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Comment by nandemo | Hacker News Reader

What makes TED TED? Well, for one, it’s TED because Sarah wasn’t there (and I won’t be there next year because I didn’t pay the $6,000 in time). Its elitism and expense IS part of why TED is magical (...)

This sounds really weird to me. I think what makes TED TED are some amazing talks by interesting people.

We can watch it on the net. Who cares how rich the audience is?

If anything, I suppose the audience is partly the cause of what I dislike in TED: the almost stereotypical Stuff White People Like content and tone of some talks.

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"the almost stereotypical Stuff White People Like content"

Maybe, but then where is the "stuff non-white people like" conference that everybody is watching? Everybody is free to organize a conference, so why do only the stereotypical white people seem to bother doing it?

To be clear, I don't want to imply that "white people" are better somehow, I just have troubles grasping the "stuff white people like" complaint.

Also, maybe there really is a non-white TED out there, which right now has 200 votes on non-white Hacker News. If so, it would be very interesting to hear about it (both the conference and non-white hacker news).

Please don't take it literally. I meant SWPL as in this:

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/

and thought it would be understood.

What I mean is stuff that is too "liberal", too bland, too politically correct for my taste. A bit hypocritical at times. It's just my opinion; perhaps I should have phrased it differently.

This is only tangentially related to race, by the way. People all over the world (including me) love classical music etc, but by using a derogatory term I'm implying only the stuff I dislike. ;-)

I kind of understand, but I would really be interested in the "other stuff". I suppose for TED, ultimately the speakers are still selected by the organizers (don't know TED very well).

What would be a more exciting event? I suppose there already are some?

I'm curious too. It doesn't even have to be so ambitious as a whole event.

What would be an example of a talk that's more interesting than anything at TED?

And why couldn't such a talk simply be given at TED? Because "white people" wouldn't like it? Why not?

Some concrete examples would be a great help.

I understood you just fine, didn't take you literally, knew that you didn't mean to offend and still found your comment a bit annoying.

Annoying's not so bad, I wouldn't go as far as to say I was offended, although it's more out of repetition and boredom from the stereotype of certain subjects being cast as a white thing. I'm old enough to be over that kind of thing but can't pretend I don't notice. I'm not white and I love pretty much all the TED content - the SWPL comment just takes me back to high school.

If it makes you feel better, non-white people aren't immune to unintentional and mild racism either - nobody is. My in-laws constantly make jokes about white people and it grates my nerves when they do it too - they don't get a free pass just because they're Hispanic.

SWPL couldn't have taken you back to high school if you actually understood him just fine because the blog is only 2 years old.

What's the age of the blog got to do with it? It definitely takes me back to high school, because the parody culture it describes is much more in line with where I went to high school than with where I am now.

I felt the same way until I watched many of the presentations. TED has some very deep thinkers. I don't find deep, complex subjects "liberal" or "bland". Just my opinion.

Positional goods are positional.

the almost stereotypical Stuff White People Like content and tone of some talks.

I'll take a wild guess, East Asian or South American? Yes, there is a cultural difference in a conference like TED and the rest of the world. But it is an amazing and inspiring conference that hosts some of the most accomplished people in the world as speakers. The fact that you dislike it because culturally it is different than you says more about your openness than it does about the quality of TED. Why is a cultural difference cause for dislike?

You're reading way too much into it; please see my reply to Tichy.

Oh, I happen to be South American, but it's not at all about that level of cultural difference. In my country there's a clone of the SWPL blog called "stuff middle class people like". On the other hand, someone very white like Mark Steyn would likely agree with me.

Ah, ok. Thanks for the clarification.

I think he's trying to say that "being there feels magical". Like walking around, looking at all of the drunk, white, upper middle class people who were ridiculously elated after the election was called for Obama. Mass hysteria?

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