4 ms·
I associate TED talks with inserting a certain fantasy into the minds of people aspiring to be rich and famous, especially in the tech world. The fantasy is:
by jordanpg 5y ago
I associate TED talks with inserting a certain fantasy into the minds of people aspiring to be rich and famous, especially in the tech world.
The fantasy is: being on stage, a thought leader. Dressed ever-so-slightly-casual. Holding the clicker. A nearly invisible headset and mic, the little foam ball hovering. Hands raised, arms parallel to the ground. And... saying profound things.
At some point, conference keynotes started to look like TED talks. It became a burning, hidden desire of many: to be up on that stage, saying those profound things. Witness the number of LinkedIn profile pics that look like they were taken from TED talks. Thought leader! Public intellectual! So smart!
/s
- dmix 5y agoWhy sarcasm? The thoughtleader thing has been a meme for at least 5-6yrs now. I remember Twitter accounts making fun of them from long ago. Not a new critique. There’s been a ton of parodying (and I believe self reflection) of the SV culture from the 2000s era. Edit: the Onion talks parodying TED posted by another commenter were from 9yrs ago
- wintermutestwin 5y agoDamn - does this mean I have to pull "thought leader" from my resume now? How else do I imply that I am more knowledgeable and intelligent than my corporate leaders? This is half-serious, half "I would have gotten away with it if not for these meddling kids!"
- danielscrubs 5y agoIt's awful but I know three of them that do basically that and they are earning quadruple the salary the PhD:s I'm working with.
- duxup 5y agoI feel like so many are just: “If this one thing can overcome all these hurdles for no apparent reason then all these other things will happen for no apparent reason. Wouldn’t that be great?”