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From: TEDtalksDirector
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  • omg dye your hair lady! she would look 10 years younger!!

  • eluap I am with you I gave my tv and games to a little girl in our building that was 4 years ago and I still feel guilty about doing it. The more I think about tv the more I come to realize tv is part of the cause of our downfall in morals.

  • I no longer have a TV in my house,

    Do you need to hear a violin play to feel sad about starving chidren??

    Conscience of television .. I don't see it...

  • Humans are social in every way, they have social values and social standarts, or in other way dogmas. Dogmas were basically melted in the images of Gods. So, basically, Gods, or some other utopic ideas, represent our social conscious. Animals have no imagination, so they have no Gods and no philosophy, so they have no social values and no society. This I may tell you as a historian.

  • This lady is like if you had photshoped her to be larger

  • If you understand her message, as it's not really hard to if you listen to her last two words, thumb me up... no one else seems to understand the point of her presentation.

  • Um, "power" and "inquisitiveness' are not instincts.

  • cool chart of completely subjective "characteristics." this talk was as stultifying as tv itself. thanks, tv executive.

  • Wow! whats up with all the dislikes? thats unusual for ted.

  • I think it is a great presentation, clearly there is some sort of connection between tv and collective cultural ideals. Whether is as precise as she presented or much vaguer as I would believe there still exists a connection. The problem I had with this presentation is that it is based on emotional judgements on television shows as distant as the 60's. I am not sure if I could, or anybody could, remember feeling hopeful while watching tv. But that's just me.

  • no doubt great tv creators, such as jj adams or ronald moore or a host of others, bring great tv 'to life' (as she suggests towards the end), but those damn commercials sure take that 'life' away! thank god for DVDs, too (re:my jest about TVs in prior comment), or i would have never made it through 24, LOST, BSG, arrested development, FRINGE, the simpson's, futurama, etc....

  • does it go without saying that this thoughtful talk would not have been available to us if we only had TV??

  • TV as a one-way communication, distorts people into passive non-expectant communicators, and passive ineffectual people. It also communicates in a way that attempts to suppress and bypass our conscious minds while the audience pretends they are somehow immune, or too clever to be negatively affected or that the trade of stimulation for sickness is a good one.

    The subconcious mind does not differentiate between a tv memory and a "real" one. Watching TV loads your mind up with corporate poison.

  • Correlation does not imply causation. In her "Humor and Judgement" graph, the reason for reality television taking off around 2001 was not because of the the 2000 presidential election or 9/11 or bursting of the tech bubble--it's because Mark Burnett thought up a genius idea for a tv show that had never been done before--Survivor. Other shows and networks banked on the popularity of that show.

  • @tamohr Actually, Real world, which came out in 1992, is what started off the reality tv scene.

  • I don't know.. whenever i watch tv, my creativity goes away. My attention goes from what i can do, to what people are doing on TV, so I become motivated in doing less.

  • some animals like to watch tv. :) watching tv is part of what makes us human? that's silly.

  • ok, I realize that too, But what is internet (youtube, facebok and so on)?

  • I thought this talk was powerful. Amazing information. 

  • Her research is inaccurate and incomplete. I find proselytizing ignoramuses, with unfounded faith in their assumptions, highly aggravating.

  • @Windmill911 no, im quite happy... you?

  • Where is she getting all of these so called facts? She connects loads of different data but but never explains how. This entire talk sounds like nothing but conjecture.

  • Haha this lady sets herself up to get burned by the interweb.

  • interesting charts but i disagree with Bree being the "mom" of this time

  • My cat disagrees, Lauren. He also loves to watch....! From a tree, a rooftop, the window, under the stairs... he loves watching people, me, the wall, insects, the weather.... In fact, he meowed me to dislike this TED talk. But I guess he's just guided by TV ;)

  • HAHAHA go to 00:40 and look at the super disappointed lady on the right,

  • Throw away your TV and do yourself a huge favor in the process.

  • Internet killed the Television-star

  • 12:50 and on.... I take something very different from those words than her intended meaning.

  • Hmm so the utter banality garbage of ‘reality’ TV has been right up there – shows where you seemingly get to have a say by way of a vote and to make judgements on others – more fantasy creation and subtle control – ultimately is perception management and its hideous – 5 hours a day no wonder the world is going to shit on the back of psychopaths – throw the thing out and start communicating properly

  • This could have been a good talk. The data was interesting, but the talk lacked a coherent theme. I mean, what did she mean by "conscience"? She made no mention of morals. She brought up animal instincts (and what does "power" mean anyway?), and then didn't connect them to the talk. I watched the whole thing, but I couldn't say what it was about.

  • @shiftyjake

    Agree. Some interesting data (let alone weird charts) but a very poor presentation overall. And these out of the blue acknowledgements and women's rights remarks... as though someone behind hit her sore spot.

    I made a conclusion that the shows of the past were as stupid as they are today to feed chewing gums to masses but not to educate them. Leave It to Beaver - lol

  • Stupid argumentation

  • What a nonsense...

    waste of time.

  • ; what was the point she was trying to convey actually? that tv has a conscience that represents current human psyche?

  • Hi. My name is Lauren and this is Norman Bates's mom's wig i'm wearing. Just to say i'm a pretty dumb tv executive who's bothered thousands of people with girlie smileys to evaluate tv shows and put my people to fill excel charts with utterly pointless information. Hope you like it. I know you will 'cause you're my kind...

  • why all the dislikes? i found this talk very insightful.

  • What's wrong with everyone? This is truly fascinating!

  • Talk begins at 0:15

  • Amazing. I have never watched any of the shows discussed as "most popular" in my years of obsessive TV watching. I guess there's something missing from a study with such a low number of test subjects.

  • fuck tv. except, for you know, the Wire, and some other stuff i like.

  • What's this television thing?

  • Whats the difference between TED women and TED? I saw 50% women in TED. Why do we need a TED women?

  • Thumbs up if you don't even own a TV set anymore.

  • @eluap Thumbs up if you're smart enough to understand it doesn't matter since the same people who own the networks also own the net and they have simply re-shifted their team of psychologist to mind F*ck you in the digital age

  • the idiot box doesn't just reflect our consciousness. it guides it.

  • Dear TED (continued).....

    diminished quality of TED, of which this talk is a prime example, will be avoided if you do so. Please. Please. Pleeeeeease!

  • Dear TED,

    Moronic comments demeaning women properly dismissed, I am a woman and I actually come down on the side of people questioning your wisdom when it comes to having TEDWomen as a separate function. Excellence, obviously, is not gender bias. Why are you? TED has not fallen to the lows of gender bias in it's past recognition of excellence, so why institute this separate forum? At least show it on the TED X channel, then invite the outstanding ones to regular TED. The overall diminished qu

  • It was almost entirely conjecture. To assert that reality TV rose because of the Bush election and 9/11 is complete bollocks. 15 year old girls watching the Bachelor aren't doing it to make themselves feel better in an uncertain political landscape....they're indulging in gossip like 15 year old girls ALWAYS have, nothing more.

  • I came in to add this comment and put in a disike cos she fuckin deserve it. TED is going downhill...running out of prominent people? can't be

  • I REALLY don't think that DESPARATE HOUSEWIVES represents the mom's of NOW.... or that they are to be looked up to. HONESTLY...

  • so this isn't the best TED talk ever, but there is still some decent analysis done in the middle, yeah I don't see much coming out of it as it is very similar to a history lesson, but still worth a listen I think

  • who gives a shit about TV anyway..

  • "I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book." —Groucho Marx

  • Potentially interesting concept, weak execution. It's nice that they're trying to be ~inclusive..? If we can take away one thing from this video, perhaps it's better insight into the way TV execs think - which probably explains a lot about the industry? Lol idk

  • this is the stupidest shit i've ever watched on TED

  • wait a second... what is this? who let her out of the kitchen?

  • i found this to be so true. dig the part about the moms and quit years ago. hip hip horra4 netflix

  • Ah... talking about the old brain-washing-machine I see, pretty uninteresting talk... whatever happened to ted?

  • YO. Hype guy-girl ratio in the audience. Am I rite or wut?

  • @CaptainZeep Yeah, whatever the opposite of a sausage fest is, that audience fits that description!

  • that was exceptionaly boring. but the todays was great

  • i didnt see any conclusions.. i did not see any correlations. i did not see where we could even reference these "studys". what she has, is interesting, but i need some proof, some correlations, some POINT of watching this. i dont even know what to say if someone came and ask me of what i just watched.... i would just throw some random facts at them without any cause and effect, exactly like she did to her audience.

  • @AcceptNoBullshit it is just as useless, when in Rome do as the Romans do? idk, i just feel there's no reason to hate on something like a formal pretension from the safety of a internet comment box. It just doesnt compare to me, just makes them seem like some internet troll moron.

  • Fuck TV and their double long commercials. Evolved over time? Yeah into the wrong direction. The TV has a consciousness - seriously? It has separate programming, coming from all sorts of hubs like internet has connections to their their database, network hubs, ISP's, FTP's. We give internet and TV a purpose and fill it with entertainment.

    Looks more like a correlation between our conscious and what we're interested in at every point in time. BTW, the 21st century TV blows, with few exceptions.

  • Problem: People are being asked about past TV shows, introducing nostalgia and memory fallacies. If this study were to be done correctly, they would need to interview or survey audiences at the time the shows were on the air.

  • I would say that America (or should I say 3600 americans) don't come out great in the end.

    But most of all, I think she's just selling her fish!

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  • Woman. Ha. No wonder. :P

  • One last point I would add is that she bases her conclusions only based on ratings. Nowhere does she factor in that many people don't watch TV. I would assume that their conscience may not match up with those who do.

  • This reminds me statistics I once saw that linked all these events to the phase's of the moon. The point was if you look for graphs that work with your thesis and discard those that don't you can create the appearance of statistical harmony. I love that to Lauren, Reality TV represents "Judgement". To me it represents complete escapism. Plug into reality TV to escape the reality of your own life.

  • Don't really un derstand why everyone hates this video. Some of her conclusions might be far fetched but you can't deny there was some interesting statistical results.

  • INTERNET KILLED TELEVISION!

    The very Youtube you are on KILLED TV!

  • I threw away my television in 2001

  • @RedUncle and I in 1999 - one of the best things anyone can do for their perceptoins and overall mental health.

  • @RedUncle That's around the same time I replaced mine with the vlogbrothers, pogobat and ted. :)

  • @RedUncle Probably cause you found the Internet.

  • @karstd in terms of television programming for entertainment, i find that my taste in entertainment has deviated from what's being offered on contemporary television ... i absolutely understand your point, but "television via internet" is no different, in my opinion, than traditional TV... i use the internet to read/learn, listen to niche radio shows/music, talk to friends - i favor retaining 100% control over what I view, as opposed to TV which is predetermined/fixed, and molded by ad revenue

  • @RedUncle One good thing about the Internet, Youtube in particular, is that with the comments and video responses, it's pretty well peer-reviewed.  There are lots of people who will point out if someone has false information or they will contest against someone's logic if they disagree. Channels like Fox News would probably get stomped in the Youtube community because people generally tend to be rational here, and some even speak out about it. It really is awesome!

  • @karstd I completely agree with you! it IS awesome

  • where did she get all those statistics and what are they based on? they look totally made up to me. Its like you say anything you want, put it into a nice moving graphic presentation and all of the sudden its a fact. Poor job TED people

  • ... but animals do like to watch moving pictures ....

    Oh, now she has things to say about conscience as well ... just that she does not actually say anything ... so little info in so many words ... hey, just like TV :P

  • I agree with you people. I do not like it.. But the only reason is that she has such an "as the/a matter of fact" attitude. This is a material that can be criticized to bits..

  • i think never in ted talk history has a video been this unpopular.

  • What that owners of the red side have FAILED to realize is that we need the capital for the economy.

  • "I am in the awkward position".... what does that even mean? lol

  • Comment removed

  • @The3nlightened0ne True, it must be awkward for a gay individual as yourself to practice sex with a 50 year old female.

  • @asdfgoogle Dude, calm down, I was referring to her teaching me how to salsa dance. Why would you think of your mom in such a way?

  • @The3nlightened0ne Oh sorry, man. Every so often I hear from other youtubers that they did something with my mom, so based on the statistical information on hand, the logical assumption was this was more of the same.

    On a separate note, I didn't know she could salsa!

  • @asdfgoogle

    Statistical information?

    You mean personal experience from using Youtube, not a conclusion of mathematics.

  • @The3nlightened0ne I translated my personal experience into statistical information.

  • another fukin jew trying to manipulate our brains

  • wow she actauly thinks concscience come from tv ,that sez alot

  • Lauren Zalaznick = blockhead.

  • I found this quite interesting even though TV is pure poison that I would not suffer to have in the house. "Idiot Box" sounds almost cosy

  • I see a correlation, but no proof of causation. Is TV shaping us, or are we shaping TV?

    BTW, "f*ck this b*tch" is not an argument.

  • @hawaiidispenser For causation, you could argue supply and demand, or successfully trapping people in a web of demographics. Looking at the trends as coupled, internal cause & effect is irrelevant - rather, note the dominant meme & see when the themes in shows that draw people are related to the period of television they're most exposed to. For example, I was raised in the 90s and feel-good or relaxing television doesn't translate to any emotion at all for me.

  • @LokiClock She quantified the *supply* by showing how many top TV shows were producing a given state, but how do you quantify the *demand* you mention? And once you have those data, what would be the supply & demand argument that proves causation?

    I was raised in the 80s and I love shows from every decade I can think of. Maybe it just depends on the individual?

  • @hawaiidispenser I'm thinking a natural selection of television themes, with the mutations opened by writers, whether on the pulse or fulfilling a need they have in common. By using myself as an example, I meant that that makes me typical.

  • Being able to cry and feel pity isn't separate from the animal kingdom. Also, other animals have been known to watch for entertainment purposes as well, not just us people. There is a lot of superimposing data going on here and creating judgmental ideas to support the data presented. Pretty interesting idea's though!

  • Being able to cry and feel pity isn't separate from the animal kingdom. Also, other animals have been known to watch for entertainment purposes as well, not just us people. There is a lot of superimposing data going on here and creating judgmental ideas to support the data presented. Pretty interesting idea's though!

  • The size of her sample (3,600) is not statistically significant. The parallels drawn between the mood of the programming and the cultural/historical events were gross generalizations. The data would be more interesting if broken into demographics. I'm not sure what conclusions should be drawn with this presentation -- but isn't this all just saying that programming choices shift over time? I don't think we're getting remarkable insights here.

  • LAME. They did a study to figure out how they can sell more T.V. to people.... "By 2020 we're going to get people to watch T.V. 10 hours a day!! Weeeeee!"

  • Ladies and gentlemen, TED presents, Women Outside The Kitchen: theories on TV industry.

  • If television "reflects" ANYTHING, it reflects the success of the NWO globalist brainwashing.

    Implying that TV has "evolved" as if to address public good or need is fraudulent. People didn't "love to be entertained" by TV until they were trained into it. Very early programmes were more serious and realistically focused, because people in the early days were simply not dumb enough to tolerate such banal crap and lies as represent the majority of output today.

  • Consciously or not, she is the human arm of the television entity reaching out to save itself by signalling its recognition of the developing Screen War with the Internet and the world. I cannot imagine a world without television in some form or other now; the screens have me. Part of me knows the world is much richer, but the screens are so seductive, so seductive...

  • 2:20 Ummmmm, since when? Did she pull this straight out of her ass? Yes, we know that's how media whores love to treat their viewers, like they are nothing more than globs of human that are motivated by those four things alone. I think her speech here did more damage for her industry that it helped.

    Anyways, this entire talk is for shit. Television, as we know it, will be gone within the next 20 years.

  • Internet killed the television star, internet killed the television star. Do, do doooo, do do doooo. Do do dooo do do do doooo.

    It's actually a pretty educational speech as long as you realize when she says "we" she is not referring to you and me, she is referring to the conglomerates and all the people who are lucky enough to own and be able to push those conglomerates.

    The can also be used as a propaganda tool, but it is much harder to control, thus far less effective.

    Fuck TV, though.

  • What a total low point in the history of TED talks.

    Please, television is an entire medium that makes money by repeatedly telling people that you need to buy this thing, which you totally don't. It has no f@cking conscience. This crazy loon "thinks deeply about pop culture" does she, well, its called "pop culture" not philosophy, lady, so don't strain your forehead thinking too hard.

    What's next TED, someone from Phillip-Morris and their talk "The restorative powers of Tobacco" ?

  • wheres the third variable lady?.. you can't conclude causation from 2 variables of that broad scope.

  • "We did a research study." Who? She never said.

  • It;s amazing how the amount of criticism that I make is influenced by the amount of red in the like/dislike bar...

    If the bar was green I will give a thumbs up if is red I will give thumbs down...The content of the video is not that relevant to my judgment...I hate social influence

  • ted needs a better screening process...

  • all she proved that we are first and foremost social animals and easily fall in just a few categories that can be covered and controlled by mass media, based both on our basic instincts, and on our strictly human thrive for being entertained

  • Of course, without escapism (fantasy shows), people can't tolerate their ultimately purposeless jobs. These statistics are the proof of how we are brainwashed.

  • This is a joke right? Add Like / Dislike, and the ability to voice you're opinion on your television, and then maybe I would consider your brainwashed statistics. Where as the internet has a conscience, and is in fact the closest thing we have to a technocracy.

  • Nice wig, weak premise.

  • Oh yeah people you've brainwashed, love you(TV).

  • Not.

  • why have TED and TED women? don't women always talk about equal rights?

  • @woohoobulot Equal rights is something our world has not been privileged to experience, as long as there is war, politics and poverty. Give the illusion of freedom and people will not seek truth...

  • What a 'Douchebag' !!

  • ...(continued)... ppl fall for the spectacle isn't surprising. Just disappointing.

  • It would be more apt to say the conscience(s) BEHIND tv programming.

    This woman is twisting the truth with great skill. Even so, if you ignore her desperate grasp for legitimizing the crap done by the industry she works for, the graphs show some interesting stuff. Scary, but interesting.

    Btw, lady, the image of Alexis Carrington as a mother is like any other animal that eats its young. Grotesque. TV highlights aspects of humanity. That it increasingly chooses the train wrecks and ppl fall for

  • made it to 1:30 and clicked the dislike....this is almost counter intuitive to what TED is about....

  • @impalapez that is sad. Granted it took her 5 minutes to get to the data, the data is perhaps one of the best social studies I have seen in awhile, pointing out population trends very well. Makes me sad that you can't listen to a speaker for more than 1:30. Do you also ditch the ideas of evolution if there wasn't a dancing monkey to entertain you?

  • @bluefootedpig I will grant you that I am a lil prejudice, as I dislike TV, and was disturbed by the idea behind the talk in general.... but perhaps I will listen to it all the way thru, and then give a more informed critique...population trends seem to be of most interest to advertisers to get us to consume more stuff...mostly mindlessly, and yeah, dancing monkeys would help....

  • i can't look at her without thinking how much she looks like a caricature of a elderly woman/teacher

  • Why do all the TEDWomen talks always suck? Where are the amazing women making scientific discoveries or building new technologies? Why do we always get this wishy-washy, completely worthless crap?

  • @KemaTheAtheist They are on the real TED. We need a TEDMen with pseudo intellectual talks about beer, tits, and football!

  • @KemaTheAtheist how is this worthless crap? this is a great trending of people, and showing how the population is evolving overall.

  • @bluefootedpig

    What? You think it's news that TV reflects the social environment?

  • @KemaTheAtheist I think the news is that we now know and are tracking the social trends. The point was not "if it had" but more of a review of what it is. Just as we know that population density causes more crime, yet then we have a recent guy on TED whom got tons of favorites, that merely showed "the economy of scale" showing that as population went up, various things like crime went up. In fact, everything he presented we "knew". It is how it is displayed, and the trends we can find.

  • @bluefootedpig

    Don't don't see the difference in utility between tracking the trends of TV vs. crime? Education and poverty have for a long time been considered the predictors in crime. That population density is a significant factor as well is an interesting observation.

    This crap about TV trends is fluffy, useless bullshit.

  • @KemaTheAtheist Well, I guess that depends on how you look at it. From a social / philosophy standpoint, it is really amazing stuff. I mean, most people are sheeple to begin with, but now via TV, we can know what people are thinking. We can use this information to play towards their emtions in campaigning, advertising etc. Like if we know that there is a strong trend towards judgment shows, then your advertising can take on a judgement aspect and most likley increase donations / sales.

  • @KemaTheAtheist On the otherside of the same coin, this could also be an indicator of various social issues. Like right now, women although being more free, and more equal than anytime in history, are overall less happy. Perhaps, people are judgemental because of TV, or maybe it is due to thumbs up and down of the internet, thus cause us to want more TV that judges. The fact that these relationships cross breed means it is getting deep into our social development, and that might be good, or bad.

  • but.. my dog loves to watch TV..

  • TV doesn't reflect the morals of America. TV does it's damnedest to try to TELL us how to be, act, think, etc. The freedom of expression that holds the internet together has has got TV execs and puppets like this lady shaking in their boots.

  • 0:18 - 0:28 is all you need to watch, dislike, then press back

  • TED used to be about interesting people saying something profound with a personal story or anecdote. Now its just people that nobody's ever heard of desperately trying to sound profound by using their tiny area of knowledge and expertise.

  • @littlechrist lol who are you? Your just a comment talking shit about a video, your input is inferior in every way.

  • who watches t.v. anymore, everything's on the net..

  • it is what it is... entertaining...

  • Death to the television !

    Long live the Internet !

  • Interesting how today we enjoy "judgement," or, closely relate, "competition."

  • TV... emotional needs of the people? *zaps away*

  • In the age of the internet - how can you possibly stand there and say that TV of all media formats has a concious? Sure the audience have a say in programming by Nielsen ratings but its only recently that audiences are discovering they can be more proactive in their choice of media consumption. Compared to TV the internet is still only an infant. In 10 years time TV Executives will be crying out for the audience attention they previously commanded with their dictated programming.

  • tv is dead

  • @Windmill911 that was the most Brilliant retort I have Ever had leveled at me and my theories, and I am duly shocked and stunned... but really, you must provide more effort than that, lest you look like a lazy, bored jackass...

  • Television is dead. Hurray!

  • Marshal McLuhan did extensive research on the effects of TV on human biology. Look him up.

  • This lady is one of the most ill-prepared speakers to ever grace stage of TEDtalks. She actually believes that the audience chooses the programming. What a hoot. If the Nielsen ratings reflect our social conscience, it's because someone higher up on the food chain made it that way. I mean, for heavens sake, she thinks "power" is one of the primal instincts. Power? TV is just a drug, that's why we watch it. The programmers know this. You zone out, breath deepens, pupils dilate. Drug.

  • Television simply reflects what we're feeling, like most popular art does. It's not our conscience, it's just a mirror. 

  • I disagree morally with almost everything she said. She is completely wrong about animals imo. People like this are the reason we have earned the ability to lose compassion for our animal kin, brothers and sisters. Television is a useless tool devoid of imagination & freedom. Internet has a consciousness, clearly. Only the internet can truly speak for our public, because it's about the people, not the secluded, individualized, dominant culture hierarchy.

  • The elite and influential people tell the rest how to think and see the world via TV and the emotionally sensitive and the frightened mass, like the majority FOX news watchers, absorb everything and act upon

  • Why is this being disliked? Obviously, the TV corporations own youtube.

  • TV shapes culture and manufactures consent; it does not reflect society because it is corporate-controlled, not democratic, a closed-system, not open and transparent. Zalaznick needs to read Entertaining Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman or Marshall McLuhan's "The Medium is the Message."

  • This might explain why some shows that are big in the US are not successful in other countries at the same time. If the social and economic climates are different, then what's popular in the US may not work in Australia for example

  • I hardly think Alexis and Murphy can be included as moms. When Murphy was having her kid the series was about over they were in their last years of production.

    Seems these two were thrown in to try to keep the trend going, but it just makes the idea a big fail.

  • Hmmmm, I suspect the integrity and the agenda behind this presentation... Someone should tell this woman that people who watch TED are generally thinking, intelligent people.

  • Television lies, panders and dumbs down life to stop people from thinking or dare I say questioning. You get way better news on the internet.  Way better stories at the cinema or holy crap opening a book. It's rare that a TV show even merits me bothering to see it. which is why I haven't had a television for 2 years. I caught AMC's the walking dead at the local bar, so I won't say it's all crap but mostly.

  • I take exception to her characterization of animals. Some animals DO love to watch. ...and I couldn't make heads nor tails of the rest of her presentation.