For 2013, I’ve decided to watch one TED Talk a day in an effort to open myself up to new ideas.
I’ve always been a big fan of TED and was lucky enough to attent the TEDxZurich conference last year. I came out of the conference feeling very inspired and slightly more informed about the world. One of the hosts that day called the conference an ‘intellectual day off’, a chance to give our intellects the space and time to discover and ruminate on ideas we otherwise would have not heard of.
My hope is that by watching a randomly chosen TED talk each day, I will come across new ideas that will help enrich my mind. I easily fall into the trap of only reading about subject that fall under my area of interests. I’m hoping that by choosing a TED video at random, I will come across subjects that are not within my spectrum of interests and make me see things slightly differently.
I will post each video that I watch on my blog in a dedicated area called “TedTalks”. I won’t be reviewing the videos but I will write something depending on what the video has made me think or feel that day. I hope you enjoy this intellectual adventure with me. I have no destination in mind, but I’m hoping the journey will be memorable.
Day 1: Do schools kill creativity? by Sir Ken Robinson
“Don’t let school interfere with your education.” – Mark Twain
I’m a big believer in structured and formalised educational systems. Undoubtedly it’s because that’s what I grew up with and looking at where I am now, I am quick to credit the type of education I received as a big factor in my success. I was taught that only by learning the fundamentals first can you go out and break the rules or find creative work-arounds.
Yes most of the world’s educational system is geared towards nourishing a level of intelligence that is skewed towards academia. I would imagine that this also heavily influences how people are hired or not hired as adult jobseekers. We have developed a society that values qualifications over skills. The question is, how do we create an educational system that recognises the fact that scholastic underperformance is not the sole indicator of intelligence? Non-academic activities should be recognised equally as a way of gaining tangible skills and nourishing a different type of intelligence in children and adults alike.