Just the other day my University had its own TEDx conference, where students, faculty and random pseudo-intellectuals alike, gathered to bask in their own self-enlightenment. It was a day of snobbery and silent judgement.
What many of the people who attend this conference don't realize is how superficial these conferences really are. It's "inspiration" fetishized and commodified for an elitist group of a particular creed, the creed of "the self-enlightened". I embarrassingly admit that I used to consider myself among their membership, until I actually went to a TED conference, just to find myself in a passive audience being lulled into a false sense of importance by a myriad of both inspiring and self important speakers.
It was at that moment when I looked around. I scanned the people around me, taking mental snapshots of the facial expression and all I could see was superficiality. Among the the grimaces, I could spot some people, who were truly engaged with the subject matter of the conference, yet afraid to engage in conversation out of the fear that one of the pseudo intellectuals sitting next to them would intervene with their own overvalued two cents. I guess I don't actually hate these conferences, but instead despise the people who herald them.
The conference claims to be akin to the salons of the European Enlightenment, but I never hear the fierce debates the salons were known for. Ideas never clash, instead we are fed perfectly stitched together propaganda, the likes of which promote a liberal slanted point of view on the world, and I hold no political malice, but I also know that liberal does not always equal intellectual. The purpose of a conference such as TED is to supersede these political ideologies, but I often find myself growing frustrated as the neo-liberalist and the technocrats speak about the world as if they have it figured out. And there will be a token minority here and there, who is allowed to speak about their own personal experience, just to be followed by a loud thunderous applause, which is then proceeded with solutions that aren't germane to the minority's experience. One might ask," how do you know this is the case Raymond? Are you not the presumptuous one?" I can only agree with these accusations, but at least I am presumptuous on a blog, which is self-aware of its critical tone and its short-comings. TED is not self aware. It's a crafted utopia for those who want to feel better about the world they inhabit. When people leave TED they feel they have been enlightened. When people leave TED they feel as if their minds have been dilated. What they don't realize is how little time they were ever given to engage with issues at hand. TED serves as a spoon feeding, fed to a perfectly chosen stock. And this is not intended to disrespect those who give TED speeches, many of them are genuine. But the forum is silent. People consume your ideas and leave. You hope to implant a seed in people with your speech, but when 10 plants are growing simultaneously in a person, do they turn into a forest or simply collapse under the weight of their own gravitas?
If you want to fix TED, get rid of the application. Get rid of the ridiculous fees. Get rid of the passive sit back and enjoy format and instead open it up to debate. Have people talk. Make it loud and rambunctious so that the ignorant everyday public outside can hear the small cries of the intellectual process in action. Spoon feed them hope, then open up the floor for despair. Let them hear the speech of the angry minority. Let them hear the speech of the disgusted woman. Let them hear the speech of the spiteful poverty stricken person. Then coax them with solutions. Try and test the restorative abilities of your sermon, after someone is so viscerally exposed to the reality of their society. Then claim the enlightenment of the Salon. In fact, reject its orientation and claim the enlightenment of the TED talk.
What many of the people who attend this conference don't realize is how superficial these conferences really are. It's "inspiration" fetishized and commodified for an elitist group of a particular creed, the creed of "the self-enlightened". I embarrassingly admit that I used to consider myself among their membership, until I actually went to a TED conference, just to find myself in a passive audience being lulled into a false sense of importance by a myriad of both inspiring and self important speakers.
It was at that moment when I looked around. I scanned the people around me, taking mental snapshots of the facial expression and all I could see was superficiality. Among the the grimaces, I could spot some people, who were truly engaged with the subject matter of the conference, yet afraid to engage in conversation out of the fear that one of the pseudo intellectuals sitting next to them would intervene with their own overvalued two cents. I guess I don't actually hate these conferences, but instead despise the people who herald them.
The conference claims to be akin to the salons of the European Enlightenment, but I never hear the fierce debates the salons were known for. Ideas never clash, instead we are fed perfectly stitched together propaganda, the likes of which promote a liberal slanted point of view on the world, and I hold no political malice, but I also know that liberal does not always equal intellectual. The purpose of a conference such as TED is to supersede these political ideologies, but I often find myself growing frustrated as the neo-liberalist and the technocrats speak about the world as if they have it figured out. And there will be a token minority here and there, who is allowed to speak about their own personal experience, just to be followed by a loud thunderous applause, which is then proceeded with solutions that aren't germane to the minority's experience. One might ask," how do you know this is the case Raymond? Are you not the presumptuous one?" I can only agree with these accusations, but at least I am presumptuous on a blog, which is self-aware of its critical tone and its short-comings. TED is not self aware. It's a crafted utopia for those who want to feel better about the world they inhabit. When people leave TED they feel they have been enlightened. When people leave TED they feel as if their minds have been dilated. What they don't realize is how little time they were ever given to engage with issues at hand. TED serves as a spoon feeding, fed to a perfectly chosen stock. And this is not intended to disrespect those who give TED speeches, many of them are genuine. But the forum is silent. People consume your ideas and leave. You hope to implant a seed in people with your speech, but when 10 plants are growing simultaneously in a person, do they turn into a forest or simply collapse under the weight of their own gravitas?
If you want to fix TED, get rid of the application. Get rid of the ridiculous fees. Get rid of the passive sit back and enjoy format and instead open it up to debate. Have people talk. Make it loud and rambunctious so that the ignorant everyday public outside can hear the small cries of the intellectual process in action. Spoon feed them hope, then open up the floor for despair. Let them hear the speech of the angry minority. Let them hear the speech of the disgusted woman. Let them hear the speech of the spiteful poverty stricken person. Then coax them with solutions. Try and test the restorative abilities of your sermon, after someone is so viscerally exposed to the reality of their society. Then claim the enlightenment of the Salon. In fact, reject its orientation and claim the enlightenment of the TED talk.
No comments:
Post a Comment