With the increased teaching of English around the globe, world languages are dying at a rate of one every 14 days. In her classic talk from TEDxDubai, Patricia Ryan — an English speaker who has lived and taught in Arabic countries for over 30 years — argues that the focus on English is limiting creative […]Read more
It may be the age of big data, but it’s still very hard to know how many children were born in Bolivia or Botswana last year, or to know something as simple as which clinics in the developing world have medicine and which don’t. Until recently, there was only one way to find answers to […]
At TED2013 this spring, 34 passionate speakers made it onto the program via a worldwide, 14-city, six-continent Talent Search. The theme of the conference was “The Young. The Wise. The Undiscovered,” and the speakers discovered through the Talent Search Tour gave talks that sent the conference crowd flying to their feet. See: Rose George, Phil […]
“When I was growing up, I was told a story that explained all I ever needed to know about humanity. It went like this,” says Eric X. Li in today’s provocative talk, given at TEDGlobal 2013. “All human societies develop in a linear progression, beginning with primitive society, than slave society, than feudalism, capitalism, socialism […]
By Yasheng Huang Earlier this year, economist Yasheng Huang (watch his 2011 TED Talk) sparred with Eric X. Li in the pages of Foreign Affairs on a similar topic to today’s TED Talk. The TED Blog asked Huang to expand on his argument in his ongoing conversation with Li. Imagine confusing the following two statements from […]
Hyeonseo Lee’s story is a tale bound to pull at your heartstrings. She’s a North Korean refugee — and while helping her family flee the country in 2009, Lee’s mother and brother were detained in a Laos prison. At TED2013, Lee described how it was an enormously generous gift from a stranger that helped her […]
This short post collects messages and reflections on Rita Pierson, who passed away Friday in Texas. If Dr. Pierson’s talk or work touched your life, please share in the comments below. So very sorry to have this terrible news. I only met Dr. Pearson on the day of the recording and was deeply impressed as […]
The TED community was deeply saddened to hear that Rita Pierson, whose powerful, funny, heartfelt talk kicked off TED Talks Education just a few months ago, died today in Texas, at age 61. It was truly an honor to help share her message with the world. Hers is truly an idea worth spreading: that every child, rich […]
Your life’s turning point — whether it happens in an instant or is the culmination of gradual change — could occur tomorrow. Would you be ready for it? How would you reconcile your former self with the person you’ve become? In this week’s TED Radio Hour, we hear from TED speakers forever changed by major and […]
Audience members at TEDxWWU, an event at Western Washington University, played a cathartic game of Jenga. The TEDx’ers built and broke down structures made of Jenga blocks on which they had written ideas for how they would like to “renovate” their lives. The theme of this event in Bellingham, WA: “Renovations: Building Our Future.” This […]
Roy Amara’s classic quote goes: “We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.” In today’s talk from TED2013, Rodney Brooks invokes this law to talk about robots. While people panic about robots taking their jobs over the course of the next few […]
In the past week, vast protests sparked by a bus-fare increase have rocked Brazil, taking its leaders – and the world – by surprise. TED Fellow and conservation biologist Juliana M Ferreira offers an insider’s perspective on what led to this transformational moment. With all the eyes of the world on Brazil due to the […]
“If there is this big difference, with some people worth everything and other people worth nothing, where do you come?” So asks Richard Wilkinson in the trailer for the forthcoming documentary based on his influential book The Spirit Level. Wilkinson, an epidemiologist, spent his career examining health issues caused or worsened by poverty and inequality — […]