TED is a powerful and paradigm shattering initiative that brands itself with the slogan “Ideas worth spreading.” At this point, we have probably all heard of TED and the short talks given by inspiring people from all around the world to audiences at different conferences. These talks can range in subject and have included science, politics, entrepreneurship, consciousness, cosmology, inventions and more. As TED’s popularity grew, TEDx talks sprung up around the globe which gave a less moderated voice to inspiring people. As a result, TED has been involved in controversy as they chose to censor various talks they deemed worthy of their censorship. The issue is, these talks are of great importance and TED’s decision to censor them reveals their interest in preserving their own brand while not getting in trouble with the ‘big wigs.’ Here are the talks TED felt were ‘Ideas not worth spreading.’
‘Rich People Don’t Create Jobs’ by Nick Hanauer
About two years ago, Ted censored Nick Hanauer’s talk called ‘Rich People Don’t Create Jobs.’ Billionaire Nick Hanauer (a venture capitalist from Seattle) gave the talk at a TED conference focusing mainly on income and inequality in America. Although the talk received a standing ovation from the audience, TED didn’t feel it was “An idea worth spreading” and refused to post it to their website. Regardless of the fact that TED has featured many presentations given by high-up politicians like Bill Clinton, David Cameron and Al Gore, this talk was somehow deemed too politically controversial and “explicitly partisan.”
According to Christopher Andersen, the curator of TED, “The talk tapped into a really important and timely issue, but it framed the issue in a way that was explicitly partisan. And it included a number of arguments that were unconvincing, even to those of us who supported his overall stance.”
The Science Delusion by Rupert Sheldrake
Rupert Sheldrake is a fascinating member of the scientific world. His TED talk named “The Science Delusion” was controversially censored by the TED community after being aired. Rupert shares that humanity has become stuck in turning science into another belief or dogma vs. allowing the method to be what it is. Rupert Sheldrake outlines 10 dogmas he has found to exist within mainstream science today. He states that when you look at each of these scientifically, you see that they are not actually true.
The War on Consciousness by Graham Hancock
TED also controversially censored a talk by Graham Hancock called ‘The War on Consciousness‘. Graham brings light to the war on consciousness that exists in our modern society, especially in the western world. Sharing his experience of overcoming a 24 year cannabis addiction using an ecodelic drug known as Ayahuasca, he makes the argument that modern society does not allow us to truly explore our consciousness by making various these psychedelics illegal. Most people are given pharmaceutical “band aids” to cope with issues that can be cured by exploring our consciousness.