My first, gut reaction was this was a very pretentious-sounding letter from some singularly pretentious people. It's probably got a lot to do with the fact that

My first, gut reaction was this was a very pretentious-sounding letter from some singularly pretentious people. It's probably got a lot to do with the fact that I hate TED. I can't articulate exactly what it is about TED that bothers me so much. I know it has to do with the attitude. South Park got pretty close to the mark in their episode about hybrid cars and San Francisco - a bunch of self-righteous people sniffing their own farts. With that as my context, this letter read like a pompous bureaucrat windbag going on about how great he is and how important all his rules and policies are. I want to say, get over yourself. TED isn't that good.