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From: TEDtalksDirector
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  • I genuinely think she has some very good insights, but I find her presentation to be somewhat unclear, incoherent, and rather ineffective overall. She didn't sell me. She is also difficult to follow because she speaks without pause or any vocal fluctuations, and throws in too many biographical side comments and jokes. I found her presentation style to distract from what she is actually saying. However, this video and its comments have piqued my interest enough to look into her work.

  • Very very interesting. I'm definitely going to read some of her works now..

  • IT HIDES IN MY CHANNEL MRMOVIESOUND.. PLEASE CHECK IT OUT

  • Amy, stick with books, you are not a strong intellectual. You reign at The Book Passage in the order of the mew. Authors like you and Elizabeth Gilbert who grew up and live in a bubble really can't espouse a deep truth. Thank god, you will be quoting my new book for years to come. It will be a little more accurate about creativity. Of course, your example isn't hard to top.

  • opium wars true victory for the new world order is dehumanization of chinese culture she is s child of a mom left 4 kids got married with a baptist minister come to usa and raised her with such intellectual morals to be a teacher of americans lol bazurkleys production of sophizm Greek σόφισμα, sophisma, from σοφίζω, sophizo "I am wise"; confer σοφιστής, sophistēs, meaning "wise-ist, one who does wisdom, one who makes a business out of wisdom lol

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  • Amy Tan is a full rounded RACE TRAITOR. When the Time of Cleansing come, She will be the First one taken care of.

  • Btw has anyone else noticed, that she gave a presentation of 20+ minutes while continually talking, without having a presentation paper or the powerpoint having any sufficient amount of text to remember text for?

    Pretty impressive right? Perhaps now the critics will see that creativity/randomness is pretty associative with memory and other skill as well ;)

  • She is strongly affected by her subconscious. It is clear the writer CHOOSES the setting of her stories as she goes, based on the latest "random occurence," so that she can attempt to explain some "supernatural connection" the universe has with writing.

  • @ajthrax1

    Is that bad?

  • @flamemage17 no it simply reflects the weakness of her argument..

  • why is the audience lauhging at everything she says all the time? The slides arent thaat funny and she isnt really crackin any jokes eaither, im all confused :S

  • Point: to make you ::gulp:: think.

  • I teach Tan for students.... teaching and listening to her is a rare honor thanks for the uploading brother.

  • What an idiot, letting the dog sit in that bag for 20 minutes. "Saving dog from choking" Next book?

  • :))

  • TELL HER to make Sagwa again i loved the show, still miss it

  • I love TED videos! 

  • In response to ? asking why ppl find this funny. Amy first indicates the "scientific" way of thinking of the creative process for those "logical" minds who would claim that creativity is not a "real" science. She also has self-depricating humor in that she states very dryly that writers aren't just artsy but psychotic, and she is well known for using her mothers' beliefs to shed light/humor on an otherwise deep subject. She's lovingly teasing with her mothers narrow minded wisdom. Its a paradox

  • Her idea was that creativity comes from nothingness.

    So it might as well come from a dog in a bag.

    I have done a lot of writing in the last few years, and am amazed at how these ideas come from nowhere. Just popping into my head to fill in the blanks. I mean the stories seem to write themselves and I just do the typing.

  • @RicRagsLive Finally an honest writer. I find it so funny when people's egos get inflated because of something they wrote. Thoughts come naturally with very little to do with the vessel. Good for you

  • @crudhousefull Thanks for the great reply to my comment! I feel the same way. I am a guy who writes. I would love for what I write to be well received by a large group of people. But I really can't say that it is because of some special creativity I have that everyone else doesn't have. It comes from empty space and I think anyone can tap into that. JK rowling was a bum on welfare and she wrote Harry potter. hehe

  • @RicRagsLive Well...people like Dostoyevsky (sure I spelt that wrong) and Tolstoy were very candid and honest about how they viewed the world and they were really well received. You're honest, so you're starting off on the right track I'm guessing. Wow I didn't know that about JK Rowling. Being a bum does increase your brain activity lol, so does meditation etc. I'd like to write (did a bit of writing a while back), but I need to increase my vocabulary again. The corporate world sucks

  • @crudhousefull Meditation is excellent. Although I always got the impression that it gives you the ability to decrease your mental noise and connect to something bigger than yourself. Maybe that's where all of this creativity comes from in the first place? I don't think there is anything wrong with recognizing your own talents but bragging or getting wrapped up in them as if they are actually serious I do think is a little silly.

  • @RicRagsLive Meditating gets you to understand your own insignificance really lol. From the way you said that I take it that you've done a bit of it yourself. There's three different kinds: insight, concentration and loving-kindness. I've done quite a bit of it the past 6 months. You've hit the nail on the head by saying that it decreases mental noise. You get to observe all mental and external phenomena with great concentration and that increases your understanding of everything

  • @crudhousefull Yes I've meditated every day for the past 5 years. What I have enjoyed about it is it begins to take shape in your day to day life. What I mean to say is you can see things differently even when your eyes are open not just during the meditation. The labels and conceptualizations of meditation can drop away and you are left with stillness and space. I hope you are having a great day!

  • @RicRagsLive I've actually been meditating off and on for the past 15 years, and been to a couple of retreats where you don't even speak for the duration of the stay.  What you are experiencing superb, but that state of contentment and happiness is one of the traps of meditation. It's a temporary point that stunts the speed to whatever we might perceive as enlightenment. It's great if you're working and you don't have too much time for contemplation, dangerous because it's addictive

  • @crudhousefull I find that as well. pretty much any experience during meditation is a double edged sword. You need to have them to move forward but you cannot become attached to any of them. it's not really about experience on the level of mind. It's not really about anything at all. Although I do believe it is all important in the process of letting go.

  • @RicRagsLive I'm not going to attempt to give any more advice lol, you seem to be pretty aware of what's going on. Real nice meeting people on the net that meditate though (just as in real life), gives me such hope for humanity...though usually I'm depressed at the potential outcomes in a hundred years.

  • @crudhousefull Your advice was good so don't sell yourself short. I really don't know much. I just like to write comments on youtube. hehe Don't be depressed. It's something I learned in a boxing class. Don't waste time with negative reactions. (I was frustrated that I screwed up the combination and made a growling noise, when I did the teachers punched me.) The negative reaction left me wide open for more problems and it didn't help me do better. Every moment is perfect exactly the way it is.

  • @RicRagsLive So very very true. I was waiting for you to catch the fact that I haven't been meditating for the past couple of months lol. Meditate just once and you reach the equillibrium point and stay there for at least two or three days in my experience. Main plan today is to meditate. First day is the hardest after stopping for awhile. Sort of like working out huh? So impressive that you boxed. I remember karate as a kid and a Tae Kwon Do girl broke my leg LOL

  • @crudhousefull Sometimes you take hits that's for sure. can't help injuries in martial arts. But I guess it's what you do with yourself after.

  • wtf is she talking about, am i the only one completely lost? what is the point of this

  • @thissitesuxmytwat01 lol, look at the description.it kinda comes into perspective at the end... not too difficult to get.

  • I Love her

  • Open your minds, people. Read "Saving Fish From Drowning" and you'll better understand what she's talking about. This was a great vid on the process of creativity. I'll watch it again.

  • I didn't think this video was funny but people were laughing at every other things she said. I think I'm not smart enough so her jokes went over my head.

  • I thought this was bunch of meaningless jargon, and misrepresentations of QM. Also superstitious thinking was included... pretty horrible.

  • @infinitehumanstupid

    Have you ever heard of irony? She is using metaphor and making no claim of science. She is talking only about creative process and is actually making light of people who take the QM ideas too far. I'm amazed at her ability to keep a straight face. Lighten up.

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  • Everything is random it doesnt mean shit, life or death it doesnt exist like we think it does because we impriosn ourselves by one two three four five senses in and infinite universe. An infinite universe which means everything that could possibly happen has already happened or will happen. There is no me me me me me only infinity dont you understand? No you dont and thats why you walk around putting on a fascade.

  • @CantWeedThis WE are the universe, asking questions about itself... the very essence of our existence is from where creativity stems. The only limitation is imagination, the only true infinite is potential - in that sense the universe is indeed infinite. Saying that "everything is random" isn't entirely true; there IS reason for everything otherwise nothing would (or could) exist in the first place - the universe stems from evolution / adaptation / creation / change - finding order in the chaos.

  • Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.

    -Voltaire.

  • FREE THINKERS UNITE ..... TO THE TED CONFRANCE

  • What I want to know is how she was able to keep that dog quiet during the entire 30 minute talk?

  • @pleasance yeah all asians all sound like "ching chong ding dong" mirite?

  • I love this woman!!!

  • Serendipity is a fun word. Great presentation.

  • Um, did any of you notice that there is a STORM TROOPER helmet behind her??

  • @koolglitch Nope,but I noticed the Clone Trooper helmet:)

  • @koolglitch - there is that guy from pirates of the carribian too

  • wonderfully funny lecture now I know why I love her books so much, they make me laugh and make my whole day better. what a lovely gifted person

  • i love this lady!!

  • i love ted channel, but i feel that few of the talks don't deliver what is expected out of the talks topic in other words what the topic should be about , for example this talk here its suppose to be a bout creativity, don't get me wrong i liked the talk but its not what i expected, i expected to know more about creativity instead i got a personal experience, and not much of information really related to creativity. please let the headline representable of what the talk is actually about.

  • @xrashadx I understand your disapointment with the headlines, but in my view, I thought her talk about ambiguous things somehow defined creativity in the aspect that it is just as undefinable as anything else.

  • Amy Tan provides tremendous insights into the creative process. Her remarks suggest that as creative people we need to be aware all the time of making connections and fueling our curiousity. I would highly recommend her memoir about a writing life-The Opposite of Fate. It's brillant and dives deep into more these topics.

  • I think Amy Tan delivers some powerful insights about how curisoity is so important to creative people. The more you apply yourself to your creative work, the more there is the possibility of making connections. I would also highly recommend her memoir-The Opposite of Fate where she delves into this material more deeply.

  • poor dog!!

  • Creativity hides here!

    Hi! ^_^

  • HAPPY BIRTHDAY Amy Tan :)

  • I love this woman

  • Apocalyptic Talk Stokes Microchip Implant DebateUpdated: 1 day 2 hours ago

    (Feb. 11) -- Forbidding companies from forcing employees to have microchips implanted in their bodies isn't just about protecting personal freedom; it might ward off the biblical "mark of the beast," according to a lawmaker who's pushing for such a ban in Virginia.

    The state House overwhelmingly approved Del. Mark Cole's bill Wednesday. Several other states already have similar laws or are considering them.

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  • Stop swearing. Just because you're anonymous, doesn't mean it's okay to act like a bratty 6th grader. And what's up with the rude nickname, Sacred Urine?

  • the dog represents live

  • so the dog was able to breathe in that bag for 20 mins? kinda mean really.

    did she make a dog out of nothing inside the bag during the talk? if so, very creative.

    i don't really get the whole dog thing.

  • its prolly a fancy dog carrier not a big purse. the dog is a surprize like life or atleast thats how i took it

  • I love her soooo much! What an interesting and beautiful person.

  • why don't u ask her out

  • I totally would but she's married and I'm gay ;)

  • it bothers me that they kept laughing at times they shouldnt have

  • @bigfathippo53

    Out of Amy's whole talk, the only thing you want to mention is that you think Amy is responsible for getting the Chinese to stop oppressing Tibetans??? And because she hasn't done that she is just a complainer??? Well, at least you're right about Tibet, and you feel strongly about it. God knows I've said embarrassing things myself because my strong emotions made me logic blind.  God, it sucks when that happens.

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  • Hey, Amy Tan, I have TLE too! I wish that everyone did, it would make the world a much nicer place.

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  • she has a very oily face

  • gosh, that's very observant of you. Aren't you clever?

  • yes i am

  • basically creativity comes from love, her dog is nothing but a loving creature.

    Even depression is a matter of lost love, gaining or losing love, i guess creativity is hand in hand with love.

  • that reminds me of Dante Alighieri. Somewhat along the lines of "all that is force, that has consequences, is love, whether is it Good Love, Absence of Love, or Love Perverted".

  • these coincidences happen all the time with me .. its a filter i think.

  • I think of it as a bubble. Once it pops, the fun don't stop.

  • @burchified thing is I think some people have negative synchronicity .. .. like evil attracts evil and pain attracts pain .. oooooh guess that's all karma and laws of attraction etc.. but how scary it must be to have that synchronicity turn sour !!

  • I don't think you popped the bubble if you are too negative in the first place. You have to be able to see beyond black and white.

  • pretentious...snore.

  • In the study with Professor Plumb.

  • chi ...ki

  • Rarely have i heard or read,

    such accuracy and poetry.

    Gold is rare, silence too,

    this teaching is, to me,

    shaping anew my passionate desire;

    True service from the transforming heart.

    Thank You ever so much, you have sparked me with inspiration divine.

    Lucas.

  • seriously kreesy... shutup

  • Cheers man, you nailed it!  +1 b

  • nice poem

  • i think those audience members laughed too loud & spolit the context of what she was saying.

  • how asian is it to explain something complex with something more complex?

  • lol wut

  • It's called temporal lobe epilepsy. She said she has it, as do I. Therefore, it has nothing to do with being asian.

  • Fantastic Amy ! Thank You : )

    " There's Know Place Like TED Home."

  • The serendipity she speaks of sounds like "Law of Attraction."

  • To the people who snub their noses to this video, it is in essence, not about believing in the supernatural as a whole. It is about letting go and exploring different options in life.

    Well, Mrs Tan had a few preconceptions on what makes her life move when she visited that village. However, she had to let go of them in order to understand the villagers. She did and she was enlightened. However, this narrative is only about her.

    You are the ones to decide what drives your lives.

    5 star'd :)

  • i heard temporal lobe

  • what does she say? temperlope seizures? temperlobe?

  • temporal lobe

  • wow! i stopped the video at about 19.00 because my mind was going crazy about what she said, "I began to adopt their beliefs" and such, and i wrote down, "there is no ONE truth" and THEN she goes on and says that exact same thing, "there are no absolute truths."

    everything happens for a reason; i was meant to watch this, and now i'm going to go buy books by Mrs. Tan. she is fantastic:)

  • or it could be 'everything can be pieces of an absolute truth, but there are no absolute beings to understand or grasp the whole truth.'?

    anyways, this is amazing. im going to get her books too.

  • wow i replied earlier about 'everything can be pieces of truth" before i got to 19.00 and then she said "particles of truth" !

    that is why religion will always clash with nature (or even the supernatural) because it always says that 'we understand the whole truth'

  • BRAVE AND TRUE IN MANY WAYS, THANKS AMY

  • A rich, talented, famous person who made something out of her life. =)

    Hey, you asked so I answered.

  • omg clone trooper helmets 1:01

  • to blade4hero... I complete agree with you, I am Uruguayan, South American, white, designer and painter, one human being, just that, no label here!!! Chapeau

  • beautiful

  • this is perfect for my research paper, YAY!

  • you are very wise; being saved is horrible. And often, people don't want to be saved because "intentions are ever so 'pure' " If someone needs help, they'd ask for it and accept what happens next as the consequence of their own action. It's natural, a flow. I don't believe in accidents. Everything that happens seems to match up with something else. Association is awful for just one person, however. Your brain must feel as if it's going to burst sometimes.

  • She really moved fast. I need to watch is again. So is she saying that the muse which gives her her material is her dog?

  • thats where she gets her compassion that breeds the imagination hence creating.

    right?

  • 'nothing out of something' lol

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  • Very Brilliant and keen understanding of universal truth and courage to share so creatively and with humor

  • Loool, if you had a mother that was constantly telling you that "you're going to be next!"; mean's she Hated You!.

  • Well, the Nazi Freemasns have been using Horse Ketamine on kid's for deacde's making a business out of getting something f=for nothing out of the clinically controled dead, and the German Government's experiment's of sex with kid's covered up by the British Government originate's from the Middle East that's been stiffling Natural Syn(Sine)aesthesis in children for year's, and that's from the Battle of the Somme Morphine & Opium Sleeper's, because tey prefer Waiko conditioning!.

  • lol. brilliant presentation! much better that david lynch's

  • This was one of the most ridiculous TED talks, she basically rants about how whenever she experiences anything she starts to think it's supernatural and that that belief is right?

    What the hell???

  • LOL, Molewizard I have to agree, those thoughts were going through my mind as I was listening to her.

  • i agree

  • public education and college idolization is making the American people into brainless conformist zombies that are tearing the economy apart!!! We are living in a collegetatorship. By the way I am a community college student and I deduce this from my experiences I don't need anyone to tell me this.

  • If you take out "public education and college idolization" and replace it with "the internet" then youre right! YouTube, Myspace, etc. are killing creativity and making worthwhile artists with talent compete with kids who perform Green Day songs in front of a closet at their parents house and people spitting out movie spoilers in 60 seconds. Culture, Our Economy, and Our Future is being destroyed. Enjoy!

  • ridiculous. the internet, conforming people? it's the complete opposite. the internet's major positive is the ability to express original (and maybe not so original) ideas to an international audience. believe me, internet or not, those people you described would be still around... you just wouldn't be seeing it.

  • the internet has made me more logical.

  • score!

  • @OceanAndSilence The internet is actually relighting my interest in the world, in education and becoming a better person. I'm learning new stuff every day, i think it's amazing if it wasn't for the internet I wud be sat wtching 'dumbed down' TV...rather than having my mind opened to all these fascinating lectures, talks all sorts of things!

  • @Gorillagal247 yeah tv is poopie. getting out there first hand is the best way to go about it.

  • @Gorillagal247 Great comment and I hope we all open our minds to the fact that we are all part of mankind, a home we call earth and a family who share the same problems and joys.

  • @Gorillagal247

    That's how it is with me as well. I do dabble in hijinks and entertainment. However, the internet does alot more. I got to learn alot more about the cultures of our world and the way many people think and act. I managed to mature more as a person because of the internet.

  • @Gorillagal247 but remember that this is also a tool to make money, just look at the ads at the ends of these lectures and at the beginning, one can argue that its the less of two evils without their support nothing would be done, its all ad placement, it is still just a game, what you seek and the only place to find it is inside, outside, out there, not plugged in here.

    Keep searching! this is just a tool! a tool isn't as important as the hand that wields it! cheers!

  • @Gorillagal247 What I could say is that the Internet is like a land fill, a dump, a scrapyard where is more than 90% junk, but, if you search right you will find amazing things!

  • @GrayShark09 yep and vice versa .. it all depends on the interest and mindset

  • @Gorillagal247 Long before the Internet there were these things called "books." There were also newspapers and magazines, music and art. All these things have been amazing teachers for thousands of years.

  • @Gorillagal247 SO TRUE!!

  • @OceanAndSilence I was an uncreative lump before I got a computer. Shut up.

  • @uJustGotSushiRolld at least you know better now that you have a computer... like you needed one to figure that out though, really?

  • @OceanAndSilence It's funny because now I can find things that give me inspiration?

    Are you trolling, because I feel like you say these things just to be disagreeable, for attention.

  • @uJustGotSushiRolld you're wrong. you don't need a computer for that. besides, if I wanted attention I'd ask for thumbs up.

  • I don't think Christianity stifles creativiy like some people are suggestion. It may restrict certain expressions of your creativity , then again , so does copyright, common sense & political correctness.

    There are thousands of extremely Creative Christian artists, singers, writers, designers etc out there. After all creativity comes from God.

    And please don't start any cussing or arguments about God or his existence. If u refuse to acknowledge him, well, we will all find out one day.

  • yeah I have some brilliants ideas about religion I would like to share with my christians leaders...

    If only they wouldnt call me a heretic...

    I also have some ideas explaining where life does come from, and of heliocentrism... and a wonderful creative explanation on the age of earth...

    Why would god give such a power if it pisses him so much when i use it?

  • @osofrontinoquantico I get yelled at for reading stories that have to do with the supernatural.

    But is reading about a boy using magic going to make me a user of witchcraft?

    Is playing a game about a a god in wolf form restoring beauty to the world going to make me a pagan?

  • "After all creativity comes from God."

    ...You do realise that is utter bullshit. Even if it did, that wouldn't make Christians any 'better,' but I understand my own creativity, and it does NOT come from anyone but me.

  • LOL, the presentation she did is strikingly similar like one of the books she wrote.

    I remember reading an excerpt of this in tenth grade, but I just can't remember for some reason.

  • No she isnt

  • you obviously don't have any asian american friends. all of my asian american friends DESPISE HER! google this:

    Selling-Out the Asian-American Community in Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club

  • Oh my goshhh

  • If you believe that crap, you don't know the first thing about fiction and literature!

  • If you DON'T believe that crap, you don't know any Asian American friends.

  • I do have Asian American friends but this wasn't about that, it is about how every writer builds his/her own characters the way they want to. I don't believe that an artist can do damage to any group of people.

    You probably don't even understand what I am saying, so why would I even bother?

  • "I don't believe that an artist can do damage to any group of people. "

    Did you just say that outloud? Talk about CLUELESS. You're the one who doesn't understand.

  • why?

  • google amy tan selling out, it won't let me post links in here because they are censoring comments

  • hahah i read the articles and i agree man....but sadly it's not just her....a lot of asian women seem to dislike so many things about themselves....sad really....for such a ancient and rich culture....they should walk with more pride.

  • Is this a form of school? I see people writing.

  • its where great minds come to share their work, its not for idiots like you.

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