TED Thinking

“Ideas worth spreading”: the catchphrase for TED.

That choice of words is also the reason for this Umair Haque article criticizing the “Ideas Industry”, the poster child for which is, of course, TED. (Sometimes it’s fun to read an article like this: how could someone possibly dislike TED, right?).

Note that Haque coins the term “TED thinking” to collectively refer to 800-word blog posts, business best-sellers and of course, the famous 18-minute talk itself.

So what is Haque’s problem with “TED thinking”? Well, it’s that TED thinking makes you believe it’s a Great Idea only if it can be “simplified, reduced, made into convenient, disposable nuggets of infotainment”. It places “climactic epiphany before experience, education, and elevation.” Haque then uses analogies that blew me away:

“In that sense, TED thinking is like a one-night stand with ideas. One night stands can be fun, and may sometimes even lead to something more — but they're not the great, worthy love affairs that change our lives.”

And conversely, TED thinking makes us:

“uncomfortable with all the complexity, ambiguity, and nuance of a great relationship.”

He argues that a (true) Great Idea, on the other hand should:

“demand our lasting engagement, dedication and commitment; our time and energy; our frustration and infuriation; our suffering, passion, and pain.”

Wait, are we still talking ideas? Or romance? (Or is he romancing the idea?!)

The above thinking inevitably means we value solutions, not ideas:

“"TED thinking" is shorthand for the ideas industry's obsessive, infantilizing, and creepily weird fixation with "innovation", with "growth", with "change", with "value", "utility", and "marketability.”

Further, “TED thinking assumes complex social problems are essentially engineering challenges”. And in engineering world, there are no sources of evil. Which then means that:

“TED thinking is a kind of Nietzschean enterprise: one beyond good and evil, where Supermen save the world.”

Wow! My mind is still reeling!

Sorry Umair, I still love TED and TED thinking. But I give you an A+ for ability to convey a point of view. Or is that an idea? Even a Great Idea, perhaps?