Alan Watts Podcast. Debunking the paleo diet: Christina Warinner at TEDxOU. Elizabeth Gilbert: Your elusive creative genius. Authors@Google: Kyle Johnson 'Inception and Philosophy' Dan Ariely: Why we think it's OK to cheat and steal (sometimes) Kamal Meattle: How to grow your own fresh air. VS Ramachandran: The neurons that shaped civilization. Neil Gaiman Addresses the University of the Arts Class of 2012. Authors@Google: Randall Munroe of xkcd. Dan Dennett on dangerous memes. Julia Sweeney on letting go of God. A.J. Jacobs' year of living biblically. Diane Benscoter on how cults rewire the brain.
The 10 TED Talks They Should Have Censored - By Joshua E. Keating. It's been a big week of news for TED (Technology, Education, Design) conferences -- and their self-organized TEDx offshoots. This week, TED sparked controversy over a talk on income inequality that organizers decided was too partisan to post online and made news (well, at least in these quarters) for the convening of TEDxMogadishu -- the conference's most extreme location yet. Over the years, TED talks have been a showcase for dozens of enlightening and entertaining presentations. (These include some great talks by FP contributors like Paul Collier, Tyler Cowen, and Evgeny Morozov.) Since TED began sharing its 12ish-minute knowledge nuggets for free online, it has spawned a host of imitators and may have even changed the way people give and watch presentations.
On the other hand, critics also charge that "nerd Coachella" as often as not serves as an elitist self-aggrandizement opportunity for gimmick-peddling narcissists. Joe Smith: How to Use a Paper Towel TEDxConcordiaUPortland 2012.