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Ask HN: What's your favorite TED Talk?
195 points by biggitybones on June 20, 2010 | hide | past | favorite | 87 comments
I've been going through the thread from about a year and a half ago that has a myriad of great TED talks, watching one or two of them every few nights. (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=442022)

I'm starting to run out on that thread, and I'd love to get a good compilation going that includes some from the past 2 conferences.

So, HN - what are you favorite TED talks? I'll get it started with these: Sir Ken's Robinson's talk on nurturing creativity in education (http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html) and Inspiring Action through leadership (http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html)



Paul Stamets on 6 ways mushrooms can save the world: http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_stamets_on_6_ways_mushrooms_ca...

This talk is not about hallucinogenic mushrooms. It really opened my eyes to the awesome potential of fungi, and how this potential is largely ignored because of the connotation to "hippy" and "drugs." Fungi is just generally misunderstood. I was absolutely amazed at how thorough these clean-up jobs were, at how well the fungi consumed, not only the waste, but the toxins in the waste.

Stamets recently wrote his fungi take to cleaning oil spills: http://www.fungi.com/mycotech/petroleum_problem.html


I have to concur in a comment here because this TED talk was so mind blowing for me I feel I need to write down my opinions about it somewhere. The way this guy talks about mushrooms is extremely earnest and its clear he's both incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about his field. It's almost as though he can't get the information out of his mouth and into the crowd fast enough, and what's more is that he speaks like he has discovered and is revealing for the first time the world's most incredible secrets - which in a way he is. It's not over dramatic, just genuine and awesome. Watch this video!


It's too bad he didn't discuss as well the potentials of hallucinogenic mushrooms, but thank you for this fascinating link! I suppose that would have taken an entire talk of its own though.


Mike Rowe celebrates dirty jobs: http://www.ted.com/talks/mike_rowe_celebrates_dirty_jobs.htm...

A surprisingly powerful ode to people who just do the work. Our jobs may not be dirty but the lessons are still interesting and applicable; connecting to startups isn't that hard.

I like many of the other linked talks too, but as of my writing this one was not posted.


That was fantastic, and I don't think I would have ever come across it otherwise.

Thank you.


I didn't like it. Rowe has a disingenuously self-deprecating speaking style, where he says again and again how much he "got wrong", but the subtext is how smart he is for realizing certain things that the rest of us supposedly haven't. And his big insight is that for every Steve Jobs, we need a bunch of workers to actually build the iPods? Wow, golly.

I also hate the verbal tic he demonstrates, which is becoming depressingly common, of saying "right" after every few sentences in a story. For example: "I was working on a crab boat, right? And this big wave comes over the side, right?" Etc. It's a lazy way of trying to psychologically condition the audience into agreeing with you without actually doing the hard rhetorical work of convincing them. Drives me nuts.


Wow. I'm almost done watching iti right now, and didn't catch him saying 'right?' at all; maybe it happens in the earlier part, but in the last few minutes, none at all. If he's saying it, I hardly think it's meant as some subtle pysch trick.

Nor did I get the feeling that his claims of being wrong was in any way disingenuous. At worst it's a ploy to structure his talk.

Every TED talk works off the assumption that the speaker has some insight worth sharing with the audience, presumably non-obvious or non-trivial realizations, so of course he's going to try say something worth thinking about. There's nothing subtext about it; it's the whole point of being on stage.

My takeaway was not simply "for every Steve Jobs, we need a bunch of workers to actually build the iPods", but that there are a lot of seemingly oddball jobs done by happy people who did not bother to "follow their bliss", that conventional wisdom on what work might make you happy or how work should be approached might very well be wrong, and that plain old labor should not be looked down on.


I thought the notion that plain old labor can be a more fulfilling path than following your dreams was a tacked-on message designed to help him wrap up his talk. But in fact, it's a naive, perhaps even willfully misleading suggestion.

The examples Rowe used to back up this idea were unlikely mavericks who managed to turn undesirable or unremarkable jobs into fantastically successful businesses. Those people are just as rare, if not more so, as those who find success by "following their dreams".

Ordinary workers aren't millionaire entrepreneurs; they're janitors, or sewer workers, or Foxconn assembly line drones. Yet that's what "real work" looks like. And I notice Rowe isn't quitting his job as a TV show personality in favor of joining the road crews who "whistle while they work."

The best thing I can say about Rowe is that he ranks up there with Malcolm Gladwell in his ability to throw around a bunch of unrelated contentions and anecdotes and pretend to tie them all together with a facile and unsubstantiated thesis.


>The best thing I can say about Rowe is that he ranks up there with Malcolm Gladwell in his ability to throw around a bunch of unrelated contentions and anecdotes and pretend to tie them all together with a facile and unsubstantiated thesis.

I think that's unfair to Rowe. He seems quite genuinely to believe two things:

1) The manual and/or menial labor required to keep society working is unfairly maligned, and this can become a problem if no one is willing to do it because it's not respected,

and

2) During his show he has met people who are perfectly happy doing these jobs, so it IS entirely possible to be happy doing them.

I agree that the message felt a bit tacked on in that talk, but it is genuine. He seems to be dedicating himself to spreading that message (see http://www.mikeroweworks.com/) - I think he tried to pick the most interesting examples he could find for this talk, which turned out to be atypical, but most of the people he meets on his show are far from millionaire entrepreneurs.

I say it's unfair to Rowe because Malcolm Gladwell's theses are more pop science for entertainment. I don't think Rowe ever claims any kind of scientific method or results - he is more campaigning for his beliefs and trying to cause what he sees as necessary change in society.


In his video interview for Reddit, I thought Rowe came across as exceedingly genuine and self-aware of his position as actor and television personality, rather than worker. He also expounds on the things he has to say in the TED talk in a way that made me think the "lesson" was not just tacked on, but rather something he has spent a lot of time thinking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxudGb4VYL0


What Rowe is saying is that without those people, you wouldn't have the freedom to "follow your passion." I don't see why you're so critical of what he's saying.

Manual labor is rewarding. It may not scale, but my guess is you'll feel a lot better internally when you finish building that shed than when you create a feature for your web app. He is celebrating our capacity to more or less 'suck it up' in order to get a task accomplished, and the sort of character that builds in oneself.

How does this translate to something you may be working on? There are tasks with running a business that you may not particularly enjoy, but it's your job to just get it done.

Respect hose who do the work that you don't want to. Embrace then, because they have a bigger impact in your life than you seen to acknowledge.


While I find Rowe perfectly charming and don't agree that he's disingenuous about anything in the talk I do agree in general about people being indulgent with the "right" question appended at the end of every statement. I've noticed this in many forms ("right", "yeah", "eh", "okay", etc...) for years and have basically the same analysis of it, that it conditions for agreement and is a cheap tactic, even if the speaker is relatively unconscious of it. There must be a term for it in linguistics. Going to look it up.


That was a fabulous talk! Today there are far too many people (myself sometimes included) who think that some jobs are "beneath" them. Maybe the are, but someone still has to do them.

Hats off to all the folks out there who do dirty jobs!


This talk can't be watched enough. I introduced it to a number of my past professors who are still using it in their undergrad and grad classes.


Hans Rosling with the best stats you've ever seen:

http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_y...


Jill Bolte Taylor's stroke of insight http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke...

A neuroscientist that suffered from a stroke talked about the experience and the interesting conclusion that came from it.


This is one of those talks you either love or hate. I was surprised to see it was one of the highest rated TED talks (on another site) because for some reason I found it rather irritating.


She's actually describing the archetypal enlightenment experience that many world religions (Buddhism in particular) attempt to convey.

As such trying to put the experience into words is going to be unsatisfying and even absurd. It's vaguely akin to describing the taste of a hamburger to someone who's never eaten beef or bread (or pickles, cheese, etc...). Words cannot suffice.


What I find irritating is that a neuroscientist would be so easily drawn into mysterious, magical thinking about what was going on in her head.

Of course, I suppose I might see things differently if a blood clot turned half of my brain off for a while.


It seems likely that most people would see things differently were they to have her experience. I like the talk, but I understand why some people do not. But I would not say she was "so easily" drawn into mysterious or magical thinking. She was drawn into it by a massive, life-changing medical event that attacked and damaged the organ which creates her mind. I think she's using the only words, metaphors, and ideas she has available to describe what is probably indescribable at base.


I just watched this one a few days ago... probably one of the best TED talks I've seen. It's amazing the way she could remember and understand what she was going through and explain it as she does in this talk.


http://www.ted.com/talks/vilayanur_ramachandran_on_your_mind... ("Vilayanur Ramachandran tells us what brain damage can reveal about the connection between celebral tissue and the mind, using three startling delusions as examples. .. Dr Ramachandran is the author of the author of Phantoms in the Brain (the basis for a Nova special), A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness and The Man with the Phantom Twin: Adventures in the Neuroscience of the Human Brain")

Very hacker like, brilliant, work.


This is also my favorite TED talk. Ramachandran has come up with some clever ways to study and heal the brain. His mirror box therapy is not only simple and effective, but his prerequisite theory was accurate yet initially based on a tiny amount of evidence.

Here's a short talk by Ramachandran on mirror neurons: http://www.ted.com/talks/vs_ramachandran_the_neurons_that_sh...


The mirror neurons talk is awesome - I saw it several months ago - thanks for reminding me about it!


I highly recommend reading his book Phantoms in the Brain. Fascinating and approachable introduction to the kind of neuroscience--some of the talk's examples come from this book--that he talks about.


I can't believe no one has mentioned Ken Robinson's talk yet!

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ken_robinson_says_schools_...

Brilliant (and funny) talk about how schools suck the creativity out of students, but also how this doesn't have to be the case. My favorite TED Talk of all time.


Well. The author had mentioned it himself.


I'll second this, wholeheartedly.


The only TED talk that has ever brought tears to my eyes - Jamie Oliver's: http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html


Wow, that's a very good talk. He's a bit of a bleeding heart, but in such a way, that it's clear to me he couldn't be as effective as he is if he wasn't. There is also a lot of implication on what makes a good talk here. Thanks.


I love Jamie Oliver and highly recommend his show Food Revolution. It's 100x more moving than his talk.

(just tried to find it on Hulu and it's not there, wish I could provide a DL)


It's on ABC's website:

http://abc.go.com/shows/jamie-olivers-food-revolution


My Favorite Ted Talk is Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation. http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html


It's a good talk, but if you go read the research he's citing, he took a great deal of liberties. :-|


Where can I find the research and the liberties he used?

I really liked the RSA drawed-up version of the talk, and I thought it was based on real hard science..


scholar.google, search for the authors names he cites


I don't know if they're my favorite, but Rory Sutherland's two are excellent, and I think well worth watching especially if you ever think you might be trying to sell something to someone.

Life lessons from an ad man: (http://www.ted.com/talks/rory_sutherland_life_lessons_from_a...)

Sweat the small stuff: (http://www.ted.com/talks/rory_sutherland_sweat_the_small_stu...)


It seems to me that the word for the fourth quadrant in his latter talk is: "hacking".


Great question. It's tough for me to single out just one favorite, though this one has had a large impact on me. It's from Dan Buettner on his study of Blue Zones and why inhabitants regularly live long lives:

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_buettner_how_to_live_to_be_100....

This talk from Robert Full also had an impact, because it reminded me to look at unrelated fields for inspiration & solutions, like as the field of biology:

http://www.ted.com/talks/robert_full_learning_from_the_gecko...

On a side note, an exercise I've had fun doing with friends lately is to ask them who among our own social circles we would like to see speak, if we held our own TED talk. And what topics we would like to speak about ourselves. It has spurned a lot of interesting discussions amongst ourselves.


I enjoyed Daniel Kahneman on "The riddle of experience vs memory", which is about the ways people structure their lives for experiences they think they will enjoy remembering, rather than things they'd necessarily enjoy doing at the time. There's also a good anecdote about how making a colonoscopy slightly more unpleasant cam leave the patient with a more favorable recollection.

http://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_kahneman_the_riddle_of_exper...


Liz Gilbert's talk on Creative Genius (http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html) is really underrated. Not only does it cover a fascinating subject, it's also a beautifully done speech. Gilbert skims across the surface of many subjects, and in the final few minutes ties it all together into one cohesive whole. Poignant, thoughtful, and entertaining - as all speeches should aspire to be.


The intelligence of crows has always been my favorite. Joshua Klein talks about a cleaver way to create a mutually beneficial relationship with a species usually considered to be a pest.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/joshua_klein_on_the_intel...


Larry Lessig on laws that choke creativity:

http://www.ted.com/talks/larry_lessig_says_the_law_is_strang...


I liked (in the order they show up in my del.icio.us stream):

* Dan Buettner How to live to be 100 http://blog.ted.com/2010/01/how_to_live_to.php

* Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html

* Kamal Meattle on how to grow fresh air http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/kamal_meattle_on_how_to_g...

* Ian Dunbar on dog-friendly dog training http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ian_dunbar_on_dog_friendl...

* Mark Bittman on what's wrong with what we eat http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/mark_bittman_on_what_s_wr...

* Hans Rosling shows the best stats you've ever seen http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_be...

* Sugata Mitra shows how kids teach themselves http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/sugata_mitra_shows_how_ki...

* Alan Russell on regenerating our bodies http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/alan_russell_on_regenerat...

* Robert Lang folds way-new origami http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/robert_lang_folds_way_new...

* John Maeda: Simplicity patterns http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/172/

Somehow I never bookmarked

* Dan Gilbert's talks http://www.ted.com/speakers/dan_gilbert.html

* Dan Ariely's talks http://www.ted.com/speakers/dan_ariely.html

Which I've now remedied

There was also one about regenerating local ecosystems that I somehow can't seem to find right now.


My best is The Danger of a Single Story by Chimamanda Adichie.

She was able to articulate the feeling that stereotyped people have. Unfortunately, we are all guilty in some way knowingly or unknowingly. It is a must watch.

http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_...


Sheila Patek on the fastest animal on Earth. One thing a particularily like about this talk is that it seems she doesn't realize how captivating she is: http://www.ted.com/talks/sheila_patek_clocks_the_fastest_ani...


Always liked Thomas Barnett's talk on the Pentagon's new map for peace. Interesting ideas. Delivers with some humor.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/thomas_barnett_draws_a_new...


That was great, thanks.

Asides from being very funny, I have never heard of a force like the two-sided, Leviathian / SysAdmin one that he describes.

Attributing some of the failure in Iraq, namely the persistent Leviathian force and the non-existant SysAdmin force is very compelling, to say the least.


I really like Sherwin Nuland's talk on electroshock therapy: http://www.ted.com/talks/sherwin_nuland_on_electroshock_ther...

I've never seen anyone write about this talk, but it is intensely personal story of his depression and recovery through electroshock therapy.


Pranav Mistry: The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology.Pranav Mistry demos several tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data -- including a deep look at his SixthSense device and a new, paradigm-shifting paper "laptop." In an onstage Q&A, Mistry says he'll open-source the software behind SixthSense, to open its possibilities to all. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/pranav_mistry_the_thrillin...


SixthSense is the most promising system of augmenting reality I have seen.


I have liked many of the TED talks, can't point out a single favorite.

This is one I saw recently - It's good. And quite relevant to entrepreneurs - http://www.ted.com/talks/cameron_herold_let_s_raise_kids_to_...


I've always found the talk "Adam Savage's Obsessions" to be inspiring. His eye for detail and relentless obsession for getting things right are contagious.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/adam_savage_s_obsessions....


For me, it's a toss up between Adam's talk and Mike Rowe's talk.

The best part about Adam is his amazing energy and enthusiasm for everything he does.


Results of and a link to Google spreadsheet of TED talks in order of "engagement". http://blog.postrank.com/2010/05/and-the-most-engaging-ted-t...


The code that was used to create the spreadsheet: http://gist.github.com/391312


Gary Flake: is Pivot a turning point for web exploration? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT_x9s67yWA

Because it illustrates why metadata is important, necessary, and its power.


Hands down the all time best, Richard Dawkins on our "queer" universe:

http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_dawkins_on_our_queer_univer...

Aubrey de Grey on aging is also pretty good:

http://www.ted.com/talks/aubrey_de_grey_says_we_can_avoid_ag...


I enjoyed all three of Juan Enriquez's talks, Kevin Kelly on how technology evolves and Ray Kurzweil on how technology will transform us. Together, those 5 talks greatly changed the way I view the world.

http://www.ted.com/talks/juan_enriquez_wants_to_grow_energy.... http://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_kelly_on_how_technology_evolv... http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ray_kurzweil_on_how_techno...


My favourite is probably Barry Schwartz on the paradox of choice: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/barry_schwartz_on_the_para...


Derek Sivers: Weird, or just different http://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_weird_or_just_differen...

I just think this is the way we should look at the world


Benjamin Zander on classical music and shining eyes :) http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/benjamin_zander_on_music_...

And a rather controversial but spectacular idea by Wubbo Ockels on time as a creation of human mind as a response to gravity http://www.tedxamsterdam.com/2009/video-wubbo-ockels-on-time...


Brian Cox http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdwOlk6HIVc&feature=playe...


Fascinating, this post acts as an aggregator for the best TED talks from the point of view of my favorite community of intelectuals: hackernews =)


I used to keep a txt file of my favorite TED Talks. A while ago my mom was having issues with iWeb so I used my TED list as test content in order to trouble shoot. It's just links with some notes about why I liked it or what made it memorable for me but I still reference it every now and then when I'm in need of inspiration.

http://chrisovercash.com


Daniel Gilbert asks, Why are we happy? in this TED talk. http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy.h...

He also did a great interview on the Colbert Report that never fails to crack me up.


http://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_kelly_on_the_next_5_000_days_...

Kevin Kelly on the next 5,000 days of the web


Ben Dunlap talks about a passionate life: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ben_dunlap_talks_about_a_...

"This is what I'm passionate about. It is precisely this. It is this inextinguishable, undaunted appetite for learning and experience, no matter how risible, no matter how esoteric, no matter how seditious it might seem."


Matthieu Ricard - Habits of Happiness http://www.ted.com/talks/matthieu_ricard_on_the_habits_of_ha...

"What is happiness, and how can we all get some? Biochemist turned Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard says we can train our minds in habits of well-being, to generate a true sense of serenity and fulfillment."


My favorite one is definitely Simon Sinek's talk on 'How great leaders inspire action'.

If you want to see a collection of inspiring videos on social entrepreneurship you can visit this site:

http://trendguardian.blogspot.com/search/label/Social%20Entr...


Ben Zander (conductor of the Boston Philharmonic) gives an amazing presentation on "Music and Passion." It is my favorite TED talk besides Simon Sinek's, which you mentioned.

http://www.ted.com/talks/benjamin_zander_on_music_and_passio...


Clifford Stoll is mine.


"And then there's this thing! ... but I don't want to talk about that today..."


"Those of you who are physicists, I hear you rolling your eyes..."


I like talks by scientists who talk about their jobs. This one is especially captivating for me:

http://www.ted.com/talks/rebecca_saxe_how_brains_make_moral_...

I also like answers to questions after this talk.


There are a lot of good ones, but my favorite is still Erin McKean's talk about dictionaries:

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/erin_mckean_redefines_the_...


Easily my favorite is Dean Kamen's "The emotion behind invention." He has at least two TED talks, this is his longer, more complete one.

http://blog.ted.com/2010/04/the_emotion_beh.php


Personally, my favorite TED talk is David Eggers' TED wish http://www.ted.com/talks/dave_eggers_makes_his_ted_prize_wis...


There are a couple the deal with choice and happiness that I found very enlightening. Matthieu Ricard's may be one of them, and was already mentioned. There is at least one other and maybe more on that general subject though.


My most recent favorite:

Itay Talgam: Lead like the great conductors: http://www.ted.com/talks/itay_talgam_lead_like_the_great_con...


Carolyn Porco about the Cassini–Huygens mission to Saturn: http://www.ted.com/talks/carolyn_porco_flies_us_to_saturn.ht...

Really passionate.


I really like Elisabeth Pisani's talk on HIV prevention and rationality. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=442022


I like Mark Roth's talk on suspended animation.


For those who want to see it: http://www.ted.com/talks/mark_roth_suspended_animation.html


this one indeed http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/663


Erin Mckean speaking about the dictionary http://www.ted.com/talks/erin_mckean_redefines_the_dictionar... .. watching Erin make the dictionary seem so excited and passionate about something I had never quite considered, that helped pulled me out of a deep funk and get excited about problems I was solving again.

Miru Kim speaking about her Urban Exploration Photograpy: http://blog.ted.com/2009/02/making_art_of_n.php


Dan Gilbert on happiness - it changed my life.

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy.h...




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