Written by Nathan Hood. Media by Taylor Neal.
When most of us hear the name “Ted”, we think of our childhood teddy bear, or maybe our slightly awkward uncle. Well on Fridays at 3:30 in Jo’s Java, “Ted” means something a little different. TED is a non profit that has been focused on spreading Ideas Worth Spreading since 1984. They do this through hosting TED
Conferences, where they record the TED Talks. TED invites people of different ages, a myriad of different backgrounds, and all sorts of careers. These people are invited to share their Idea(s) Worth Spreading in front of a crowd. Not just anyone can present at these TED Conferences. TED looks for innovative people, asks them if they would be interested in talking, and then selects the final speakers after meeting with them and hearing about their idea. The presentations are recorded, and then uploaded to the Internet. Last November, TED Talks hit the milestone of being viewed 1 billion times!
With all that being said, why did we start showing TED Talks on campus? Well first, I really like TED Talks. They present awesome ideas that often provoke new ways of thinking about issues that we all face in life. After a while of thinking about a way to implement TED Talks for an event on campus, Dustin Fenton, Dr. Hall and I decided to jump right in with a casual weekly showing, opening it up to anyone that would like to join. Deloy Cole has volunteered to be in charge of choosing each TED Talk, as well as inviting faculty members that might have a particular interest in a topic, adding to the discussions that follow each Talk. We are even providing free Jo’s drinks to the first 20 people to arrive, so that in itself should get you out for the TED Talks.
Stress was the topic of this past week’s TED Talk. The presenter brought forth the idea that stress is only bad when we think of it in that way, and that our mind actually has control over the effects stress has on our health. I, along with most of you, experience a fair amount of stress from time to time. I usually think of ways to avoid my stress or keep myself relaxed, but now I am trying to embrace stressful situations and come at them with the mindset that stress can be a good thing. This will take some mental training, but I can see how this idea will benefit me.
Learning from these talks alongside faculty, like Dr. Hall, Dr. Filby, Prof Cole, and others that have been in attendance to these Ted Talks, is an awesome opportunity, and they are great examples of being open minded to new ideas and embracing being lifelong learners.
I hope many of you will be joining us on Fridays. Who knows, maybe a TED idea will be sparked here on our campus!
