Kiran Bir Sethi teaches kids to take charge

What do you think of when you hear the word contagious? Most likely the main ideas that pop into your mind are disease, sickness, or other negative things. Contagious can also be positive! Kiran Bir Sethi reminds us of the healthy contagious things, such as laughter, inspiration, and ideas. Kiran Bir Sethi believes in the "I Can" bug. Her goal is to spread it all around the world. The "I Can Bug" is inspiration. The purpose of it is to motivate people, starting with children.

To capture her audience's imaginations, Sethi jumps right into her presentation with a story. She tells the tale of when she became infected with the I Can bug. Kiran Bir Sethi was 17 years old, and was a student as a design college. She was inspired by her teacher. You might be thinking, "What is the I Can bug? Why is it important?" The I Can bug is to motivate people to perform at their best. To help others and succeed at whatever they do. Using a story shows the audience that this is not a far fetched idea, Sethi has experienced it herself. The infection takes place in three stages; aware, enable and empower.

Once again, Kiran Sethi's idea can be tied to the other TED talks I have blogged about. Sethi explains about her dream to first empower the children, and improve their focus on education. Ken Robinson and Dave Eggers are also interested in motivating children. Ken Robinson, like Sethi, is focusing on changing the education system to engage the children.

Kiran Sethi uses pictures of words, such as "I Can" and "Aware, Enable, Empower" to illustrate her point. By using visuals, she is furthering her point, which will make it more memorable to the audience. Kiran Sethi spoke form her heart, and inspired the audience to go out and apply her goal. Her ending message was the goal of infecting the world's children. What do you think of now when you hear the word contagious?

Caroline Casey

Imagine what it would be like to be blind. I think it would be pretty bad, because I rely on my eyes for everything. Now imagine being blind from birth. Wouldn't you think it would be easier? You can't miss what you never had right? But what if you thought everyone was just like you? If you didn't think there was anything wrong with your vision? That is exactly what happned to Caroline Casey. Through her TED talk, she explains how it felt to grow up blind. That might not surprise you, there are many people who are blind. But I was shocked when she revealed that she didn't know she was blind until the age of 17.

When Caroline found out she was blind, she didn't let it faze her. She carried on with her life just as she did before. In her talk, Caroline gives her audience a challenge. Do the impossible, push boundaries, set a goal. She believes that you can do anything you set your mind to. You can only limit yourself, nobody else will affect you reaching your goal. She does not believe in limits, stating that anything is possible.

Caroline Casey puts her idea into practice everyday. She does not tell people that she is blind, and most people have no idea that she is. She didn't tell her audience until a few minutes into her presentation, and they were astounded. Think about it; don't you usually realize when someone is blind? It's often easy to tell. Shocking the audience was a very strategic move, it captured her audience's attention and ensured that they hung on her every word. They also formed opinions of her based on her personality, not based on her vision. She is very comfortable with being blind, going so far as to make jokes about it. Many people would consider being blind a disability, but Caroline Casey is determined to prove them wrong.

Caroline Casey's point is a very important one for the world to grasp. People are often judged by appearance, when we should really be judging people on their personalities. I struggle with this a lot. My friends consider me to be very judgemental, and whne they fell judged they say I am giving them "The Look." If we can all learn to not judge, the world would change for the better.

Dave Eggers

What if kids liked going to school? What would happen if kids enjoyed learning new things? If kids all around the world enjoyed being tutored? To many, this idea sounds far fetched, if not impossible. Dave Eggers shares his thoughts on this subject through his inspiring TED talk. He explores new ways of tutoring to keep kids interested. His goal was to tutor kids who were struggling in school, without embarassing them. What kid likes to admit they need extra help? I certaintly don't. As I was listening to Dave Eggers' talk, I found some connections to a few of Kathryn Schulz's ideas. When Eggers talks about kids not wanting help, he implies the reason they do not want help is because it is admitting to being wrong. Kids, just like everyone else, are pressured to be right. Kathryn Schulz explains the idea of wanting to be right further, saying that being wrong is considered failure. The kids that Eggers wants to tutor do not want extra help, because they have been taught that extra help is equal to failure.

In order to put his dream into action, Dave Eggers realizes he has to get creative in order to succeed. he comes up with the idea of combining a tutoring are with a store and an office. To interest the kids, he comes up with the title of Brooklyn Superhero Supply to avert the kids' attention away from the fact that it is for tutoring.

The "store" has been very successful, and now has a few hundred volunteers. By not putting "Tutoring" on the front of the building, Eggers has gained the kids' interest. The store has costumes for the children, as well as many other entertaining things.

Dave Eggers was obviously quite nervous during his TED talk, but the sheer brilliance of his idea connected deeply with the audience. Despiter his nerves, Eggers is confident enought to make jokes, and puts the audience at ease by making them laugh. He makes fun of himself, showing that he is confident with his idea, though not comfortable with public speaking. His awkwardenss, which some might find unprofessional, actually helps him prove his point. His awkwardness can be interpreted as being down to Earth, which shows his audience that he is not interested in himself, but in helping the children. Dave Eggers uses personal stories to illustrate his point, which are effective in helping the audience visualize his idea. He alos uses pictures of the kids he tutors along with pictures of his store. His passion about his idea overshadowed his nerves, and he proved that his one goal is to help the kids.

How would the world change if Dave Eggers' ideas were implemented for all children? Kids would be excited to go to school, to learn new things, and most importantly, would love gettign extra help. These ideas are similar to ideas discussed in Ken Robinson's TED talk. Ken Robinson believes in a new type of education, where kids have fun in school and are allowed to be themselves. Imagine what would happen if Ken Robinson's and Dave Eggers' ideas were used together.

At the end of his TED talk, Dave Eggers does something different than the others who give TED talks. He introduces something called a TED wish. Dave Eggers explains that his TED wish is for the audience to take his idea home with them and spread it. Then have is be spread again. He says if everyone became a part of this idea, it could spread all over the world. If it was heard by the whole world, then it just might be possible to change the world.

Kathryn Schulz: On being wrong

People make mistakes. They are wrong. I'm wrong, you're wrong, and so is everybody else. Then why is it so hard to admit? Because people are scared, embarrassed, or ashamed of being wrong. Though it is not sensible to hide from being wrong, it is human nature to make mistakes. In Kathryn Schulz's TED talk, she reminds us that it is okay to be wrong. In fact, she encourages being wrong, saying that people learn from their mistakes. Mistakes help people to grow, and to improve problem solving. Failure is just another word for progress. Making mistakes is the point of being human. Kathryn Schulz believes there would be much more success if people accepted mistakes. When mistakes are made now, people get discouraged and frusturated. Unlike most people, Schulz sees mistakes as a learning experience. Without mistakes, success does not exist! Mistakes are more important than many realize.

Schulz was very convincing due to he connections she formed with the audience. She opened up about an embarrassing mistake she made, showing the audience she was not afraid to take her own advice and make mistakes. She brings up common examples of others also making mistakes. She uses the example of the cartoon of the coyote and the road runner. The success of the show is based on the coyote's constant mistakes. The coyote makes countless wrong moves while chasing the road runner, but always tries again. Schulz also uses pictures and quotes to further her point. Schulz explains that in spite of our reluctance to accept our own mistakes, we enjoy seeing them, reading about them, and hearing about them. Schulz directly involves her audience, asking them how it feels to make mistakes.

This TED talk has really touched me, because it applies to my daily life. I have to admit, I never admit I am wrong if I can help it. I make it my goal to be right about everything, and I cannot stand mistakes. This is especially true when it comes to arguments. When I argue with my parents, I keep my focus on winning the "argument." If I lost, I consider it a personal failure. Watching Schulz's TED talk has helped me to realize that being right isn't everything, that is is normal to be wrong.

As I listened to Schulz's talk, I found myself wondering why ever human being is so set on being right. Because they learn it from an early age. From where? Kids learn the importance of being right in school. They are taught to earn good grades, which they must be right in order to do. They are taught that kids who receive bad grades are stupid and lazy. So why has no one realized this problem before? Because it is so deeply ingrained in their thinking. How can one succeed without being right? By being wrong, you are failing, and by failing, you cannot succeed.

Kathryn Schulz's talk was especially interesting because it is a very unpopular idea in society. It was interesting to hear an opinion contradicting popular belief. It was very inspiring that many people will scoff at her idea, yet she is passionate enough to spread it anyway.

As Clay Shirky begins his talk, my head is spinning with all of the information. Right away, Shirky launches into a description of a website called Ushahidi, which was originally started in Kenya after a political scandal. All of the media was shut down, so one woman began blogging everything that was going on. Soon, there was too much information to handle, so she asked for help. Two men pitched in and Ushahidi. The website reports on important national events, and is useful when all local media has bee shut down. Similar websites to Ushahidi are now used across the globe.

Clay Shirky then adresses cognitive thinking. Cognitive thinking is creative thinking. Shirky then goes on to explain cognitive surplus, which is the widespread sharing of creative ideas. Shirky believes in people doing it not for money, but for the good of the whole. He thinks people should to it out of generosity. There are two kinds of cognitive surplus, communal and global. Communal has an effect on the community, for which he uses the example of lol cats. Global has an effect on the entire world, and is used across the globe, like Ushahidi.

Shirky also talks about the way we use our free time. He says the average person has 1 trillion free hours a year. He says if we all used that free time, we could be using our minds to help others. We could create inventions that have a global effect.

What would the world be like if there was no more obesity? How would it change if everyone ate healthy? Jamie Oliver hopes to find out someday. Jamie Oliver is a British chef who has taken it upon himself to change the world. He has set out to conquer obesity, and to teach people how to eat healthy. Many will call it hopeless, but Jamie Oliver will not back down from the challenge.

Jamie Oliver, like all good chefs, believes in the power of food. He says, "Food has a primal place in our homes." Oliver is also realistic, and is faced with the fact that our food is killing us. Oliver explains how dire the situation is, saying that our lives are decreasing because of our diets. To illustrate how drastically our food is changing our lives, OLiver pulls up a bar graph. The graph shows the leading causes of death, with diet related conditions at the very top. In America, two-thirds of people are overweight. He goes on to explain that obesity is not just in America, it is sweeping the world.

Jamie Oliver continues by explaining that obese people are not only hurting themselves, but they are also hurting everyone else around them. He says unless we do something fast, it will be almost impossible to stop the obesity. With fast food sweeping the world, he sure has his work cut out for him.

I had not realized how widespread obesity was until I watched this video. I cannot understand how it has gotten this out of control. How hard is it to watch what you eat? Is it really that hard for people to exercise? It is embarrassing that so many people are overweight, especially here in America. Those people do not realize how serious the consequences might be. Those bowls of ice cream every night just might cost them their lives. Being overweight is a very selfish thing. When the people who love you look at you, they will not see a responsible, hard working person. They see a lazy, greedy person who does not care about their health.

Jamie Oliver uses his passion to deeply connect with the audience, and to emphasize that obesity is a matter of life or death. He uses visuals to present hard evidence, which will further his point. He helps the audience personally connect with his topic, making them think of people in their own lives who are obese. He also talks about children, and how we must act now to save the children from growing up to this unhealthiness. His dream is to educate every child about healthy food.

This video has had a profound effect on me, and has convinced me to practice more healthy eating habits. This should create a ripple effect in society, gradually encouraging people to be healthy, but I do not think that will happen. As long as nothing has affected them personally, many people will do nothing. We need a shock to convince those people to jump into action. I do hope Jamie Oliver succeeds, I'll be supporting him the whole way.

What if there were no consequences? What if we we lived in a world with no rewards, where people did things simply because they wanted to? Crazy sounding ideas to most people, but a possibility of a promising future to Daniel Pink. Daniel Pink is the author of books full of jaw dropping ideas, such as A Whole New Mind and Drive. His books use studies of behavioral science to explore the reasons behind human motivation as well as explaining why right brainers are taking over the world.

In his TED talk, Daniel Pink uses studies of human behavior to prove that rewards and consequences, are rarely successful. One of the examples Pink uses is a common puzzle, known as the candle problem. The purpose of the candle problem is to use the objects provided to attach the candle to the wall, preventing wax from dripping onto the table. Many people, says Pink, will try to use the tacks to pin the candle to the wall. Others might try to use the match to melt wax and stick the candle to the wall. The majority of people find the solution within ten minutes.

Daniel Pink says the objective is to see past the goal, to open our minds to other ideas. By using the right brain, this problem can be solved. The left brain focuses on the goal, and in doing so narrows its focus. Daniel Pink explains that carrots and sticks are no longer effective. He wants to bring the gap between motivation and business together. The key to motivating someone, he says, is autonomy. By letting people motivate themselves, they become more interested, finish work more quickly, and productivity goes up. This is used by several American companies, and is known as ROWE, which stands for "Results Only Work Environment."

Daniel Pink connects with the audience by making fun of himself, centering on his shame of going to law school. His goal is proving a case with hard, solid evidence. He backs up everything he says with studies and facts, making it clear that his topic is not based on an opinion. He is very passionate about his topic, and uses persuasion and evidence to win over his audience. Pink also uses images, such as pictures of the candle problem, to help the audience visualize and experience the difficulty of solving a problem when expected to.

Daniel Pink is very firm on his opinion that the world needs to change its business policy. He gives a few examples of some companies that have changed things up and run differently, which produce higher results. Atlassian is an Australian software company that has what they call Fedex days. Every year, the company gives each employee 24 hours to work on anything not related to their work. The next day, each employee comes in with something new, a program, a game, or a new product. The point to take away is the fact that these employees invented more than they do for work. Why does this happen? Because the employees enjoyed it. It was not work, and the employees were motivated by the desire to design something. This would change the world. What if a new thing was invented every day? What is people enjoyed their work? What if people worked harder?

Daniel Pink's ideas would change the world, starting with education. How would children behave if they were not on a schedule, like ROWE companies? Children would feel more free, and would have more chances to express new ideas. By coming up with more ideas than children right now, they would increase their chances of succeeding later in life. Daniel Pink's ideas could be hugely beneficial to the world, but first need to be enforced.