Dear internet cohabitants,
Please watch this talk about how what we view on the web influences and forms it, and try to click / choose your daily consumption on the internet more responsibly.
Below I added, in my view, some alternatives for a smarter / more intelligent content that can also be entertaining – of course these are some of my personal pickings, the web is full of ignorance as it is of awareness and actual useful information / content.
[ted id=2073]
Here are some alternatives, most also have Facebook pages, twitter accounts and some YouTube channels:
TED talks (and TEDx and other satellites)
Some TEDx videos are more local and thus sometimes difficult to appreciate the filtering of relevancy and degree of subjectiveness / specially in the life experience talks, but even those are perspectives worthy of consideration.
The mothership, the “TED talks” , are much as I’ve seen just brilliant people worthy of your attention and consideration. Really Ideas worth spreading.
“TED is a platform for ideas worth spreading. Started in 1984 as a conference where technology, entertainment and design converged, TED today shares ideas from a broad spectrum — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Meanwhile, independent TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world.“
Climate town
Latest addition (2021). One of the most relevant in our climate crisis context. Funny too but informative above that, though sometimes focused on US a lot.
…team of climate communicators, creatives and comedians are here to examine climate change in a way that doesn’t make you want to eat a cyanide pill. Get informed about the climate crisis before the weather does it for you.
The RSA
“The RSA’s mission is to enrich society through ideas and action.
We believe that all human beings have creative capacities that, when understood and supported, can be mobilised to deliver a 21st century enlightenment.”
You surely know at least one of their RSA animate videos, they have lots.
“The RSA Animate series is an innovative way of sharing world-changing ideas. All audio is taken from the RSA’s free events programme, and all animations are created by Cognitive Media.”
thersa.org
youtube.com/user/theRSAorg
New Scientist
New Scientist is a world leading science and technology brand, covering the big ideas and developments from all areas of science and technology through a respected and influential weekly magazine and widely read website. Offering the latest news, ideas and opinions, New Scientist is an authoritative voice on all matters related to science, technology and the ideas improving our knowledge of the universe and those shaping our world and lives.
The School of Life
We don’t have to keep making the same mistakes. Only one note about the views here: sometimes it presents only one view – while that one view is worth considering most of the times, sometimes it’s presented like ‘this is how the world really is’ or how people really are or how it would be best or such. In my view they sometimes forget to specify that it is so for “some” people, or it is that way “sometimes” – or even “most of the times”; that in some cases maybe “something else” all together that they didn’t mention. Mostly the missing fallibility of it, the diverse positive views as well as as the diverse negative ones. Too sure on themselves would be ok, but they’re not like Carl Sagan or Richard Feynman to really reach that unbiased view… at times I disagree with The School of Life’s views, so I guess we’re all cherry-picking. Still, this brings a very rich and well grown garden to pick from.
The School of Life is a place that tries to answer the great questions of life with the help of culture. It’s based here online and in 10 physical hubs around the world, including London, Melbourne, Istanbul and Seoul.
Brain Pickings
See the About page for info. Briefly:
“[…] a subjective lens on what matters in the world and why. Mostly, it’s a record of my own becoming as a person — intellectually, creatively, spiritually — and an inquiry into how to live and what it means to lead a good life.
Founded in 2006 as a weekly email that went out to seven friends and eventually brought online, the site was included in the Library of Congress permanent web archive in 2012.”
Wait! but why?
Title says enough. See the wait but who page. Quite brilliant perspectives I’d say.
waitbutwhy.com
SciShow, Crash Course and others – YouTube channel
“SciShow discusses science news and history and concepts.
With equal parts skepticism and enthusiasm, we go a little deeper…without going off the deep end.
Most of the time, anyway.”
youtube.com/user/scishow/videos
They are also making the Crash Course YouTube channel and others, relevant education and just information has never been so accessible much as i see it.
https://youtu.be/hIowxzmCDpw
[Ve]ritasium – YouTube channel
“Veritasium is a science video blog featuring experiments, expert interviews, cool demos, and discussions with the public about everything science.”
youtube.com/user/1veritasium/featured
Quora – virtual Agora
“Quora is a question-and-answer website where questions are asked, answered, edited and organized by its community of users.” (wikipedia descriotion)
This is awesome, you can find answers to any questions from people who had direct experience with what ever you want to know, the most relevant answers are voted up so you’ll know which ones are really worth reading. Want to know what is it like to survive, to fail, to face any kind of challenge, how something works, or validate an hypothesis, or anything really – among the users are scientists, journalists, writers, philosophers, doctors, government folks, experts from any domain really – from all over the world; it’s a virtual Agora and you can set your interest and get an e-mail with what interesting questions had been asked / answered previous week, you can ask your own questions, follow any question, it’s simply brilliant and an unlimited source of insightfulness from the consciousness of the world : )
Sometimes i find more very intriguing perspectives at the time, it’s the world as it should be.
The Brain Scoop – YouTube channel
“I’m Emily, the Chief Curiosity Correspondent of The Field Museum in Chicago, former volunteer of the University of Montana Zoological Museum, and I’d like to share some of the amazing things we have in the collection with the Internet!”
youtube.com/user/thebrainscoop/featured
Shots of Awe – YouTube chanel
A more experimental and subjective perspective but mostly inspiring and enthusiastic views:
“Ever ponder the miracle of life? Or perhaps wonder about the evolution of intelligence? In Shots of Awe, “Performance Philosopher” Jason Silva chases his inspiration addiction as he explores these topics and more.”
youtube.com/channel/UClYb9NpXnRemxYoWbcYANsA
Big Think
They have a YouTube Chanel with many scientists and professors / “experts” invited, some subjective perspectives of philosophers too – but perspectives worth considering. Little 2021 update – I watch them way less, though they’re still as relevant but, feels less holistic and at least some content can create a bubble effect.
About page excerpt:
“In our digital age, we’re drowning in information. The web offers us infinite data points—news stories, tweets, wikis, status updates, etc—but very little to connect the dots or illuminate the larger patterns linking them together. Here at Big Think, we believe that success in the future is about knowing the ideas that allow you to manage and master this universe of information. Therefore, we aim to help you move above and beyond random information, toward real knowledge, offering big ideas from fields outside your own that you can apply toward the questions and challenges in your own life.
Every idea on Big Think comes from our ever-growing network of 2,000 Big Think fellows and guest speakers, who comprise the top thinkers and doers from around the globe.”
Vox
Vox is a more recent update to this post (2017). Initially I related to their content most often, for their orientation towards critical thinking and the effort to align general public view with modern scientific views – so to say: to put things in context. But lately I find their focus on news can create a sided perspective – it’s good but can create the sensation of being in a sided bubble. The non news content is still there and awesome.
Vox is a general interest news site for the 21st century. Its mission is simple: Explain the news. Politics, public policy, world affairs, pop culture, science, business, …
Of-course, there are more, but these are most frequent for me it seems.
Also, in romanian, there’s Iv Cel Naiv, bringing you romanticised / serene views of life in verse. And the even more brilliant part is that the replies are also in verse as it becomes a place for thinking and seeing the world trough a serene – verses-build lens. I’m sure there are such places in English and other languages too, if not – then it means that there’s room for new beginnings.
“un om căra în spate / un dram de seninătate //”