Last Friday, for the second year, DU hosted TEDxDU. Several qualified speakers presented a wide array of innovative ideas to the DU audience.

The TED involvement is a boon to our campus and a great way to engage the DU community in new innovative topics across several disciplines.

However, we are too fast to judge the event as a spectacular thing without evaluating it critically first.

I am skeptical of the benefits of TED talks, and we should take the advice with a grain of salt. My first issue with TED talks is the oversimplification of ideas it spreads. Speakers are limited in the time they have to present their ideas.

And since the talks are for a wide range of audiences who may not be familiar with the topic area, the talks tend to be slightly pedantic. Furthermore, delivery is prized over content.

We all watch TED talks because they are quite watchable. However, the issues being addressed are incredibly complex.

TED speakers may lull their audiences into complacency by making them think they understand the topic when they really don’t.

TED also tends to be biased . The TED speakers often acknowledge the audience is liberal, and the ideas being presented are often fairly progressive.  It’s hard to assign an ideological affiliation with many of the ideas, but conservatives are often wary of the conferences.

This is a shame, because while the purpose of the talks is to spread good ideas to the world, only a limited audience is reached. The final issue with TED: it is lecture based and not focused on discussion.

While smaller events present an opportunity for attendees to ask questions, the larger conferences do not for logistical reasons. An idea is presented almost as a fact, and no one can question it.

I cannot stress enough that TED is a great idea. This is particularly evident in the organization’s allowing Internet users free access to TED lectures on YouTube. This access creates a more egalitarian assimilation of the information in contrast to the TEDXDU salon formats.

Overall, we should watch TED talks with a smidge of skepticism, whether on the Internet or in a conference,  just as we would any other source of media.

B