Dave Eggers TED Prize 4 Minute Talk

[hmshable]

@version191 i hope your computer explodes and shards from the broken cum-stained screen and all the little plastic keys shoot right into your eyes

[version191]

TED talks are fucking gay. Drop a firebomb on the next one please to rid the world of a bunch of annoying pseudo-intellectual goobers. Who is Ted, anyway? I bet hes a fucking faggot, lol.

[hmshable]

@version191 goobers

[MirageScience]

Where ever you are, we are already then. That is pwn

[Kschmidty30]

if you liked this and want to help around the world too check out ONE HEART SOURCE.

[MirageScience]

Oh please don't tell people to have an open mind... If only you looked up where that phrase comes from.

[AkMastamind]

@MirageScience "“An open mind, like an open window, should be screened to keep the bugs out”."

That one?

[gordinidesigns]

Thank you for your Good Work. It has inspired me, and yes, I wish you had been given more time. I have watched at least 35 of the Ted Talks, I will look up your web site to learn more.

[dmcgraye]

great work, but not really much of a talk, at least compared to some of the other TED talks.

[illnacord]

HERO.

[mwells219]

this douchebag took one of my favorite childhood books and turned it into a whiny, insipid movie for self important hipsters.

[whalenbrowne]

OOOOH..... I went there when I was like 10 years old. I just thought it was a wierd pirate shop lol. I think I got a little bottle with a cork in it.

[rocketbird]

Awesome, life changing, world changing.

[politicoaz]

I am a teacher...

And when he said, "Some of these kids just plain don't know how good they are," a sob escaped from my throat. It was unexpected. And even though I am sitting alone in my room, I tried to get that sob back before it grew into full-fledged crying. I don't know why.

This is a wonderful wish.

[JONGLEERWORKSHOP]

Waaaauuwh this man realy rocks.

I am inspired and will make sure that I will start one of the thousand here in my hometown Eindhoven Holland.

By the way, 7 hours ago I didn't know Dave Eggers. I just witness the start of a Once Upon a School Project in Utrecht at a meeting of Great Place To Live.

I will shine my lite and inspire others to do also

[deadalger]

ok, learn how to write before writing creatively. Have you read this week's New Yorker...he has written this week's fiction. Sorry, I like him

[erix]

McSweeney's is actively destroying the short story form. Fuck you, Dave Eggers.

[digitalheir]

What's wrong with McSweeney's?

[markcowell]

did you bother to follow any of these projects?

they pretty awesome

[ryanfoley123]

I hear he's a huge asshole.

[fogdragon23]

A lot of ppl are XD

[ArgueExplain]

It's a sad world when I want to say "that should be the parent's job", but I have to stay silent because the reality is that a lot of parents just aren't there for their kids.

Well done Mr. Speaker. You make the soft-hearted pirates proud.

[slakbox]

this is a forum of contribution, not refutation. and certainly not of talking banal shit on youtube.

[ohhowilovecricket]

then practise what you preach, asshole.

[slakbox]

hey i'm happy for eggars. maybe he wasn't the most innovative at ted but, at least he's not lobbying for the pharmecuetical industry or building mortar bombs. no reason to get negative about efforts to improve things. "be the change you want to see in the world" - gandhi

[zoetropez]

I hope he can talk, cause he sure can't write...

[ohhowilovecricket]

excellent comment.

He can't write but he sure can get awards for his charity, that is having not for profit "creative" writing classes so he can feed of the kids best ideas and make a new generation of readers who see him as a benefactor and will be forever loyal readers.

If you wanna help them kids asshole Eggers teach them how to read and write and count, not "creative" writing.

Of course he has good connections at Ted too.

He is the epitome of the shallow opportunist.

[theendofconfusion]

Goddamn! I love TED.

[Picassia]

EGGGGAAAHHHHZZZZ!!!!

I bloody love this guy. Brilliant writer. Tragic events in his life, but he's pulled through.

[bajan13k]

Best 5 minute (or less) talk ever!

[sachakhan]

genius.

[grace0418]

Dave Eggers ROCKS! Love him!

[wervasdeferens]

Excellent! It's nice to see people who give back to society,the greedy and selfish have had their reign.

It's time for us "Hippies" to change this world for the better. Peace!

[MysteriousDoor]

Lol, Hippies never do anything. They are characterized by lack of responsibility. You become a regular person when you start giving back to society in some way.

[wervasdeferens]

Do you mean like the guys on Wall St. ?

Or the people running multi-national corporations ,who start Wars to make a profit?

Those kind of regular people who would destroy Man and Earth as long as it makes a profit?

Hippies invented the computer you're using,the internet and Google/YouTube.

Hippies are the creative thinkers in society,the people with talent. "Regular people" or the establishment types(Conservatives) are the leeches,the bullies,crooks, scam artists, the snake-oil salesmen.

[Isamright33]

you both are wrong....hippies or normal, doesn't matter, main thing that matters is family, 9/10 times if your parents are divorced your usually a piece of shit.

[wervasdeferens]

I agree with you about family first, but come on. Before Women had any rights and the family unit stayed intact, are you telling me there were no pieces of shit?

Intact families are just as dysfunctional and raise just as many assholes as single parent families or orphanages.

George Bush, Cheney, the Colombine murderers, Bernie Madoff etc.

Sounds like you're buying into Ann Coulter's BS. Find out when single parent #'s started to escalate in the US? My guess,1980's.Conservatism.

[wervasdeferens]

Isamright33 ,

Thanks to you, I did my own research on the matter. I found a Univ of Maryland study on Family Trends 1950-2005.

It's quite eye-opening.

Single parent households started rising in the 1970's ( feminist movement?). Divorce rates started to level in the 1980's, but most economic stats went haywire in the 1980's. Poverty, dropout rates, etc.

The study is like a road map to where and why we are in the mess we're in now.

Thanks, do you Kung Fu?

[Isamright33]

Yup yup!!! :) just my own experience with different kids and stuff growing up in America.

[yerffoeg007]

Please tell me how to become a "regular person". LOL. You mean one that watches reality tv shows and listens to Britney? Beacause if by regular you are referring to the bell-curve of human stupidity no thanks I'll leave that to "regular people" like you!

[MysteriousDoor]

Most people where i live hate britney. I guess i should have defined my explanation a little better.

I live in Iowa, People don't listen to Britney, they test higher in terms of education, and we often despise the "idiots" of society.

[yerffoeg007]

Well define the term "hippies". Probably a derogative term at its inception, its fairly easy to say "these people (whose name connotes negative imagery) I don't like". In my mind the term hippy has grown from the dazed and confused generation of our fathers to mean something closer to the line of nature-loving, liberal minded individuals who care VERY much about society and are willing to put their ass on the line for its preservation. I am an architect, & green is good business. This is 2009.

[MysteriousDoor]

To me, Hippies are people who follow cliches about helping society, and love the earth but do little for it.

For example, many people in Green Peace arn't hippies to me, although I don't agree with their methods (to me, many of them are insain).

However, Peta is (on certain issues like their stand against meat and how many of them are vegetarians). I feel they are kind of naive on their stance due to the fact that we are still organic beings (and other reasons).

[yerffoeg007]

On one issue...are you suggesting we need to eat meat to survive? Because you are dead wrong. For you to label "naive" a diet that some people make a very consciencetious decision about is itself naive. Especially compared with the HORRIBLE fast food diets that kill. For one, vegetarianism has also sparked an organic movement which has led to less use of pesticides in our environment and a respect for ecosystems. This is science not fashion. Please stop telling me the earth is flat.

[MysteriousDoor]

You misunderstood me. By saying we are organic means we have preferences. I was going to add that if we didn't raise cows for food, unless it was a place like India, they would become endangered because of the fact that they are large, rather slow moving animals and basicly they would be like a large deer in the roads if we let them run free, and having a wild life reserve for a cow would be kind of, weird honestly.

I understand the importance of the organic movement, (cont.)

[MysteriousDoor]

and I know that Iowa has the worst water in the country because of pesticides.

However, I also know that bio-engineering food stuffs has helped millions of people in the way it helps plants adapt to the environments or perform better as a crop. The organic movement is fairly negative towards this technology, saying that natural is better and makes people live healthier, but really it doesn't matter what rice you grow in Africa, as long as you have something to eat is what counts. (Cont.)

[MysteriousDoor]

(Read from my post 3 down first, they organize these replies weird).

Also, in developed countries that are nearing population overload, engineered crops help produce more with less resources, less space, and less time. That is why I think the organic movement is very naive, and hippies are naive as well.

[yerffoeg007]

I do not have problems with bio-engineered food (how do you feel about bio-engineered humans?). Organic goes beyond merely rejecting certain aspects of modern food production to take the approach that we cannot keep abusing our land and not restoring a more natural cycle or places like the midwest will become another Sahara in very short time. Developing countries know this best because this is where environmental destruction has collapsed the ecosystems (Haiti for example).

[MysteriousDoor]

bio-engineered humans is a cool idea to me.

I get my idea on cows from their central american cousin, the Buffalo. Even in Yellowstone, they stop traffic as they cross roads. I feel weve abused our enviroment, just like you've said, and I agree with certain aspects of both groups, but I do not agree with how pro-organic people wish to maintain the environment.

Iowa is the changing world by the way, were on the forefront of wind tech, and were fairly liberal for a mostly rural state (cont.)

[MysteriousDoor]

We also know that we put a gigantic strain on the environment with our agricultural based economy. Thats why companies like pioneer and Universities like ISU place such a strain on hybrid crops and more effeciant fertilizers (which are the major pollutant btw, not pesticides).

[yerffoeg007]

In browsing, I see there is also concern for cross-pollination of genetically engineered crops with other crops and plants. And any "genetic pollution" that results is exponential in its effects due to growth cycles. I am a cynic when it comes to such things....but the novel Frankenstein comes to mind. Genetic engineering, Nanotechnology, these things sound terrific but there is truth in the Prometheus myth. And we aren't even playing with fire here but the building blocks of organic life.

[yerffoeg007]

Wow. Animals stopping traffic in a National Park? Who woulda thunk? Don't those animals know us humans need to drive our cars through those natural settings!!! Listen it's clear even from your buffalo statement we are worlds apart. You seem to see nature as a sort of sideshow or scenery or zoo-like atmosphere...and man as something that stands apart. I don't see this distinction. We breed like rabbits and we consume resources like locusts. As stewards of our own litter box we are flunking.

[MysteriousDoor]

I see myself pretty much living as close to nature as I can get in Iowa. I live a few seconds away from a large park and go there frequently to just bike around and enjoy it.

Besides that, its also amazing to see Pelicans swarm a place called Sailorville lake. Deers have actually adapted to humans, and I don't get that out of a natgeo magazine. They don't run away when they see a car, they let it pass then cross. They dine on the left over corn cobs that are dropped for food in the winter.

[MysteriousDoor]

Nature isn't a sideshow, it isn't the buffalo pens that the park has to show a beast who used to be king of the area I now live in. Nature is the very basis of an human life, and living in a rural climate, you understand it very well.

Nature is also practicality, its ok for buffalo to stop traffic in yellowstone park, but the human race is going to fast to stop for them if they were released anywhere else, and it would hurt both parties.

Cont.

[yerffoeg007]

So your idea of nature is a zoo. Not mine. I bike too. Cleveland National Forest, San Bernardino, San Gabriels. I climbed Whitney, Half Dome and have done multi-day adventure races in the Sierras. I like my wilderness wild. Your talking about wild animals as some breed of pet.

[MysteriousDoor]

Your assuming things, I take the wild as co-inhabitants. I have lived in the same area for all my life, and I start to know the pattern of things, and the regulars.

If I treated wildlife as pets, then I would be treating my friends as pets, in that I treat both with the social functions and material functions attributed with them. With my friends, I talk, I interact, but with wild life i try to have as little interference as possible simply because that is their need I try not to be the enemy

[MysteriousDoor]

as for Genetic engineering and concerns, its either this, or we till the world with cornfields. Most of Iowa is crop land, and it killed the praries that used to dominate it.

As for the buffalo, your weighing on that comment a little to seriously, I know that Yellowstone Park is a place of preservation, and it is a sight seeing place. We are not supposed to dominate them, but the point I was making was the fact that you could not have that happen in "the wild" outside of Yellowstone.

[yerffoeg007]

You are falsely asserting that there are no alternatives to bio-engineered, agri-chemical giants. That is simply not true. Magic bullets are advocated by the people who engineer,market and benefit from their sale. Consider yourself well propagandized by very wealthy, powerful, corporate marketing. The solution to food supply requires a framework of ideas that addresses a community rather than inflates the pockets of few to the detriment of the rest.

[MysteriousDoor]

I'm not trying to find a magic bullet, just simply stating what is at hand.

Right now, I live in an environment that one could say is over farmed. Pesticides and fertalizers harm the land, Pig crap infects the rivers.

What we need is a way to maintain crop production, but use less land and resources. We do this by either finding a high yield plant that is very stubborn (which is rare) or we make our own through artificial selection or bio-engineering. (cont.)

[MysteriousDoor]

Very rarely is there a plant these days that has naturaly developed and is a better candidate for farming (corn for example, has always been cultivated by humans, and it was developed from a plant called maize.)

Those are our options. By cultivating a highly succesful plant that is tailor-made for an environment, we use less fertalizers because there is no need to. We also use less pesticides because the plant may have a natural resistance to them, or is hardy enough it can survive a bug raid.

[MysteriousDoor]

Corporations use this because it works Farmers use this because they are poor as hell and rely on government subsidies and effeciancy to make a profit. Hell Iowa State University uses and researches it because its one of the few options we have

Eventually, maybe we may be able to engineer our bodies to take in raw nutrients (well still have to receive a large amount proteins from plants) but until then, our only way of managing our food and making our demands have less impact is in this process

[david3newman]

C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!

<333

[ohhowilovecricket]

@MysteriousDoor, you are obviously both cultured and intelligent. May I suggest you try to overcome the divides of people and branding people "hippies" while making blanket statements about them. It's tendency we all have.

[yerffoeg007]

I think by fabricating absurdist notions and attributing them to some group you don't like is dishonest at best and prejudiced at worst. Cows running free? This is like some FOX news concoction of how the majority of people "other than you" think. Look up LEED online. I'm sure if I explained its goal you would see it as some far left liberal agenda and yet this is THE mainstream of architectural thought and that includes businesses corporate and smaller. The world is changing outside Iowa...

[rochet75]

only if we had this for me when i was growing up un toronto 1999

[semiliteratedgod]

yeah, they could have taught you how to spell correctly ...

[rochet75]

thats my point my friend.

and now i will say bad things about you.

You are not nice and you should be ashamed of your self.

[GeetarAdam]

Lol, well played.

[cmanw]

Fabulous idea! I do not trust the public school system (or even private schools) to give my kids the tools to be competitive with the rest of the world.

Furthermore, I've always felt like 12 grades is FAR to many. Back in the day, they sent kids to college at around 15 years old. There is no reason why a 15 year old wouldn't be able to go to college if they had proper attention like this.

[intrepgun]

competitive? why should they be competitive with the rest of the world? they should be given the tools to be creative and unite the rest of the world.

[dismutased]

Absolutely inspiring, what a fantastic idea, and delivered with a sense of humour which always helps to spread the idea. 6 stars!

[rybpo7]

I love Eggers. He is a brilliant writer. Go buy some, ALL, of his books!

[rickdg]

Awesome project for the USA.

Unfortunately, in other countries, schools keep to themselves and wait for government funding. Teachers have no room for iniative and gain more money by working in tutoring centers than in schools. Companies have a better chance of connecting with schools through major business deals with the government than by trying to reach them directly.

[stephenetienne]

Wow! A perfect blend of education and entertainment! Should we, as educators, keep interest high, or should we be actors and comedians and really get these students fired up for entertainment? Apparently, entertainment is the way to go.

[garvess]

Nice to see the kids get help although I think the bigger problem with the very poor students is getting them to want help.

[dubaiedge]

DE for the mother fucking win!

[dubaiedge]

EGGERS FTMFW!!!!!!

[KuNgFuZerG]

Great Idea, great talk!

[SilkSwe]

Great talk and great idea.

[sy1234]

How about parenting lessons too?

[AutomneFalls]

That is awesome! :)

[AerocK]

A little encouragement and attention go along way...

[clearmenser]

Gorgeous