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*Pop science

• nonbel 10y ago
  I don't think any scientists consider TED talks a serious venue. Anyone who thinks they are learning rather than being entertained is mistaken. Not saying there is anything wrong with entertainment, it is just bad for us all when people confuse the two.
  • throwanem 10y ago
    But that's the whole point of TED. It's upmarket standup that you can feel like you're improving yourself by watching, which is why so many of the jokes suck - laughing might make the pretense impossible to maintain.
  • AstralStorm 10y ago
    Sometimes it does show serious topics that are or have been pretty seriously researched. It'd is quite easy to filter out the entertainment or worthless talks in fact: See if math or diagrams are used. Some talks are pie in the sky idea talks, essentially fuel for hypotheses. Filtered by talking about a serious subject but not showing math or diagrams. And finally there are stories. Spotted by a typically "human" talk and "social" topic. Not useful.