and flowers. I started in Nebraska and began living in their Nebraska center. I cut my hair off and cut my ties with my family. I was shipped off not long after I joined, for training at a “monastery” in upstate New York. Then I began my mission -- fundraising. We lived in vans and went from place to place selling candy and flowers. We also went back for training over and over, and the trainings were pretty long. One of them was 120 days. They reinforced beliefs and erased any doubts during their training. They kept the circular logic intact.

What was this experience like for your family?

They were desperate. You see, it wasn’t like I came from a family that was dysfunctional or abusive. I came from a normal, loving home. My mother was especially desperate to get me out. And when they did talk to me, all I wanted was to get them to join. I thought Satan was using them, was talking through them. They suffered greatly. Now that I’m a parent, I can’t imagine how hard it was for them.

They did everything they could. My mom really wanted to have me deprogrammed, my dad wasn’t as sure. It’s a drastic measure. And what if it didn’t work? He was afraid that if they tried, and it didn’t work, that they might lose me forever.

Could you speak a little bit about deprogramming? You were deprogrammed and became a deprogrammer, but it’s a rather controversial practice and many think that it brings up ethical issues relating to free will.

Yeah, I have a lot to say on this topic, but I’ll try to give the main points first. One -- involuntary deprogrammings, which I was involved with, aren’t really taking place anymore and definitely not as they were. Looking back on it, I think there are ethical issues there. Still, I totally understand why people did it, why I did it -- desperation, not knowing what to do, love of their child. You’re dealing with a problem that hasn’t been defined psychologically, so you can’t lock people in a mental hospital for it.

Now, I had one foot in and one foot out of the Moonies when I was deprogrammed. My faith was already wavering. Also, I had a loving family. But, to pull a belief system away from someone who doesn’t have the correct support system can be very dangerous. It’s like chemotherapy. Chemotherapy many times cures cancer, but it can also kill people. So, I’m not going to say that deprogramming is the way. And that‘s why I’ve gone in the direction of prevention.

Also, some people came to deprogramming more professionally that others. Some made mistakes and some used really admirable techniques. For the most part, in the ones that I was a part of, we just talked to the person and made sure that they ate and slept well. We were trying to introduce rational thought and a healthy mental state. We presented no new philosophy and no desire for them to take up any of our personal beliefs. We simply tried to explain that much of what they had been told was not true and was possibly brainwashing. We based our techniques on psychological theory, especially the work of Robert Lifton.

READ MORE: Diane talks about how to distinguish a cult from a group, what it feels like to lose your critical thinking and how we can combat extremism -- using memes.

Technorati tags: Diane Benscoter, meme, Q&A, religion, TED2009

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04 March 2009

TED ringtones now available!

That catchy music that introduces every TEDTalk is now available as free ringtones!

Both the current "TEDTalks Phase II" theme and the familiar "TEDTalks Classic" jingle are available. (And, very soon, we may add a few priceless TEDTalks clips that passersby are bound to find interesting as they emanate from a purse or pocket. Tell us your ideas!)

It's a great way to increase your random TED encounters and surprise connections.

Download them as MP3s and transfer them to your mobile device. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the M4R version and sync it to your phone through iTunes.

You can use the links on the sidebar to the right of the TED Blog to download, or use these links:
+ TEDTalks Classic tune in MP3 >>
+ TEDTalks Classic tune in M4R >>
+ TEDTalks Phase II in MP3 >>
+ TEDTalks Phase II in M4R >>

(TEDTalks themes were composed and recorded by Michael Montes.)

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23 October 2008

Remember Dan Dennett's ant? Even more zombie animals

A glorious slideshow from Discover discusses 8 zombie animals and the parasites that control their minds and/or bodies. Snails, spiders, crabs and people -- we all are at risk of zombification from tiny forces that know how to make us do things.

Philosopher Dan Dennett suggests that -- just as these parasites force their host to act in ways that benefit the parasite -- so do certain ideas find a home inside our brains and make us act in ways that don't directly benefit us. To hear more about this phenomenon, watch Dan Dennett's TEDTalk about zombie ants and the dangerous power of memes.

Or just watch some zombies do yoga.

Image: Steve Yanoviak/University of Arkansas at Little Rock. From Discover.

Technorati tags: Dan Dennett, meme, Susan Blackmore

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03 June 2008

Building a new kind of meme: Susan Blackmore on TED.com

Susan Blackmore studies memes: ideas that replicate themselves, passing from brain to brain like a physical virus. At TED2008, Blackmore makes a bold new argument: Humanity has spawned a new category of meme, the "teme," which spreads itself via technology -- and invents brand-new ways to keep itself alive. (Recorded February 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 19:28.)

Watch Susan Blackmore's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.

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Technorati tags: meme, Richard Dawkins, Susan Blackmore

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03 March 2008

A new meme unfolds

Photo: David Geller/whatcounts

Memeticist Susan Blackmore uses the hotel-bathroom toilet-paper fold as an example of a useless meme -- a meme that has spread throughout the world, even though there is no human reason for it to exist. The persistence of this meme easily disproves the comfortable notion that we humans only spread ideas that are useful or interesting -- it shows that, once a meme takes on life, it spreads itself.

Inspired by Blackmore's research, origamist and TEDster Bruno Bowden created a combinatorial meme -- linking Blackmore's ideas with the sophisticated folding techniques discussed by origami master Robert J. Lang onstage at TED. See photo at left.

+ To learn more about dangerous memes, listen to
Dan Dennett's awesome 2002 TEDTalk >>

+ To learn more about toilet-paper origami, check out this devoted student of the art >>

+ To see what happened when Ze Frank was attacked by this meme on Day 4 of TED@Aspen, visit our Flickr set >>

Technorati tags: Dan Dennett, meme, Robert J. Lang, Susan Blackmore, Ze Frank

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03 July 2007

Dan Dennett on dangerous memes, on TED.com

Here's one of those talks that can change your view of the world forever. Starting with the deceptively simple story of an ant, Dan Dennett unleashes a dazzling sequence of ideas, making a powerful case for the existence of "memes" -- a term coined by Richard Dawkins for mental concepts that are literally alive and capable of spreading from brain to brain.
On the way, look out for:
• a powerful one-sentence secret of happiness
• a compelling insight into terrorists' motivation
• a chilling view of Islam
And just when you think you know where the talk's heading, it dramatically shifts direction and questions some of western culture's fundamental assumptions.
This. Is. Unmissable. (Recorded February 2002 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 15:39) Read more about Dan Dennett on TED.com.

NEW: Read the transcript >>

Watch this talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.

Technorati tags: Dan Dennett, meme, TED2002, TEDTalks

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