Why People Need Poetry (Stephen Burt’s TED Talk)

I’ve actually said before that this would be a TED talk I’d give. It’s a simple idea that I find to be truth — poetry would help us as a people understand our world, our selves, and our capability to produce and find beauty.

I would’ve used different poems, but Burt does a good job breaking down the wall of answering the ‘what does this mean’ question. It can mean whatever you’d like. He’ll show you how a critic might interpret a poem, but ultimately that’s not the point.

Just as we use music to inform, increase or unlock our feelings, poetry too sits on a mountain waiting to be discovered. Our schools have done a poor job of keeping it as a pillar in a curriculum, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less effective.

Click the picture below to hear the TED talk!

burt poetry ted talk

Learningz, September 4

September 4, 2013:

This past weekend a woman named Diane Nyad did an astounding thing.

She became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without any aid.

Oh, and she’s 64. And she’s tried this feat four times before. Now, on her fifth try, she achieved her goal.

Her accomplishment is beyond amazing — but so is her drive to reach her dream.

You can see her give a TED talk here called “Dare to Dream: Dare to Dream: Diana Nyad at TEDxBerlin

And you can read about her amazing swim here: http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commentary/article/9630873/espnw-mere-humans-take-away-diana-nyad-record-feat

“She freakin’ made it!”

Don’t give up on your dreams Zeople!

Learningz, July 19

July 19, 2013:

Kind of a long video but WELL worth the watch.

Seth Godin’s Stop Stealing Dreams TedX talk breaks down some problems with our education system and what we can do about it.

STOP STEALING DREAMS: Seth Godin at TEDxYouth@BFS

A good weekend watch and a lot to think about.

Feel free to share your thoughts below Zeople. Have a great weekend!!

Love, no matter what

A recently post TED talk by author/journalist Andrew Solomon.

Wow.

“…many people were astonished and said, ‘but how can you decide to have children in the midst of studying everything that can go wrong?’ and I said, ‘I’m not studying everything that can go wrong, what I’m studying is how much love there can be even when everything appears to be going wrong.'”

http://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_solomon_love_no_matter_what.html

 “I don’t accept subtractive models of love. Only additive ones.”