[albertTJames]

Meh. The article makes unsubstantiated statements in a matter-of-fact style, rendering the whole piece useless.

Among those, the key statement: TED talks ideas do not impact our world, is, in my view, completely false, and would at least deserve a closer examination. What does the author expect ? That in the months after Bill Gates makes a dramatic intervention countries all over the wolrd have prioritized his ideas, devised new contingency plans, voted on them, and implemented them ? How fast is fast enough ? Those things take time, and changing minds is only the first but crucial step in a long series of changes in the cultural, political, and legal domain.

Changing opinions and improving cognitive flexibility around stale issues is high impact.