TED Talks on Tuesdays
Can we talk? Starting with ideas presented in videos, let’s have a discussion. We can take on big issues, share insights, make friends, and together grow in our understanding of important issues that ultimately affect all of us.
TED Talks are compelling presentations of 20 minutes or less, available free on the internet. TED Talks on Tuesdays is a space for shared dialogue and is offered through a partnership between Sylvania Senior Center and Lifelong Learning.
1:00 – 2:00 PM at the Sylvania Senior Center. TED Talks on Tuesdays are free and open to all, no registration necessary. For more information, please call Lifelong Learning at 419-824-3707, Sylvania Senior Center at 419-885-3913
What it feels like to see Earth from space
1:00 – 2:00 PM, January 17
What the astronauts felt when they saw Earth from space changed them forever. Author and artist Benjamin Grant aims to provoke this same feeling of overwhelming scale and beauty in each of us through a series of stunning satellite images that show the effects human beings are having on the planet. “If we can adopt a more expansive perspective, embrace the truth of what is going on and contemplate the long-term health of our planet, we will create a better, safer and smarter future for our one and only home,” Grant says.
How to disagree productively and find common ground
1:00 – 2:00 PM, February 21
Some days, it feels like the only thing we can agree on is that we can’t agree — on anything. Drawing on her background as a world debate champion, Julia Dhar offers three techniques to reshape the way we talk to each other so we can start disagreeing productively and finding common ground — over family dinners, during work meetings and in our national conversations.
We don’t “move on” from grief. We move forward with it
1:00 – 2:00 PM, March 21
In a talk that’s by turns heartbreaking and hilarious, writer and podcaster Nora McInerny shares her hard-earned wisdom about life and death. Her candid approach to something that will, let’s face it, affect us all, is as liberating as it is gut-wrenching. Most powerfully, she encourages us to shift how we approach grief. “A grieving person is going to laugh again and smile again,” she says. “They’re going to move forward. But that doesn’t mean that they’ve moved on.”
A brain implant that turns your thoughts into text
1:00 – 2:00 PM, April 18
What if you could control digital devices using just the power of thought? That’s the incredible promise behind the Stentrode — an implantable brain-computer interface that collects and wirelessly transmits information directly from the brain, without the need for open surgery. Neurotech entrepreneur Tom Oxley describes the intricacies of this breakthrough technology, which is currently enrolling participants in human trials, as well as how it could help restore dignity to those with disabilities — and transform the future of communication.
The secret to living longer may be your social life
1:00 – 2:00 PM, May 16
The Italian island of Sardinia has more than six times as many centenarians as the mainland and ten times as many as North America. Why? According to psychologist Susan Pinker, it’s not a sunny disposition or a low-fat, gluten-free diet that keeps the islanders healthy — it’s their emphasis on close personal relationships and face-to-face interactions. Learn more about super longevity as Pinker explains what it takes to live to 100 and beyond.