TED Assignment

1) What is the TED organization about? Sharing professional's ideas through the internet to people that are interested enough to go onto the website.

2) What is the purpose of their website and how does the functionality of their site support that? The purpose of this website is to allow people to see the world through other people's eyes and to spread ideas. Their site is designed so that you can just look around for something that you might be wondering about and find an expert's opinion on it.

3) As Engineers and Problem Solvers, which topic areas (the choices from the "Show talks related to:" section on the sidebar) are of most interest to us? Justify your answer. I believe that since we are future problem solvers, that they are all important because there are problems everywhere in our world but global issues seems the most important to me. Those are the most important problems in our world and since we need to solve problems, why not the bigger picture ones or ones that we deem more important?

4) Based on your previous answer, what are 3 talks (videos) on the site that appear like they would be of most interest to you as an Engineer/Problem Solver? Justify your choices. Eric Barlow's talk on simplicity, Lesley Hazelton's talk on reading the Quran, and Martin Jacques' talk on the rise of China are three talks that I think apply to main idea of problem solving. These three things have been problems since the beginning of mankind. Eric Barlow talks about being able to make complex things simple, which is an important ability in a world of extremely complex systems, ideas, religions, etc. Lesley Hazelton's talk on the Quran talks about the larger picture of religion and intolerance that has led to wars and conflicts throughout humankind's history. Martin Jacques talks about why a country gains power and what the problems with a country gaining power, another problem that has been around since the beginning of mankind.

6) How could you get involved in the field/technology/issue you chose to hear about? What experience/skills/training/education would you need to learn to get involved with this field? Fixing global problems is something that anyone thinks they could do because they feel like they have the right moral code that would lead the world to peace. No one person has that, so the only way to do that is to be able to completely be able to put yourself in other people's shoes. Once you have that ability , than you truly do have the ability to fix world problems that have been around since the beginnings of mankind.