5 ms·

True that, which is sad, because charisma can legitimately lower the difficulty of understanding complex ideas; think of your best teachers/favorite professors.

True that, which is sad, because charisma can legitimately lower the difficulty of understanding complex ideas; think of your best teachers/favorite professors. I wish TED was filled with more Richard Feynman (charisma * ideas) and less Tony Robbins (charisma % ideas).

gsteinb88 11y ago
I'm not sure that Feynman is the best example here. In fact, in my experience, he's actually more of an example of the problem than the solution. While Feynman does a great job of explaining concepts if you never need to use them, I always found his lectures to be of the "captivating until you try to use them" variety. This wasn't just my experience either -- after struggling with this as a physics undergrad for a while (after all, they're supposed to help!) I started asking around. My academic advisor, several other professors, and many students felt the same way. Feynman may get closer -- or may do more to bring common understanding to complex principles -- but his approach broke down for actually learning to /do physics/. But I'll agree that he's a major step in the right direction; I just want to caution against the hero worship. There's no magic formula, no one person, who can make learning complex concepts easier. Some things are hard, and trying to make them seem easier can easily make them more confusing in practice.
- bananaboy 11y ago
  There was a post about that exact topic on math-blog recently http://math-blog.com/2016/02/01/was-richard-feynman-a-great-teacher/ http://math-blog.com/2016/02/01/was-richard-feynman-a-great-... Summary: he wasn't a great undergraduate teacher.
  - gsteinb88 11y ago
    That was a fantastic post, thank you for sharing. Ironically, while affirming the view I held above, it also makes me think I should -- maybe -- give them another chance now that I'm well along in graduate school as opposed to a struggling undergrad.
    - ChuckMcM 11y ago
      I think you should. I had a similar experience with Feynman. Who spoke with assuming a certain level of familarity but with an engaging style that let your brain skip right over what it didn't really understand. Re-reading his lectures on physics and the papers on computation, post college, was a much deeper experience than reading him in High School. Even though I enjoyed both times tremendously.
- serf 11y ago
  Robert Leighton: "Feynman has a peculiar property, which is that at the time he's explaining something, it appears very clear and transparent--you can see how everything fits, and you go away feeling very good about it, as if, "Well, there's a lot of loose ends there that I want to follow up on; but boy, wasn't that great!" And about two hours later, like what they say about Chinese food, it's all gone and you're hungry again. And you don't remember what happened.[0] [0]: Feynman's Tips on Physics: Reflections, Advice, Insights, Practice - https://books.google.com/books?id=FZ4fAQAAQBAJ&lpg=PT32&ots=kIwNFpeuEp&dq=robert%20leighton%20chinese%20food&pg=PT32#v=onepage&q=robert%20leighton%20chinese%20food&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=FZ4fAQAAQBAJ&lpg=PT32&ots=... edit: wrong name.
  - mchahn 11y ago
    I have read his QED book many times and I experience the same clarity when reading as you mention. Then later I lose that and am able to re-read it with the same enthusiasm I had the first time. So that property does have its advantages. (grin) BTW, I have this same experience with many other science books for laypeople. It is very possible that I do understand them while reading but then I am unable to remember the complex thoughts.
alexashka 11y ago
Perhaps I'm nitpicking but charisma gets people to listen, that's it. It is not related to the quality of the content. The problem with Tony Robbins is he's mister positive and only focused on personal improvement. These are enormous constraints that ignore the bigger picture. Feynman is great at explaining physics because it's not wishy washy - it is also really not that interesting past the cute basics, sooner or later you have to put in the hard work. TED is fundamentally flawed because things worth knowing - cannot all be politically correct and positive. Once you constrain yourself to being Mr/Ms Positive only, you end up being a delusional asshole because you are denying a big chunk of life any attention. There is no fixing TED as a result - it's more interested in money than truth. As are most people, hence why we are where we are :)
- ryanobjc 11y ago
  This is exactly my thoughts on what's wrong with TED. It's not in the pursuit of the truth. Therefore, it's in the pursuit of status. You can see this among those who wave around TED talks they have seen as some kind of currency. "Oh have you seen the TED talk about Y? It's so amazing!" But also, by their nature, the talks cant dive deep. People are there to be amused and kind of learn, but real education is difficult. TED isn't difficult.
  - randycupertino 11y ago
    That's why the "Ted Talk about Nothing" is one of my favorites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S0FDjFBj8o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S0FDjFBj8o Their manner of speaking reminds me of American Dad making fun of Ira Glass. Why is pausing??! Doesn't he know what he's going to say next??? AAAAHH. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUvQdoOEDGw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUvQdoOEDGw
    - alexashka 11y ago
      Wow that talk about nothing is really well done :)

gsteinb88 11y ago

I'm not sure that Feynman is the best example here. In fact, in my experience, he's actually more of an example of the problem than the solution. While Feynman does a great job of explaining concepts if you never need to use them, I always found his lectures to be of the "captivating until you try to use them" variety. This wasn't just my experience either -- after struggling with this as a physics undergrad for a while (after all, they're supposed to help!) I started asking around. My academic advisor, several other professors, and many students felt the same way. Feynman may get closer -- or may do more to bring common understanding to complex principles -- but his approach broke down for actually learning to /do physics/. But I'll agree that he's a major step in the right direction; I just want to caution against the hero worship. There's no magic formula, no one person, who can make learning complex concepts easier. Some things are hard, and trying to make them seem easier can easily make them more confusing in practice.

bananaboy 11y ago
There was a post about that exact topic on math-blog recently http://math-blog.com/2016/02/01/was-richard-feynman-a-great-teacher/ http://math-blog.com/2016/02/01/was-richard-feynman-a-great-... Summary: he wasn't a great undergraduate teacher.
- gsteinb88 11y ago
  That was a fantastic post, thank you for sharing. Ironically, while affirming the view I held above, it also makes me think I should -- maybe -- give them another chance now that I'm well along in graduate school as opposed to a struggling undergrad.
  - ChuckMcM 11y ago
    I think you should. I had a similar experience with Feynman. Who spoke with assuming a certain level of familarity but with an engaging style that let your brain skip right over what it didn't really understand. Re-reading his lectures on physics and the papers on computation, post college, was a much deeper experience than reading him in High School. Even though I enjoyed both times tremendously.
serf 11y ago
Robert Leighton: "Feynman has a peculiar property, which is that at the time he's explaining something, it appears very clear and transparent--you can see how everything fits, and you go away feeling very good about it, as if, "Well, there's a lot of loose ends there that I want to follow up on; but boy, wasn't that great!" And about two hours later, like what they say about Chinese food, it's all gone and you're hungry again. And you don't remember what happened.[0] [0]: Feynman's Tips on Physics: Reflections, Advice, Insights, Practice - https://books.google.com/books?id=FZ4fAQAAQBAJ&lpg=PT32&ots=kIwNFpeuEp&dq=robert%20leighton%20chinese%20food&pg=PT32#v=onepage&q=robert%20leighton%20chinese%20food&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=FZ4fAQAAQBAJ&lpg=PT32&ots=... edit: wrong name.
- mchahn 11y ago
  I have read his QED book many times and I experience the same clarity when reading as you mention. Then later I lose that and am able to re-read it with the same enthusiasm I had the first time. So that property does have its advantages. (grin) BTW, I have this same experience with many other science books for laypeople. It is very possible that I do understand them while reading but then I am unable to remember the complex thoughts.

alexashka 11y ago

Perhaps I'm nitpicking but charisma gets people to listen, that's it. It is not related to the quality of the content. The problem with Tony Robbins is he's mister positive and only focused on personal improvement. These are enormous constraints that ignore the bigger picture. Feynman is great at explaining physics because it's not wishy washy - it is also really not that interesting past the cute basics, sooner or later you have to put in the hard work. TED is fundamentally flawed because things worth knowing - cannot all be politically correct and positive. Once you constrain yourself to being Mr/Ms Positive only, you end up being a delusional asshole because you are denying a big chunk of life any attention. There is no fixing TED as a result - it's more interested in money than truth. As are most people, hence why we are where we are :)

ryanobjc 11y ago
This is exactly my thoughts on what's wrong with TED. It's not in the pursuit of the truth. Therefore, it's in the pursuit of status. You can see this among those who wave around TED talks they have seen as some kind of currency. "Oh have you seen the TED talk about Y? It's so amazing!" But also, by their nature, the talks cant dive deep. People are there to be amused and kind of learn, but real education is difficult. TED isn't difficult.
- randycupertino 11y ago
  That's why the "Ted Talk about Nothing" is one of my favorites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S0FDjFBj8o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S0FDjFBj8o Their manner of speaking reminds me of American Dad making fun of Ira Glass. Why is pausing??! Doesn't he know what he's going to say next??? AAAAHH. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUvQdoOEDGw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUvQdoOEDGw
  - alexashka 11y ago
    Wow that talk about nothing is really well done :)