i feel like i am the only person in my demographic that doesn't like TED talks

@nathanjurgenson I find a good 50-60% of them dull but the rest I think are great. Why don't you like?

@nathanjurgenson U mean spending mad money to hear people rant about some shit they think they know about? sorry dude, not buyin it

@ColonelKSpeaks tho, i'll spend money to hear smart people talk. it is just the TED culture...doesnt do it for me

@nathanjurgenson not sure if we are in the same demographic :) but I feel the same. started as a nice idea became a PR monster

@nathanjurgenson not sure if I am in your demo, but I don't get them either. I always worry that it's just me being kneejerk contrarian

@marginalutility @nathanjurgenson Me three.

@razsc @nathanjurgenson "amazing" non-ideas for data gathering from very simplistic sources i believe. Bill's specialty audience! #sourmood

TED talks bore me b/c too PR-polished; too "mind-blowing-3.0!" rather than substance; important topics ignored; strikes me as a big$$$ scam

@nathanjurgenson they've changed a lot, I like the earlier ones, but lately = no

@academicdave yeah, got really corporate-y

@nathanjurgenson They have the whiff of futurism about them.

@nathanjurgenson yes exactly; they collectively depict a world where all the smartest people yearn to become management consultants

.@alexismadrigal @marginalutility TED is the Urban Outfitters of the idea world

#BURN RT @nathanjurgenson: .@alexismadrigal @marginalutility TED is the Urban Outfitters of the idea world

tho, if TED wants me to do a talk where i explain why they have become rather silly, i will gladly comply

.@marginalutility @nathanjurgenson TED talks and Khan Academy both strike me as managerial-era puffery.

@marginalutility @nathanjurgenson Usually but not always they’re just Friedman & Gladwell for “millennials.” Ideas sans nutrition, rigor.

okay writing a critical piece on TED. anyone want to share why they like/dislike TED? #TED

@nathanjurgenson Like: format is highly shareable; presentations are polished; complex, technical topics get wider exposure than they might.

@nathanjurgenson Dislike: kind of cultish; supplicant relationship to money/power; too narrative dependent; my own jealousy.

@nathanjurgenson I went to a TEDx event - it was not a good experience.

@nathanjurgenson This: http://youtu.be/0snNB1yS3IE. If you take out the biz side of TED, the talks are interesting and uplifting.

@nathanjurgenson Reason one: Boys' club. http://whimsley.typepad.com/whimsley/2010/02/index.html. Reason two: a whole lot of smugness. #TED

@nathanjurgenson My 5c: I used to love TED early on when all its talks were, by my standards, outstanding. I appreciated their curation 1/2