ehh next time i have time ill watch all these, good thread.

Here are my favorite Ted Talks:

Dan Dennett:

1. Dangerous Memes
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/d...ous_memes.html

2. Consciousness
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/d...ciousness.html


Richard Dawkins on The Strangeness of Science
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/r..._universe.html

Michael Shermer on why people believe strange things
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/m...ge_things.html


And finally, my all time favorite, an absolute must watch, imo:

Susan Blackmore on Memes
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/s...and_temes.html

I haven't been on this site in a couple months. I always get lost for a couple hours, tonight was no exception....

Love all the ones you mentioned. I think Richard Dawkins: The universe is queerer than we can suppose was the first TED talk I saw. I hadn't seen the Shermer one before, but recognize him from other documentaries/interviews.

I <3 Dawkins. Posted alot of his stuff in my earlier post, here is a link to his youtube channel playlists, all great. Your post reminded of a long interview session called The Four Horsemen with Dawkins, Dennet, Hitchens, and Harris which was insightful. I think I remember most of them drinking throughout it, Hitchens gets a little drunk and Dawkins' face is a little flush at times, really good stuff.
Four Horsemen Hour 1
Four Horsemen Hour 2

Here are a few more of my favorite TED talks:
Jonathan Haidt: The real difference between liberals and conservatives
Bjorn Lomborg: Our priorities for saving the world
Spencer Wells: Building a family tree for all humanity
Steven Pinker: The stuff of thought
Steven Pinker: A brief history of violence
Hans Rosling: Debunking third-world myths with the best stats you've ever seen

So many more, such an amazing resource. Their search filters/tags/etc are great.

Excellent talk. I want to give it a second recommendation.

On a bit more of the lighter side, the "dogs nuts" of playing with alkali metals is presented here (fun science and the periodic table mix, 5 Stars)

Everyone needs to view this one:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m55kgyApYrY


-Zeno

i had problems with the Four Horsemen interview, it felt kind of like it was just watching some very smart people in the act of mutual masturbation. i mean, how long can you go on with a conversation where both parties have studied the same subject, lectured on the subject, and pretty much agree on all the main points.

If we ever needed proof that your a contrarian by nature here it is.

well at least in SMP there are theists to argue with/i get to participate. by the same logic i don't want to watch john madden and al michaels babble on during a halftime show but i don't mind spending that time talking about football with my friends.

How I have only found out about the TED site through this thread, I have no idea. It's possibly the best thing on the internet.

Anyway, saw this earlier and was amazed. Not so much by the technology, but by the fact this guy just chose to give away this software free because he could see it's uses in underpriveliged areas. Presumably he could made a lot of money with this, no?


Johnny Lee Demos Wii Remote Hacks

For those of you digging the TED videos, try www.bigthink.com, too. They have a wide variety of experts discussing various topics.

www.fora.tv is also nice

my friends and i made this, it is awesome. our LED pen looks like a crack pipe and our sensor bar head device is basically a hat with two LEDs taped to it but it was fairly awesome to do.

I haven't clicked on every link but so far I am amazed there isnt a rick roll.

I also wanted to put a shout out for her book "The Meme Machine". It was awesome.

Here's a Bill Nye addiction video I came across today that I really loved:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfGjE...eature=related

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/m...l_century.html

Polchinski- "What is string theory"


Thought some people may like this. I would say it is on a semi-popular level, around upper undergrad physics, so don't worry if you don't get everything he talks about.

A set of 4 lectures: Feynman on the Nature of light.

Something completely different: A segment from the short film, "Why Man Creates"

What Can Fossils Teach Us. It's a pretty cool TED video about dinosaurs.

I've been mildly addicted to this thread over the past week or so since I've found it. Through this thread I've found TED and have watched about 10 or so videos. I just wanted to say thanks and if anyone has any more good links or sites, please post them.

Also, a 2p2er recently just did a TED talk this Feb at TED2009. His name is Nate Silver, I don't know his exact 2p2 name but he got some fame from projecting the elections using some statistical models or something. Anyway, thought that was pretty cool too, I'm looking forward to seeing that as well as Tim Berners-Lee talk as well.

Nate Silver is Nate Tha' Great or something like that on 2p2. Hasn't posted in quite a long time imo. He made his fame using some statistical models to project baseball statistics for Baseball Prospectus, but transitioned to projecting US federal elections and general political blogging during the 2008 election season.

Giants of Philosophy - Aristotle Part 1 of 17
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSZ9iQ3t8IM

Giants of Philosophy - Socrates part 1 of 16
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRg6HZv33HA

100 Greatest People - Plato - 01/04
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ7K_czXf9g

The Giants of Philosophy - Immanuel Kant - 1/16
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exaRcV6tMzE

The Giants of Philosophy - G.W.F. Hegel - 1/22
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40lOhJ3MHX4

The Giants of Philosophy - Arthur Schopenhauer - 1/18
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yy5IZZeaIA

The Giants of Philosophy - Neitzsche (on value) - 1 of 6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4jf5X6EaXA

Plato describes the matrix - The Cave [pretty legit imo]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK1ig4dlCYM

Plato: The Apology of Socrates (1 of 11)[listen but dont watch imo]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmQBUqxxY6Y

Biography: Muhammad The Prophet - History Channel (1 of 6)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZLHUiELhKk

(last one is a little off topic but v good info nonetheless)

If your looking for a mind trip and have a pretty ... expandable ... imagination, picture the cave as being your house, entrance as windows / doors, fire as light bulbs, wall as task bar on your monitor. crazy imo

Thanx for the videos Ryan. My philosophy is pretty lacking. This'll help.

I was the one who originally posted this.... yeah I am petty like that


Hey, Zeno make this thread a sticky please.

Worth mentioning that Silver is basically THE numbers geek in the political world right now. No one's predictions on anything from elections to congressional votes are given more credence.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/b...omics_101.html

Barry Schuler: Genomics 101