TED Talks with English transcript

Tim Berners-Lee: A Magna Carta for the web

TED2014

Tim Berners-Lee: A Magna Carta for the web
1,149,270 views

Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web 25 years ago. So it’s worth a listen when he warns us: There’s a battle ahead. Eroding net neutrality, filter bubbles and centralizing corporate control all threaten the web’s wide-open spaces. It’s up to users to fight for the right to access and openness. The question is, What kind of Internet do we want?

Eric Liu: Why ordinary people need to understand power

TEDCity2.0

Eric Liu: Why ordinary people need to understand power
2,147,704 views

Far too many Americans are illiterate in power — what it is, how it operates and why some people have it. As a result, those few who do understand power wield disproportionate influence over everyone else. “We need to make civics sexy again,” says civics educator Eric Liu. “As sexy as it was during the American Revolution or the Civil Rights Movement.”

Clint Smith: The danger of silence

TED@NYC

Clint Smith: The danger of silence
5,033,082 views

"We spend so much time listening to the things people are saying that we rarely pay attention to the things they don't," says poet and teacher Clint Smith. A short, powerful piece from the heart, about finding the courage to speak up against ignorance and injustice.

Dan Pacholke: How prisons can help inmates live meaningful lives

TEDxMonroeCorrectionalComplex

Dan Pacholke: How prisons can help inmates live meaningful lives
897,964 views

In the United States, the agencies that govern prisons are often called 'Department of Corrections.' And yet, their focus is on containing and controlling inmates. Dan Pacholke, Deputy Secretary for the Washington State Department of Corrections, shares a different vision: of prisons that provide humane living conditions as well as opportunities for meaningful work and learning.

Talithia Williams: Own your body's data

TEDxClaremontColleges

Talithia Williams: Own your body's data
1,717,214 views

The new breed of high-tech self-monitors (measuring heartrate, sleep, steps per day) might seem targeted at competitive athletes. But Talithia Williams, a statistician, makes a compelling case that all of us should be measuring and recording simple data about our bodies every day — because our own data can reveal much more than even our doctors may know.

Nick Hanauer: Beware, fellow plutocrats, the pitchforks are coming

TEDSalon NY2014

Nick Hanauer: Beware, fellow plutocrats, the pitchforks are coming
2,414,590 views

Nick Hanauer is a rich guy, an unrepentant capitalist — and he has something to say to his fellow plutocrats: Wake up! Growing inequality is about to push our societies into conditions resembling pre-revolutionary France. Hear his argument about why a dramatic increase in minimum wage could grow the middle class, deliver economic prosperity ... and prevent a revolution.

Megan Washington: Why I live in mortal dread of public speaking

TEDxSydney

Megan Washington: Why I live in mortal dread of public speaking
1,926,966 views

Megan Washington is one of Australia's premier singer/songwriters. And, since childhood, she has had a stutter. In this bold and personal talk, she reveals how she copes with this speech impediment—from avoiding the letter combination “st” to tricking her brain by changing her words at the last minute to, yes, singing the things she has to say rather than speaking them.

Hubertus Knabe: The dark secrets of a surveillance state

TEDSalon Berlin 2014

Hubertus Knabe: The dark secrets of a surveillance state
1,232,877 views

Tour the deep dark world of the East German state security agency known as Stasi. Uniquely powerful at spying on its citizens, until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 the Stasi masterminded a system of surveillance and psychological pressure that kept the country under control for decades. Hubertus Knabe studies the Stasi — and was spied on by them. He shares stunning details from the fall of a surveillance state, and shows how easy it was for neighbor to turn on neighbor.

Shai Reshef: An ultra-low-cost college degree

TED2014

Shai Reshef: An ultra-low-cost college degree
6,307,713 views

At the online University of the People, anyone with a high school diploma can take classes toward a degree in business administration or computer science — without standard tuition fees (though exams cost money). Founder Shai Reshef hopes that higher education is changing "from being a privilege for the few to a basic right, affordable and accessible for all."

Ze Frank: Are you human?

TED2014

Ze Frank: Are you human?
4,872,033 views

Have you ever wondered: Am I a human being? Ze Frank suggests a series of simple questions that will determine this. Please relax and follow the prompts. Let's begin …

Shih Chieh Huang: Sculptures that’d be at home in the deep sea

TED2014

Shih Chieh Huang: Sculptures that’d be at home in the deep sea
858,849 views

When he was young, artist Shih Chieh Huang loved taking toys apart and perusing the aisles of night markets in Taiwan for unexpected objects. Today, this TED Fellow creates madcap sculptures that seem to have a life of their own—with eyes that blink, tentacles that unfurl and parts that light up like bioluminescent sea creatures.

Nikolai Begg: A tool to fix one of the most dangerous moments in surgery

TEDxBeaconStreet

Nikolai Begg: A tool to fix one of the most dangerous moments in surgery
1,373,990 views

Surgeons are required every day to puncture human skin before procedures — with the risk of damaging what's on the other side. In a fascinating talk, find out how mechanical engineer Nikolai Begg is using physics to update an important medical device, called the trocar, and improve one of the most dangerous moments in many common surgeries.

David Chalmers: How do you explain consciousness?

TED2014

David Chalmers: How do you explain consciousness?
2,876,790 views

Our consciousness is a fundamental aspect of our existence, says philosopher David Chalmers: “There’s nothing we know about more directly…. but at the same time it’s the most mysterious phenomenon in the universe.” He shares some ways to think about the movie playing in our heads.

Renata Salecl: Our unhealthy obsession with choice

TEDGlobal 2013

Renata Salecl: Our unhealthy obsession with choice
1,587,906 views

We face an endless string of choices, which leads us to feel anxiety, guilt and pangs of inadequacy that we are perhaps making the wrong ones. But philosopher Renata Salecl asks: Could individual choices be distracting us from something bigger—our power as social thinkers? A bold call for us to stop taking personal choice so seriously and focus on the choices we're making collectively.

Nicholas Negroponte: A 30-year history of the future

TED2014

Nicholas Negroponte: A 30-year history of the future
2,035,246 views

MIT Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte takes you on a journey through the last 30 years of tech. The consummate predictor highlights interfaces and innovations he foresaw in the 1970s and 1980s that were scoffed at then but are ubiquitous today. And he leaves you with one last (absurd? brilliant?) prediction for the coming 30 years.

Joi Ito: Want to innovate? Become a "now-ist"

TED2014

Joi Ito: Want to innovate? Become a "now-ist"
2,304,454 views

"Remember before the internet?" asks Joi Ito. "Remember when people used to try to predict the future?" In this engaging talk, the head of the MIT Media Lab skips the future predictions and instead shares a new approach to creating in the moment: building quickly and improving constantly, without waiting for permission or for proof that you have the right idea. This kind of bottom-up innovation is seen in the most fascinating, futuristic projects emerging today, and it starts, he says, with being open and alert to what's going on around you right now. Don't be a futurist, he suggests: be a now-ist.

Margaret Gould Stewart: How giant websites design for you (and a billion others, too)

TED2014

Margaret Gould Stewart: How giant websites design for you (and a billion others, too)
1,744,107 views

Facebook's "like" and "share" buttons are seen 22 billion times a day, making them some of the most-viewed design elements ever created. Margaret Gould Stewart, Facebook's director of product design, outlines three rules for design at such a massive scale—one so big that the tiniest of tweaks can cause global outrage, but also so large that the subtlest of improvements can positively impact the lives of many.

George Takei: Why I love a country that once betrayed me

TEDxKyoto

George Takei: Why I love a country that once betrayed me
3,155,256 views

When he was a child, George Takei and his family were forced into an internment camp for Japanese-Americans, as a "security" measure during World War II. 70 years later, Takei looks back at how the camp shaped his surprising, personal definition of patriotism and democracy.

Paul Bloom: Can prejudice ever be a good thing?

TEDSalon NY2014

Paul Bloom: Can prejudice ever be a good thing?
1,233,148 views

We often think of bias and prejudice as rooted in ignorance. But as psychologist Paul Bloom seeks to show, prejudice is often natural, rational ... even moral. The key, says Bloom, is to understand how our own biases work -- so we can take control when they go wrong.

Simon Anholt: Which country does the most good for the world?

TEDSalon Berlin 2014

Simon Anholt: Which country does the most good for the world?
6,237,290 views

It's an unexpected side effect of globalization: problems that once would have stayed local—say, a bank lending out too much money—now have consequences worldwide. But still, countries operate independently, as if alone on the planet. Policy advisor Simon Anholt has dreamed up an unusual scale to get governments thinking outwardly: The Good Country Index. In a riveting and funny talk, he answers the question, "Which country does the most good?" The answer may surprise you (especially if you live in the US or China).

Chris Domas: The 1s and 0s behind cyber warfare

TEDxColumbus

Chris Domas: The 1s and 0s behind cyber warfare
1,109,814 views

Chris Domas is a cybersecurity researcher, operating on what's become a new front of war, "cyber." In this engaging talk, he shows how researchers use pattern recognition and reverse engineering (and pull a few all-nighters) to understand a chunk of binary code whose purpose and contents they don't know.

Julian Treasure: How to speak so that people want to listen

TEDGlobal 2013

Julian Treasure: How to speak so that people want to listen
40,379,785 views

Have you ever felt like you're talking, but nobody is listening? Here's Julian Treasure to help. In this useful talk, the sound expert demonstrates the how-to's of powerful speaking -- from some handy vocal exercises to tips on how to speak with empathy. A talk that might help the world sound more beautiful.

Ge Wang: The DIY orchestra of the future

TEDxStanford

Ge Wang: The DIY orchestra of the future
1,220,062 views

Ge Wang makes computer music, but it isn't all about coded bleeps and blips. With the Stanford Laptop Orchestra, he creates new instruments out of unexpected materials—like an Ikea bowl—that allow musicians to play music that's both beautiful and expressive.

Naomi Oreskes: Why we should trust scientists

TEDSalon NY2014

Naomi Oreskes: Why we should trust scientists
1,316,791 views

Many of the world's biggest problems require asking questions of scientists -- but why should we believe what they say? Historian of science Naomi Oreskes thinks deeply about our relationship to belief and draws out three problems with common attitudes toward scientific inquiry -- and gives her own reasoning for why we ought to trust science.

Lorrie Faith Cranor: What’s wrong with your pa$$w0rd?

TEDxCMU

Lorrie Faith Cranor: What’s wrong with your pa$$w0rd?
1,566,161 views

Lorrie Faith Cranor studied thousands of real passwords to figure out the surprising, very common mistakes that users -- and secured sites -- make to compromise security. And how, you may ask, did she study thousands of real passwords without compromising the security of any users? That's a story in itself. It's secret data worth knowing, especially if your password is 123456 ...

Shaka Senghor: Why your worst deeds don’t define you

TED2014

Shaka Senghor: Why your worst deeds don’t define you
1,611,403 views

In 1991, Shaka Senghor shot and killed a man. He was, he says, "a drug dealer with a quick temper and a semi-automatic pistol." Jailed for second degree murder, that could very well have been the end of the story. But it wasn't. Instead, it was the beginning of a years-long journey to redemption, one with humbling and sobering lessons for us all.