This winter I was introduced to TED talks a collection of speeches by today’s most intelligent people. The range of topics are fascinating so I strongly encourage anyone to check it out.
Anyway, one of the first speeches I heard/saw (because you can, if you choose, just download the sound without the video as a podcast) was given in 2006 by Sir Ken Robinson. As soon as I saw it I was hooked. He’s brilliant.
Before I go any further, I should also say that in order to be brilliant in my book, you also have to be funny. For me, Robinson clicked on all cylinders.
So when I saw his speech at TED talks plugged on Spurgeonblog, one of my favorites, I conked myself on the noggin and thought, “Why didn’t I do that?”
And since I don’t think I can say it any better, Chris Spurgeon puts it this way:
For more than a year I’ve been forcing friends to watch this 20-minute presentation by creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson on what’s wrong with our educational system. Now it’s your turn. His talk (filmed at the 2006 TED Conference) is funny, profound, inspirational, inflammatory, and paradigm shifting Watch it and see if you don’t also want to throw out our K-12 and college curricula and start over.
Anyway, I was inspired enough by this speech to write this column titled “Why Stupidity is a Good Thing,” for a local paper. I should have linked to Robinson’s talk back then.
Oh well. Better late than never.
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2 responses so far ↓
1 Mark // May 7, 2007 at 9:55 pm
I love this video! Thanks for sharing the link.
Interesting, my post today is along the same lines, only highlighting David Lynch. I think you will enjoy this one as well.
Thanks Mark,
Yes, I started watching your video during my prep at school today, but was interrupted before I could get to the good stuff. I have to get back to it. The synchronicity is interesting. Hmmm.
Chris
2 Herman Najoli // May 10, 2007 at 8:23 pm
He c’s things differently. Instead of placing the c inside the reams of paper (as education teaches us), he places the c in-front of the ream to produce the cream of creativity. While our systems are reacting to children being left behind, he is placing the c infront of the word and thus creating a new understanding of a different way of seeing things. Instead of radially rotating around the outer fringes of education, he is jumping right in the middle and placing the c right there thus radically redefining intelligence and talent. We need to c differently:
ream - cream
reacting - creating
radially - radically
His homework has come in on time but lots of us are too busy writing on the chalkboard and thus can’t see him. Oh, that I may have the creativity to accept the things I can change and the intelligence to change the things that were created when men knew so little about potential.
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