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2016-01-20 Steve Gardiner The Amazing TED Talks

What if you could bring the world deepest thinkers, the best speakers right into your home or classroom? How much could you or your students learn from them?

You can do exactly that very easily and for free. If that is not enough, each speaker is required to distill the speech into 18 minutes or less. You get the best of each speaker and topic, pay nothing, and learn much.

 

They are called TED Talks and you can find them at http://www.ted.com/ where they promise to bring “together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives.”

 

It only takes a few minutes to search for a talk by topic, category, or speaker and you can listen to as many as you like. The list of speakers is a who's who of the brightest and most talented living today. They include Sir Ken Robinson, Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates, Douglas Adams, Malcolm Gladwell, Jane Goodall, and many more. They keep adding talks all the time.

 

A couple of my favorites include Bill Stone's talk about exploring the deepest caves on earth and his dream of leading an expedition to mine lunar ice for space fuel. His enthusiasm is infectious, and you'll be ready to sign up for his expeditions by the end of his talk. See it at

 

http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_stone_explores_the_earth_and_space.html

 

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's talk is spellbinding. Taylor is a brain researcher who suffered a stroke, and as the stoke was happening, she couldn't turn off the scientist inside her. She examined her own stroke and recounts her rehabilitation in an amazing presentation. Find her at

 

http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

 

In a new view of the world of psychology, Dr. Martin Seligman is changing the research. Instead of looking at what makes people have mental illnesses and psychological problems, he is examining what makes them healthy, happy, and mentally well. He calls it positive psychology, and he describes it at

 

http://www.ted.com/talks/martin_seligman_on_the_state_of_psychology.html

 

TED describes their resource as “Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world.” Try them. They are excellent. WARNING: You will get hooked.


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