Sam Richards TED Talk Response

Sam Richards’ TED Talk, “A radical experiment in empathy” connected to what was discussed in fishbowl today. Richards used visuals in his presentation some with just one word this made for a significant slide. He drew attention to what was projecting behind him and allowed it to connect his ideas and reinforce his point. Richards spoke with his hands and moved across the stage when he wanted to emphasize a point that he was making. Richards created experiments for the audience that solidified his main point.

                I take away from this presentation a new understanding of the world. As we discussed in class perspective is vital in achieving empathy. Richards used an experiment that put the audience in the shoes of an Arabic person. This experiment helped to put the people in a new light and change their perspective. In the blog someone brought up history books and their swayed perspective. I believe that empathy and understanding begin during education. Students learn mostly of how the United States was and is the hero and it is everyone else that is the enemy. This is relevant in education because education begins to teach students from a young age to not be empathetic. Not only do school systems fight empathy, but as Ken Robinson says they also kill creativity. Empathy and creativity are both right brained skills that need to be taught and enhanced. Empathy connects to the world because of perspective. If the world had a basic sense of empathy for each other maybe it would create more understanding. Understanding in the coming age will be more essential to the world than fact. I believe that Pink would agree with this statement. Richards experiment that put the audience in the shoes of the people that the United States considered enemies should be used on the world. We may not need to sympathize with the world, but it is important to empathize with the world.

Dave Eggers TED Talk Response

Dave Eggers’s  TED Talk "Once upon a school" presentation related directly to the world in which I live, the educational world. Eggers was obviously nervous to present, but he acknowledged it in a humorous way to make the audience more comfortable, I found this speaking technique to be humbling and more importantly, effective. Throughout the presentation, Eggers used a series of stories to illustrate his talk. He also used visuals and humor which made the presentation more dynamic.

From this TED Talk I take away a new idea of what education can look like and how it looks in areas in which Eggers has implemented his idea. Through talking with his friends and family who had teaching careers, Eggers noticed the importance of one on one time between students and their teachers. Eggers decided to introduce this idea in his community and opened a tutoring center where students could work one on one and beside actual writers and editors in a publishing company. I believe that Eggers did this because he was intrinsically motivated to do so. Eggers did not want to earn a profit from the tutoring, but he just wanted to help the students. This idea is similar to when Dan Pink talked about Wikipedia and how it was started by people voluntarily working on it and sharing their ideas. Both people in these instances were motivated to accomplish something and they did so without being rewarded. Eggers talk relates to me personally as a student. As class sizes increase due to teachers getting laid off, one on one time starts to decrease.  If something like what Eggers created was available I think it would be very beneficial to students because they would be getting what they lacked in their actual classrooms. Eggers gave a statistic in his presentation that said something along the lines of, if students are given one on one time for an hour a day, then it could improve their grades by one letter grade by the end of the year. This idea relates to the world because of what Clay Shirky said in his TED Talk about social constraints. Shirky talked about how the social constraints of a society create a society that is more generous. I think that relates to Eggers idea of one on one help because they both are about coming together to achieve something. If the world contributed to education and put forth the effort to help and volunteer because of the social constraints, and because they had the drive to do so, then we can change the world.