In our culture, talking about the future is sometimes a polite way of saying things about the present that would otherwise be rude or risky.
But have you ever wondered why so little of the future promised in TED talks actually happens? So much potential and enthusiasm, and so little actual change. Are the ideas wrong? Or is the idea about what ideas can do all by themselves wrong?
— Benjamin Bratton, theguardian.com
17 Comments
The expression you're looking for is "easier said than done." The reason this is a commonplace phrase is that it's universally true. But why is it true?
http://www.salon.com/2013/10/13/ted_talks_are_lying_to_you/
and then there was this one: People don’t actually like creativity...
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/12/creativity_is_rejected_teachers_and_bosses_don_t_value_out_of_the_box_thinking.html
thats probably part of it steven
the article raises some good points. I just finished reading Creative Intelligence by Bruce Nussbaum which repeats many of the shallow insights listed as insufficient in this article, unfortunately. Nussbaum does point out something I did not know about, that innovation is flat and/or falling in USA because companies are designed to turn profit quickly, and profit comes from efficiency according to the current economic standard of the last few decades. He shows that creativity is inefficient and that business that is inefficient has a hard time pleasing shareholders so we are all buggered. HP is the prime example, going from mad lab of experimental excursions to a profit-driven teamwork-killing anti-lab. It's impressively depressing.
Which is maybe saying similar things to the writer of this article. Not sure what the answer his. Nussbaum talks about a kind of artisinal revolution, but I don't see that working myself somehow...
Change is slow and hard to see sometimes. I think it is happening, depends on where you look I guess. I think we will have body part stores in 20 years for instance. That's pretty creative.
Actually some really scary things have been talked about. For example when Bill Gates insinuated that vaccination is the key to population control. scary stuff. Really gives credibility to all the conspiracy nuts.
The technology which is talked about is being developed by the industry behind the scenes. Have you ever heard of Michio Kaku?
Happy New Year
I think too many architects conflate originality with innovation. Somehow, if you are not left to work within your own constraints, this implies that you are stuck in a box. True innovation isn't a simplistic formal excersize as so many starchitects have made it out to be, creating problems to solve that could have been avoided in the first place. True innovation is a mix of linear and non linear thinking, with no prescribed path for when to switch gears. Ironically the obsession with originality hinders innovation which isn't always apparent from a glossy image. Like the postings on a facebook page, the images people "share" tend to differ from what true intimacy can convey. Afterall, if originality rather than necessity was the mother of invention, where would we be today?
vacinations are a total racket. why inject yourself with mercury just to protect against flu? elite agendas are all around. Kittens save us please!
The future belongs to the ruthless as does the past.
HIs critique runs much deeper than TED. If you haven't noticed, the PR design media stories of this year are Brutalism, Feminism, BIGism, Kanyeism, 3D printing, etc. etc. all fueled by internet link bait.
Perhaps the masses will learn their lesson and start blocking those Google buses.
innovation is about cultural impact as much as technical new-ness. If there is no pick-up from others then its possibly new but insufficiently sticky to matter. I guess that is why Jobs gets credit for all the work from XEROX and others. Impact is important. Very rare too, which is why Bjarke deserves more respect. He may be populist but his work is already making waves in more than one field. We should be cheering not sneering.
What citizen said: easier said than done. But the most positive impact I have ever gotten from the TED phenomenon is that there are thousands upon thousands of people out in the world who *are* trying to imagine a different, better way of doing things and that at least some of it is likely to be implemented. The knowledge that this is going on at significantly higher levels than me bolsters my own commitment to keep up with my own local alternative progressive activities, such as my work with People for Urban Progress.
Don't just complain, do something.
Also, because I'm particularly obsessed with anti-vaxxers: Handsum your lizard-people talk is amusing but only truly ignorant people are anti-vaccination. Vaccinations have been one of the most significant improvements to human health in history. ALL of the science supports widespread vaccinating.
You have got to be kidding to honestly belive that vaccination is a positive for human helath. It is one of the biggest scam s in history and only massive amounts of AMA propagannda supports it. Ms sink is clearly suffering from hysteria, lets hope her doctor can jerk her off before she hurts someone.
Dude, you shouldn't talk about people like that, even if you disagree with them. At least spell out your thesis and let people make their own conclusions.
Thanks Thayer. There is no thesis that supports not vaccinating your children and selves. So Handsum has to resort to name-calling and lizard people to make one.
I post about vaccinations not to change Handsum's mind but to make sure anyone who has never given the topic much thought is aware: the science ALL supports that vaccinating your children is the safest thing to do. Children actually *do* die and have severe complications from whooping cough and measles and other preventable diseases, and if they don't die they are miserably ill AND pass that illness on to others who cannot be vaccinated or have weak immune systems for other reasons (like chemo).
Complications from vaccinations are extremely rare, and there is absolutely no link between vaccines and autism. Statistically, if you put your child in a car to go to the doctor's you're facing a much higher risk of harm than from the vaccine!
Handsum, I can't tell if you're just a troll or not, but if so on this topic your joking around is dangerously wrong.
HERD IMMUNITY is where it is at...
@Quondam, "On a personal level, I still from time to time find myself (finally) acting on an idea I had 10 or 15 or even 20 years ago...still manage to manifest a quality of innovation" gives me hope.
Perhaps it is something about having more tools or a better mastery of said tools?
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.