[vidoc]

TED, or the perfect display of what public speaking is today: that is, getting some kind of Tony Robbins on stage, who wont be shy of using the same tricks they learnt at some toaster club, to inspire and wow a crowd that's actually more here to enjoy their charisma rather than their ideas. TED is the absolute evidence that the powerpointization of ideas is in its terminal stage.

[FlailFast]

True that, which is sad, because charisma can legitimately lower the difficulty of understanding complex ideas; think of your best teachers/favorite professors. I wish TED was filled with more Richard Feynman (charisma * ideas) and less Tony Robbins (charisma % ideas).

[gsteinb88]

I'm not sure that Feynman is the best example here. In fact, in my experience, he's actually more of an example of the problem than the solution. While Feynman does a great job of explaining concepts if you never need to use them, I always found his lectures to be of the "captivating until you try to use them" variety.

This wasn't just my experience either -- after struggling with this as a physics undergrad for a while (after all, they're supposed to help!) I started asking around. My academic advisor, several other professors, and many students felt the same way. Feynman may get closer -- or may do more to bring common understanding to complex principles -- but his approach broke down for actually learning to /do physics/.

But I'll agree that he's a major step in the right direction; I just want to caution against the hero worship. There's no magic formula, no one person, who can make learning complex concepts easier. Some things are hard, and trying to make them seem easier can easily make them more confusing in practice.

[bananaboy]

There was a post about that exact topic on math-blog recently http://math-blog.com/2016/02/01/was-richard-feynman-a-great-...

Summary: he wasn't a great undergraduate teacher.

[gsteinb88]

That was a fantastic post, thank you for sharing. Ironically, while affirming the view I held above, it also makes me think I should -- maybe -- give them another chance now that I'm well along in graduate school as opposed to a struggling undergrad.

[ChuckMcM]

I think you should. I had a similar experience with Feynman. Who spoke with assuming a certain level of familarity but with an engaging style that let your brain skip right over what it didn't really understand. Re-reading his lectures on physics and the papers on computation, post college, was a much deeper experience than reading him in High School. Even though I enjoyed both times tremendously.

[serf]

Robert Leighton: "Feynman has a peculiar property, which is that at the time he's explaining something, it appears very clear and transparent--you can see how everything fits, and you go away feeling very good about it, as if, "Well, there's a lot of loose ends there that I want to follow up on; but boy, wasn't that great!" And about two hours later, like what they say about Chinese food, it's all gone and you're hungry again. And you don't remember what happened.[0]

[0]: Feynman's Tips on Physics: Reflections, Advice, Insights, Practice - https://books.google.com/books?id=FZ4fAQAAQBAJ&lpg=PT32&ots=...

edit: wrong name.

[mchahn]

I have read his QED book many times and I experience the same clarity when reading as you mention. Then later I lose that and am able to re-read it with the same enthusiasm I had the first time. So that property does have its advantages. (grin)

BTW, I have this same experience with many other science books for laypeople. It is very possible that I do understand them while reading but then I am unable to remember the complex thoughts.

[alexashka]

Perhaps I'm nitpicking but charisma gets people to listen, that's it.

It is not related to the quality of the content.

The problem with Tony Robbins is he's mister positive and only focused on personal improvement. These are enormous constraints that ignore the bigger picture.

Feynman is great at explaining physics because it's not wishy washy - it is also really not that interesting past the cute basics, sooner or later you have to put in the hard work.

TED is fundamentally flawed because things worth knowing - cannot all be politically correct and positive.

Once you constrain yourself to being Mr/Ms Positive only, you end up being a delusional asshole because you are denying a big chunk of life any attention.

There is no fixing TED as a result - it's more interested in money than truth.

As are most people, hence why we are where we are :)

[randycupertino]

My friend paid $5500 to go to a Tony Robbins seminar in Florida last fall- in addition to flights from SF, hotels, food, etc. She walked on coals and got to take some cool selfies with various people. When she came home, she was 7k poorer and I asked her what they talked about. She raved about the "experience" but didn't seem like she'd garnered any real insights other than to be positive and the same old The Secret garbage of visualizing the life you want. imo she should have used that 7k to chip away at her 60k debt in student loans.

[alexashka]

A lot of it is what you get from it, right?

I view Tony Robbins as a mystery - because I just can't quite figure him out.

He's rich so he doesn't have to continue. He seems genuine.

And yet, his overall message seems to largely be 'YEAH, YOU CAN DO IT! WOO!'

Just take massive action baby! Baby steps, start small, build, iterate, you can do it!

I am still not sure what the content is or if his presentation is a massive distraction.

That I can't quite tell what his overall point is worries me, and yet I can't believe that he's full of shit. So he's trying to do a good thing, he is succeeding in terms of money but maybe not so much in terms of actual results...

I don't know, Tony is a mystery remaining to be solved.

Those going to his seminars - I think they're just misguided. The steps to fix your life are not at a seminar, they're in improving your life, one step at a time. It's a life decision to strive for excellence. If you haven't come to that point and you're 30, it is probably too late.

If you have come to that point and you're 30, you don't need Tony's help.

So who's he really helping but the blow-hards who want to be 'inspirational' like him?

[chongli]

He's rich so he doesn't have to continue. He seems genuine.

I don't think the fact that he is rich and continues to work lets him off the hook. He may have simply deluded himself in the course of his touring. I think the thing we should challenge him on is whether or not he's thinking critically about what he's doing with his life. Indeed, this is what we should all be challenging ourselves on.

Self-deception is an extremely easy trap to fall into. The fact that it could happen to anybody is the reason we shouldn't let people off the hook for it. In my view, the way to truly respect somebody as a human being is to be willing to challenge them when you believe they're committing self-deception.

[alexashka]

I couldn't agree with you more.

The self-deception is that part that I haven't figured out.

I can't put my finger on what's really going on there, because I am brutally honest with myself. At the end of the day I know why I'm doing what I'm doing.

Are they delusional without being aware of it? Do they deep down know they're full of shit?

Are they hurting inside because they can sense they're full of shit but justify it to themselves that it's 'helping others' and all that?

It's like those fundamentalist religious folks who talk shit about gay people and then get caught with gay sex workers. Are people who seem goofy all like that? They know they're broken but can't help but keep the charade going or is there something else going on?

I can understand why a dude who's been a pastor his whole life has trouble letting go. That's where I imagine people who got rich off of being full of shit at some point go 'ok I'm done'.

Kind of how Bill Gates quit Microsoft and let his wife run his life, because she's not a piece of shit like he is. He had the self-awareness.

Trump seems to still be playing the game. Is it just raging ego-maniacs when they're rich? They just love the bizarre ego tripping they're involved in? I honestly can't fathom what goes on in there.

[WA]

> I view Tony Robbins as a mystery - because I just can't quite figure him out.

The same is true for typical internet marketer stuff "I teach you the secret to start your own business".

Once you're on the hook, it becomes about them and not about you or your goals anymore. Now you wonder if they truly possess that secret to a better life they claim to have.

You try their stuff, read more, buy more and always wonder if it's their process that's flawed or merely your imperfect execution.

[greggman]

I kind of view him as a coach. I know for me there are many things I could do on my own but I find them much easier with a leader/mentor.

[alexashka]

This is just an opinion so take it for what it is: Tony Robbins is a blowhard, unless your goal is to be a blowhard, he's probably not the best source of inspiration or advice.

Programmers are almost nothing like him, being so confident about things you certainly can't be that confident about, requires being delusional to a considerable degree. As long as enough people buy the shtick, everything is fine.

With programming, it's not like that, you need to be good beyond convincing others that you're good (that seems like the primary difference between people-skills and real-work skills)

So I don't know, I mean, if it's not broken don't fix it, but I'd be genuinely concerned for anyone thinking the way to their happiness and peace is predicated upon TAKING MASSIVE ACTION YEAH!

[Agustus]

A friend of mine did the same seminar, the thing that you get is positive belief in yourself to conquer anything. This may wane, but if you are down on yourself, Tony Robbins will turn you around.

[ryanobjc]

This is exactly my thoughts on what's wrong with TED.

It's not in the pursuit of the truth. Therefore, it's in the pursuit of status.

You can see this among those who wave around TED talks they have seen as some kind of currency. "Oh have you seen the TED talk about Y? It's so amazing!"

But also, by their nature, the talks cant dive deep. People are there to be amused and kind of learn, but real education is difficult. TED isn't difficult.

[randycupertino]

That's why the "Ted Talk about Nothing" is one of my favorites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S0FDjFBj8o

Their manner of speaking reminds me of American Dad making fun of Ira Glass. Why is pausing??! Doesn't he know what he's going to say next??? AAAAHH. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUvQdoOEDGw

[alexashka]

Wow that talk about nothing is really well done :)

[areyouforreal]

See also: Charlie Brooker's How To Report The News https://youtu.be/aHun58mz3vI

[specialist]

The problem with Tony Robbins...

is that he's peddling dangerously wrong beliefs to gullible rubes.

A coworker came back from one his events telling me all sorts of fruity crap. Like how the germ theory for disease is bunk. So apparently I gave myself cancer with negative thoughts (blame the victim).

That flipped my bozo bit for Tony Robbins.

I love gifted, charismatic, motivational speakers. Sometimes called leaders or actors or politicians. But they shouldn't profit from causing others harm.

[alexashka]

It is pompous entertainment. But then again, I can't help but think of what else a modern conference can be but that.

There's a programming conference in my city, a thousand bucks a ticket.

All the videos are going to be put online afterwards. Why would I spend a thousand dollars for the privilege of sitting through them with no ability to fast forward?

'Networking' and all that bullshit right? As if we can't organize people to come hang out at a pub with everyone paying their tab at the end of the night?

[lsc]

>It is pompous entertainment. But then again, I can't help but think of what else a modern conference can be but that.

Huh. now, I've only been to technical conferences, for open source operating systems, but the only 'charismatic speakers' you get stay on the sales floor where they belong. I suspect that there is an inverse relationship between the specialized knowledge of the conference attendees and the 'charisma' required of the speakers.

[snewk]

so, i have a speaking engagement at a local TEDx event next weekend. I think my topic is both interesting and educational, and the way its presented will (hopefully) get people thinking about the subject in a new way. what do i do? cancel?

[ccallebs]

I think the point is there's a very low signal:noise ratio when it comes to TEDx talks. Do your topic and knock it out of the park. It should raise the aggregate quality of available talks.

[dredmorbius]

If nothing else, it's practice and exposure for you. If your talk's truly worthwhile, you've raised the value proposition for others. If it fits the mold, well, there's that then.

[DonHopkins]

Troll them with a great talk like "How to Deconstruct Almost Anything". [1]

"Academics get paid for being clever, not for being right." -- Donald Norman

http://www.fudco.com/chip/deconstr.html

[snewk]

I am a troll at heart, but over the last few months i've become friends with the event organizers. As much as trolling would be fun, I feel it would be a betrayal of their trust.

[jakobegger]

Why cancel? Even if it's true that people come for charisma rather than ideas, it's still an honour that people want to hear you speak.

Personally, I consider TED a form of high quality entertainment, and while I don't think it's changing the world, I do have a lot of respect for the people giving talks.

If I could talk like the people at TED, and was invited to speak about a topic dear to me, there's no way I'd turn down the offer.

[Spooky23]

Don't forget that any TED speaker must master some inspiration-y hand gesture to look like a visionary in the still photo preview.

[eutectic]

I don't think this is a new phenomenon, or that there's any reason to suspect it's getting worse. As long as charisma works people will use it, even if they have nothing useful to say.

[johnchristopher]

What does it say about the attendants considering how much the tickets are priced ?