Conference brings ‘ideas worth spreading’ to U of G students

By Dan O’Keefe

Like most Fridays, on April 9 Rozanski Hall was the home of numerous lectures. However, some of these lectures were anything but ordinary. Nine speakers, three musical performances, and two videos constituted Guelph’s own TEDx event.

TEDx events are independently organized lectures based on the extremely successful TED conferences. TED stands for “Technology, Entertainment, Design,” and the purpose of theses conferences is to share “ideas worth spreading.” These conferences have been held worldwide, and many of them are available to view on the popular website ted.com.

According to volunteer Phil Sahula, these events are “just about learning, to spread ideas,” and to “cover a wide variety of topics.” The speakers are success stories from every walk of life, and they are there to share stories, inspire participants, spread learning, and provoke thought.

In a brief video to start the conference, the curator of TED, Chris Anderson, spoke of the “power of ideas.” Their “ideas worth spreading” have created a conference and web phenomenon known the world over.

Pat Barclay, an evolutionary psychologist, was the first of many speakers. He discussed the use of cooperation by the human species, and shared his ideas on the links between cooperation, generosity, and reputation from a psychological point of view.

On the same topic, Tom Klein Beernink spoke about the importance of cooperation, the value of co-ops focusing on collective needs and the sharing of benefits and risks. He also spoke about a house that was renovated by a group from the university. The housing co-op is extremely energy and water efficient, filled with super-efficient appliances, and is fully accessible to persons with disabilities. A video from a previous TED conference continued the theme of cooperation, discussing the cell and how its numerous parts work in concert to serve a greater purpose that each part will never know, serving as the basis of life as we know it.

Later in the event, U of G psychology professor Hank Davis shared his thoughts on “benign neglect” and bad belief systems, and his beliefs on the possession of pets and the inherent responsibility in caring for them.

The first musical performance featured Bob Izdebskiego, the much-beloved proprietor of Bob’s Dogs. Bob shared one song, and after great applause, returned to delight the audience with an encore.

A brief intermission brought about exciting and engaging conversation from the members of the audience. Though no two conversations were identical, the theme of “ideas worth spreading” was present everywhere.

The second half kicked off with Steve Sladowski sharing his thoughts on improvisation in community and social practice, before he and his band started an improvised jam session. Instruments were used unconventionally and unconventional objects were used instrumentally. The audience joined the musicians with various percussion instruments and they together became an impromptu orchestra filling the hall with a truly unique sound and experience.

Later, taking the audience’s attention was David Lawless, an ecology student who was part of an international youth group that attended the UN World Climate Conference. At the conference, Lawless and the others helped ratify a declaration on climate change and signed the declaration beside leaders from around the world. He used his experience as proof that you don’t have to belong to a group like the UN to help change the world.

The final presenter was Mike Ridley, the chief information officer and chief librarian at the university. He argued, “reading and writing are doomed,” calling literacy a “tool.” Ridley continued, saying that “[literacy] will be displaced by a more powerful tool… the alphabet is history.”

He believes that learning may be replaced by replication, and that post-literacy, in whatever form it may come in, may be “delivered by aliens” who have already shed literacy.

The conference was a great success, as was reflected by organizer Nick Stepanov. He reported nearly 7, 500 views online, and a peak of almost 350 viewers watching the conference live on the web cast.

Chief organizer Yuri Vernikovsky was happy with the way the conference went. According to Vernikovsky, the conference took the better part of two months and 25 people to pull it off and it couldn’t have been better. As for next year, Vernikovsky hopes to expand the conference to 600 people, and make it an annual event.

Your anonymous comment may be printed in The Ontarion's print publication.