Technology. Entertainment. Design.

That's what TED stands for. But what does it do? From their mission statement:

Our mission: Spreading ideas.
We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world.
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The TED Conference, held annually in Monterey, is still the heart of TED. More than a thousand people now attend — indeed, the event sells out a year in advance — and the content has expanded to include science, business, the arts and the global issues facing our world. Over four days, 50 speakers each take an 18-minute slot, and there are many shorter pieces of content, including music, performance and comedy. There are no breakout groups. Everyone shares the same experience. It shouldn't work, but it does. It works because all of knowledge is connected. Every so often it makes sense to emerge from the trenches we dig for a living, and ascend to a 30,000-foot view, where we see, to our astonishment, an intricately interconnected whole.

Because I've got kids in school, the talk below attracted me immensely. In it, Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and moving case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. Among other examples, he relates a story about a young girl in drawing class who, when the teacher asked her what she was drawing, replied, "A picture of God." The teacher replied that no one knew what God looked like and the little girl said, "Well, they will in just a minute."



If you have twenty minutes free, spend it watching this. And then go check out some of the hundreds of other talks available at the TED site.