There were four TEDx talks which really stuck with me on June 4th, 2016 and below I will give you an insight into them. Before that, I’ll give you a high-level overview of TED and what the theme of this one was.
What is TED?
TED is a nonprofit organization which provides a means to spread great ideas from a wide range of thought leaders
What is TEDx?
TEDx provides mini TED-style events operating the same as TED but with more local focus and viewpoints.
What was this TEDx about?
The theme for this TEDx at the University of Bristol was “The Complexity of Simple Things”.
I will now proceed to bring forward the summaries from top four TEDx talks of the day(YouTube Playlist)
Is MDMA psychiatry’s antibiotic? | Ben Sessa
Ben, provided a very deep TEDx talk on the practice of MDMA Psychotherapy. The use of the fictional character “Claire” drilled home the impact of a highly traumatic/abusive life. Also, how traditional means of treating PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorders) don’t work.
This talk really helped me to see the “party drug” MDMA from a completely different standpoint. Ben’s view was that if used in a controlled manner MDMA can treat these physiological traumas and in some cases even cure the PTSD symptoms.
The prejudice you don’t know you have | Havi Carel & Richard Pettigrew
Philosophers Havi Carel and Rich Pettigrew did a great job to provide the most culturally aware and relatable talk.
The key takeaways from this talk were;
- Implicit bias – are not necessarily based on facts and are largely shaped by external means such as media.
- A CV study in Chicago/Boston found that 50% more job responses were received for CVs with stereotypically white names opposed to black names.
- All small biases add up and because this occurs subconsciously it is very hard to prove from a legal standpoint.
There were also two good tips also on how we can to help remove these biases at society and individual levels;
- Change the portrayal of the individuals which are stereotyped against in the media and working environments.
- At an individual level remove making important decision when you’re in a situation where you don’t have maximum focus(e.g. tired)
Complexity, dyslexia & the Virgin/Virgin Galactic stories | Will Whitehorn
Finally some entrepreneurialism.
The focus of this talk really helped to give an insight of Virgin and Will. He really did do a good job of staying on theme with his talk, always bringing it back to the simplification of ideas. This was done by exemplifying how despite dyslexia Richard Branson was able to take diversification, marketing, and logo creation and made them simple.
The stories which were shared Richard Branson really did remind me of his previous TED talk. This talk covers many of the same themes Will mentioned and is equally as intriguing.
The psychology of seduction | Raj Persaud
Raj Persaud, I salute you.
This was easily the most encapsulating TEDx talk of the day. On reading the schedule this was the one talk I looked forward to the most and I was not let down.
The discussion focused on the science of seduction with some really great gems on the theory that “life is a game of seduction”. Raj stated we should always be looking to seduce and not purely from the erotic standpoint.
Raj’s takeaways:
Attention, Interest, and Maintenance
Raj stated that for long-standing relationships there is a need to cycle through the three phases of attention, interest and maintenance model.
- Attention
- Interest
- Maintenance
In summary, this was a very insightful day which gave background on a wide range of topics from culture, Mars, entrepreneurship, passion, and seduction.
Each speaker had a unique delivery and background and at times were very emotive.
Thanks to TEDxUniversityofBristol, Beci Ward and the speakers!
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