Imagine listening to Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking, Sheryl Sandberg, Daniel Kahneman (Behavioural economics founder) or listening on topics like Sir Ken Robinson’s Schools kill creativity, Amy Webb: How I hacked online dating, Rita Pierson: Every kid needs a champion,Kathryn Schulz: On being wrong etc. While writing the article Can Women Have It All : Indra Nooyi, Anne-Marie Slaughter,Sheryl Sandberg, I listened to TED talks by Anne Marie and Sheryl and now am hooked on to TED and TEDx Talks. TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics  from science to business to global issues  from business to parenting, behavioural finance, women,school education,maths which echo their slogan : Ideas Worth Spreading  and in more than 100 languages. Talks are videos of around 18 minutes . This article talks about TED, history of TED talks, what are TEDx , TED in India and TED talks related to money.

About TED

TED was conceived by architect and graphic designer Richard Saul Wurman, who observed a convergence of the fields of technology, entertainment and design . The first conference, organized by Harry Marks and Wurman in 1984, featured demos of the Sony compact disc, and one of the first demonstrations of the Apple Macintosh computer. Presentations were given by famous mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot , Nicholas Negroponte and Stewart Brand. The event was financially unsuccessful,  it took six years before the second conference was organized. From 1990 onward, a growing community of TEDsters gathered annually at the event in Monterey, California, until 2009, when it was relocated to Long Beach, California due to a substantial increase in attendees.

In 2000, Wurman, looking for a successor at age 65, met Chris Anderson TED enthusiast and the new-media entrepreneur. In November 2001, Anderson’s non-profit The Sapling Foundation  became the owner of TED. Wurman left after the 2002 conference.

In 2005  when idea of a TV show based on TED lectures was rejected by several networks, a selection of talks that had received the highest audience ratings was posted on the websites of TED, YouTube, and iTunes. In January of the next year, the number of TED Talks on the site had grown to 44, and they had been viewed more than three million times. Buoyed by the response TED.com was launched in 2007.As of January 2014, over 1500 TED talks had been posted. In June 2011 the number of views totalled 500 million and on 13 November 2012, TED reached its billionth video view

TED has lots of options, from free to those who can donate. Attendance at TED is by application, and the attendees — scientists, CEOs, designers, intellectuals — are as extraordinary as the speakers, but there are donor passes available. In 2006, attendance cost was $4,400 per person, donor membership for TED2015 on Truth and Dare is available for $17,000. Article The #1 myth of TED: You have to be invited talks about how one can attend the TED conference.

TED talks that got talked about, excerpt from the infographic Why we are all TED Heads?

TEDx Talks

TEDx are independent TED-like events, which can be organized by anyone who obtains a free license from TED, agreeing to follow certain principles. TEDx events are non-profit, but may use an admission fee or commercial sponsorship to cover costs.The speakers are not paid. As of January 2014, TEDx talk library contained some 30,000 films presentations from over 130 countries. In March 2013, eight TEDx events were being organised every day, up from five in June 2012, in 133 countries. TEDx presentations also include live performances, which are catalogued in the TEDx Music Project.  TEDx also expanded to include TEDxYouth events, TEDx corporate events and TEDxWomen.

TED and India , INK Talks

TED India was organised in Mysore in 2009 from Nov 4-Nov 6 2009 which was cohosted by Lakshmi Pratury, a longtime TEDster. Nearly 1,000 attendees from 46 nations traveled to Mysore, India, to hear from a diverse group of accomplished speakers. This conference brought together accomplished artists, architects, technologists, business people, musicians, dancers, scientists and social entrepreneurs as well as one hundred young TEDIndia Fellows. It was a fast-paced, highly curated three-day stage program featuring TED’s famous 18-minute talks, plus music, comedy, dance, short talks, video interludes. It included speakers like Shashi Tharoor,C K Prahalad, Devdutt Patnaik, Harsha Bhogle,Usha Uthap,Sadhu Jaggi Vasudev etc.

Riding the momentous energy and demand generated from TEDIndia, INK talks were born. The inaugural INK Conference was held in December 2010 in Lavasa Hill City, India, with the theme of Untold Stories. INK is independent of TED, but values a continued warm relationship with the New York based TED organization.

TED and Criticism

Ted talks are not without criticism.  People have mocked the distinctive style of TED videos,some have raised questions on what do TED talks achieve. In NewStatesman, writer says

TED Talks are designed to make people feel good about themselves; to flatter them and make them feel clever and knowledgeable; to give them the impression that they’re part of an elite group making the world a better place.People join for much the same reason they join societies like Mensa: it gives them a chance to label themselves part of an intellectual elite. That intelligence is optional, and you need to be rich and well-connected to get into the conferences and the exclusive fringe parties and events that accompany them, simply adds to the irresistible allure. TED’s slogan shouldn’t be ‘Ideas worth spreading’, it should be: ‘Ego worth paying for’.

 Benjamin Bratton asked in TEDx conference What’s Wrong with TED Talks?”

 What is it that the TED audience hopes to get from this? A vicarious insight, a fleeting moment of wonder, an inkling that maybe it’s all going to work out after all? A spiritual buzz? Does TED epitomize a situation where if a scientist’s work (or an artist’s or philosopher’s or activist’s or whoever) is told that their work is not worthy of support, because the public doesn’t feel good listening to them?

TED talks and Money

These are some of the TED  talks that we found related to money from behavioural economics by economist Daniel Kahneman,Dan Ariely to Bill Gates and Melinda Gates on Why giving away our wealth has been the most satisfying thing we’ve done. We have also included INK Talks ex of Varun Agarwal for our readers . If you have found an interesting talk on money TED,INK,SAPLabs etc please share with us we will add it to our list with due credit.

Daniel Kahneman: The riddle of experience vs. memory: Using examples from vacations to colonoscopies, Nobel laureate and founder of behavioral economics Daniel Kahneman reveals how our experiencing selves and our remembering selves perceive happiness differently. This new insight has profound implications for economics, public policy — and our own self-awareness.

Dan Ariely: Are we in control of our own decisions? Behavioral economist Dan Ariely, the author of Predictably Irrational, uses classic visual illusions and his own counterintuitive (and sometimes shocking) research findings to show how we’re not as rational as we think when we make decisions.

Michael Norton:How to buy happiness At TEDxCambridge, Michael Norton shares fascinating research on how money can, indeed buy happiness — when you don’t spend it on yourself. Listen for surprising data on the many ways pro-social spending can benefit you, your work, and (of course) other people.

Dan Gilbert: Why we make bad decisions Dan Gilbert presents research and data from his exploration of happiness — sharing some surprising tests and experiments that you can also try on yourself

Shlomo Benartzi:Saving for tomorrow, tomorrow  It’s easy to imagine saving money next week, but how about right now? Generally, we want to spend it. Economist Shlomo Benartzi says this is one of the biggest obstacles to saving enough for retirement, and asks: How do we turn this behavioral challenge into a behavioral solution?

Jessica Jackley: Poverty, money — and love : What do you think of people in poverty? Maybe what Jessica Jackley once did: “they” need “our” help, in the form of a few coins in a jar. The co-founder of Kiva.org talks about how her attitude changed — and how her work with microloans has brought new power to people who live on a few dollars a day.

Richard Wilkinson: How economic inequality harms societies We feel instinctively that societies with huge income gaps are somehow going wrong. Richard Wilkinson charts the hard data on economic inequality, and shows what gets worse when rich and poor are too far apart: real effects on health, lifespan, even such basic values as trust.

Chrystia Freeland: The rise of the new global super-rich Technology is advancing in leaps and bounds — and so is economic inequality, says writer Chrystia Freeland. In an impassioned talk, she charts the rise of a new class of plutocrats (those who are extremely powerful because they are extremely wealthy), and suggests that globalization and new technology are actually fueling, rather than closing, the global income gap. Freeland lays out three problems with plutocracy … and one glimmer of hope.

Cameron Herold : Let’s raise kids to be entrepreneurs Bored in school, failing classes, at odds with peers: This child might be an entrepreneur, says Cameron Herold. In his talk, he makes the case for parenting and education that helps would-be entrepreneurs flourish — as kids and as adults.

Melinda Gates and Bill Gates: Why giving away our wealth has been the most satisfying thing we’ve done In 1993, Bill and Melinda Gates took a walk on the beach and made a big decision: to give their Microsoft wealth back to society. In conversation with Chris Anderson, the couple talks about their work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as their marriage, their children, their failures and the satisfaction of giving most of their money away.

Talks related to money by Indians : INK Talks

Varun Agarwal: From failing in engineering to co-founding a million-dollar company : Varun Agarwal co-founded Alma Mater, an online store providing apparel and memorabilia to the alumni community of schools and colleges across India, in 2009. He then shot to fame when his book  How I braved Anu Aunty and co-founded a million dollar company went on to become a bestseller. Hear his gripping tale of grit, bravery and doing what you like the most by involving creative thinking.  (Note: This is an INK Talk though Varun featured on TEDxMSRIT.)

Tushar Vashisht: How I lived on 32 Rupees a day Tushar Vashisht made headlines with his lifestyle experiment to live on the government-stipulated poverty line of Rs. 32 day. At INK 2013, this Wall Street banker turned health entrepreneur takes us through his journey, and shares the insights that spurred him to lead a health revolution in India.

Related Articles :

• Books on money for children
• Videos on Money : Teach The Magic of Compound Interest,Iken Edu Video The Measure of Money on evolution of money,effects of minimum credit card payments
• YouTube Video:Income Tax,Income and Income Slabs
• IDFC Short films : World According to One Idiot
• Personal Finance Shows in India : Smart Money, Plan F

But in a world in which we want and need to be learning all the time, these TED & INK talks are excellent ways to listen to people who know more on the topic. How do you learn? Do you listen to TED talks,which ones have you liked?  If you have found some other talks related to money or awareness please let do share.