[andrewflnr]

Besides deliberate job skill training and radical religious conversion, what educational media satisfy the "obvious change in lifestyle" test? Like any nonfictional media, the value is in perspective. Maybe you criticize newspapers and Scientific American on the same grounds, but otherwise I suspect you're holding TED to an unfair standard.

FWIW, I know my dad has taken useful insights from the occasional TED talk. The one about how the first follower is as important as a leader comes to mind.