Much is said of TED, the Technology, Entertainment, and Design conference — there are those who think it a brilliant gathering of thinkers with ideas that can change the world, and others who think it’s a bunch of rich liberal windbags trying to assuage their rich liberal guilt while forming an exclusive club to get into their ivory tower.
I can understand the sentiments of the latter, but I lean more towards the former. I’ve come to believe that by understanding fundamentally what problems we’re trying to solve, we’re making their solutions far more likely. And I’m ready to try to understand the world to be able to figure out my part in solving its problems.
Hans Rosling is part of what makes TED — and the way TED has sought to distribute its talks — part of getting to the root of problems and their solutions.
I encourage you to watch this video and consider how you might be a part of making happen what he talks about. Consider letting go of your ideology and how that would influence the way that you interact with the world, and think about what can happen if you instead decide to solve a problem, and let the problem dictate its solution.