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Against TED talks
40hz:
Sad to see some people would rather see absolutely nothing good get accomplished - unless it were done in accordance with their standards of political correctness and doctrinal purity.
Now what was it these people were saying about "agendas"? ;)
TaoPhoenix:
...And it's dripping with agenda...
Any time someone comes out saying "think of all the poor/starving/children/women/whatf*ckingever", I want to puke. The vast majority of the time it's an agenda and when you start following things back, it's the exact opposite of what it looks like. "I am Ukrainian" was a good example of a psyop. F*ck that.
-Renegade (March 16, 2014, 11:30 AM)
--- End quote ---
Maybe Renny, but I go into it with a cross of "agendas suspected are agendas half neutralized", followed by "take with a street cleaner truck of salt". So I consider many of the ones I choose to watch much less volatile; for example there's some decent basic science ones there, as well as several of the "BizMgt bubblegum" ones and even "kindergarten cyber security ones" (that I still didn't know!)
Parodies aside, sometimes hearing "the obvious" and knowing it is, but with a new specific phrasing, is mildly useful. And for the science ones, getting a blurb about the role of dopamine that sounds right means you have a new name (the presenter) to search for looking for the real papers.
I myself strongly believe there's value to be *extracted* from almost anything. Pardon this week's Matrix marathon themes, but once you are able to stop just staring in awe, you can find the two minute useful advice amongst the snow-job.
Now excuse me while I Write Things Down JUUUUSST as the presenter told me to!!
1. Get weekly dose of Renny's politically incorrect opinion.
2. Perform this week's thirty seven second worship of Renny.
3. Apply Renny's ideas to Something Serious and Important.
4. Do Dishes. It's the Small things that count.
;D 8) :D
Renegade:
Sad to see some people would rather see absolutely nothing good get accomplished - unless it were done in accordance with their standards of political correctness and doctrinal purity.
Now what was it these people were saying about "agendas"? ;)
-40hz (March 16, 2014, 12:46 PM)
--- End quote ---
That's a complete misrepresentation of what I wrote.
I watched the entire video. And it looks cool, but the agenda there makes me question what's going on. Some people are just pawns...
-Renegade (March 16, 2014, 11:30 AM)
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It's certain a nifty bit of science. No disagreement there. I really liked that portion of the video.
BUT... Anything in a TED context is suspect given the company that they keep. Follow the money and often all these "save the world" things end up as scripts written by Rob Zombie (though often much worse).
e.g. The good, lovely, humanitarian USAID is guilty of forced sterilizations of women in Thailand, India, Uzbekistan, Central Asia, and wherever else. Look it up.
Now, let's have a look at some of the TED sponsors (left sidebar).
TED Talks Partners
Allianz
American Express
Delta
Fidelity Investments
Gucci
Intel
InterContinental
Kohl's
Lynda.com
Prudential
Rolex
Samsung
Siemens
Skype
Sony
State Street
Steelcase
TOMS
American Express Project
HP Color Project
Johnnie Walker Ideas Project
Pfizer Health Project
Shell Urbanization Project
TOMS Giving Project
--- End quote ---
Here are a few connections to USAID from a few quick searches:
American Express - http://www.usaid.gov/who-we-are/organization/tjada-doyen-mckenna
Delta Airlines - http://www.usaid.gov/asia-regional/news-information/press-releases/airline-industry-joins-wildlife-protection-program
Intel - http://www.usaid.gov/news-information/press-releases/usaid-and-intel-sign-memorandum-understanding-expand-collaboration
Pfizer - http://blog.usaid.gov/2011/03/usaid-partner-hosts-scientific-writing-program-for-african-aids-researchers/
Siemens - https://www.google.com/#q=site:usaid.gov+siemens (Most are PDFs, and PDFs are annoying)
Shell - https://www.google.com/#q=site:usaid.gov+shell+oil (More PDFs)
You can find many, many more. There's a massive web of foundations out there posing as one thing and doing another. TED is just one of many.
So, we have corporate sponsors helping fund CRIMINALLY INSANE organizations, such as USAID, and also funding TED. Hmm...
If I'm promoting an agenda here, it's an agenda against outright violent criminality posing as humanitarian nonsense.
I myself strongly believe there's value to be *extracted* from almost anything.
-TaoPhoenix (March 16, 2014, 04:04 PM)
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Absolutely! There is a lot of good stuff in some TED talks. The thing is you've got to pick the razor blades out of the apples first. Swallowing without knowing what you're ingesting is a really bad idea, and especially so with TED.
TED is sexy.
TED is cool.
TED is fun.
TED is all those things wrapped up in a potpourri filled box with a fancy bow on top.
But there's something insidious in there as well...
Now excuse me while I Write Things Down JUUUUSST as the presenter told me to!!
1. Get weekly dose of Renny's politically incorrect opinion.
2. Perform this week's thirty seven second worship of Renny.
3. Apply Renny's ideas to Something Serious and Important.
4. Do Dishes. It's the Small things that count.
;D 8) :D
-TaoPhoenix (March 16, 2014, 04:04 PM)
--- End quote ---
Sure. Feel free to mock me. I don't mind. It won't change anything. I'd only encourage you to start connecting some of the dots. They are there if you want to look.
I'm not sure whether I should apologize for not candy-coating everything. Hmmm.... Nah! It's much more fun being the abattoir in the middle of the town square. :P ;D
barney:
It's much more fun being the abattoir in the middle of the town square.
-Renegade (March 17, 2014, 01:59 AM)
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Hm-m-m.
A bit of selft-flattery there?
While I don't disagree with some of your points, you seem inclined to throw the baby out with the bath.
Not overly fond of TED, nor many of the sponsors, but that does not invalidate all the content.
40hz:
Sure. Feel free to mock me. I don't mind. It won't change anything. I'd only encourage you to start connecting some of the dots. They are there if you want to look.
-Renegade (March 17, 2014, 01:59 AM)
--- End quote ---
@Ren - with all due respect, I think many - if not most of us here - are perfectly capable of seeing things and connecting the dots. It's just that some of us are a little more discriminating and careful when it comes to inferring causation or correlation. If a person stares at a field of dots long enough they can eventually see anything they want to see. But "seeing something" doesn't automatically make it true. And just because someone doesn't see things the way somebody else does (or chooses to reserve judgement for the present) doesn't mean they're stupid, craven, negligent, or wilfully blind.
Sad to see some people would rather see absolutely nothing good get accomplished - unless it were done in accordance with their standards of political correctness and doctrinal purity.
Now what was it these people were saying about "agendas"? ;)
-40hz (March 16, 2014, 12:46 PM)
--- End quote ---
That's a complete misrepresentation of what I wrote.
-Renegade (March 17, 2014, 01:59 AM)
--- End quote ---
Hmm...
I gave your previous two posts a slow reread. And after careful re-consideration, I still don't think I have. Guess we'll need to agree to disagree on this point. :)
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