The Naked and the TED

<i>...Today TED is an insatiable kingpin of international meme laundering...</i><p>I liked this article a lot, even though I don't have as much experience with the TED community as the author does. Applying a acerbic wit and cynical eye to what we do as technical people is sorely needed.<p>And the author has a point: at some point the language gets so conceptual and fuzzy that it becomes more of a performance than a knowledge-sharing exercise. It's like a carnival for the wannabe Bill Gates of the world.<p>For a couple of years I've been fascinated with the idea that as intelligent people many of us are drawn to activities and consumption that makes us <i>look</i> more intelligent, whether or not we actually learn anything of value from them or not. So we listen to the right music, have the right opinions, and banter on about the right topics in the right way, all the while doing more than just a little social posturing and signalling. Vast segments of intelligentsia are little more than echo chamber. We are giving up independent analysis for pre-digested bits of feel-good junk food.<p>Good to see that argument gaining more traction. Healthy communities require introspection and honest conversations.

Sour sour sour grapes.<p>The thing about TED is, wild-eyed though it may be, it's not a political agenda. It's (trying to be) beyond that, about technology and science and understanding, and while the result is often pretty technocratic it is actually often reflecting the benefits of self-organisation through tech. Stuff like Wikipedia, for example, is perfect TED-fodder because it shows demonstrable ways of doing things better.<p>People who do not understand that idea (of which they are many) criticise it on their own terms, and so miss the point. If you are used to seeing life through a political lens (as we might hazard the New Republic does) then TED looks like an agenda by a different name. However that's like religious people insisting that atheists must believe in <i>something</i>, even if that's belief in an idea. It is outside their framework of understanding to consider a person who does not hold any kind of belief.<p>So, personally (and I think the popularity of TED and RSA etc reflect this) this whole article reads like some venting from someone who doesn't really understand the concept, and so can only think of it in terms of politics. These Teddites must have a political view of <i>some kind</i>, right? No.<p>It's trans-political because it's about applied informational learning to solve problems. Politics itself being one of those problems.

&#62;Given TED’s disproportionate influence on a certain level of the global debate, it follows that the public at large also becomes more approving of technological solutions to problems that are not technological but political. Problems of climate change become problems of making production more efficient or finding ways to colonize other planets—not of reaching political agreement on how to limit production or consume in a more sustainable fashion. Problems of health care become problems of inadequate self-monitoring and data-sharing. Problems of ensuring one’s privacy—which might otherwise get solved by pushing for new laws—become problems of inadequate tools for defending one’s anonymity online or selling access to one’s own data.<p>Likewise, when a publication focused on politics analyzes problems, the solutions are always political, never technological. If you follow the author's logic, most of the issues presented in TED talks could be solved with laws.<p>I'm quite cynical about the somewhat simplistic solutions offered by some TED speakers, but I don't see laws and political debate solving most of the problems TED discusses.

The author almost but not quite describes "the singularity" as a kind of secular pseudo-intellectual rapture. Nailed it.

The herd of independent minds.

Morozov (the post's author) has also written a book called <i>The Net Delusion</i> that provides a good background on the less-friendly parts of the Internet. I recommend it for those just entering the IT/Internet-based business world.

I don't have the experience with it to make informed comments, but I can't help feeling increasingly that TED is or has become another version of "the beautiful people".<p>The money swirling around it doesn't help, in this regard.

TED and HN provides me better "entertainment" and some knowledge than TV. For learning there is stuff like Coursera, Udacity etc. But I still wished there was something between entertainment and academics. I hope some entrepreneur jumps into this area and creates an awesome solution. It may not make him a billionare. But his/her impact on humanity would be truly great.

tl;dr - Reviewer didn't like the book.

<i>It might seem odd that Parag Khanna would turn his attention to the world of technology. He established his reputation as a wannabe geopolitical theorist, something of a modern-day Kissinger, only wired and cool</i><p>I don't find it strange. Having followed TED for years I have noticed the political under current become more obvious over time. The technocratic political elite like having a forum to promote their agenda, no surprise there really.

"takedown"? I don't think it means what you think it means.<p>As for the article, I kept wanting to nod off. I guess it's just not my style.