这是我昨天在ＴＭＣ俱乐部的演讲稿，其实也是之前发过的《你知道的太多了》的英文版。非常侥幸的是，昨天有位大咖与我同台竞技，我运气好，获得了“Ｂｅｓｔ Ｓｐｅａｋｅｒ”的称号。内心有点小小的满足感。今日拿出来，与大家分享！
Benjamin Bratton gave a talk on TED, named "What's wrong with TED talks?" He said TED actually is middlebrow, megachurch and infotainment.
Why he said so?
Cause TED seems holding a proposition that if we talk about world-changing ideas enough, then the world will change. But all these ideas turn out to be empty talks. Seldom people take action on it.
Of course, many talks on TED are too far away from us, the talks about high-tech, the atomic technology, the VR technology, things far out of our control. But there are also so many talks about our daily life and our inner world. For example, a woman gave a talk titled "Before I die, I want to ...", encouraging people to think about a thing they want to do before they die. Another woman gave another talk named "My year reading a book from every country in the world", and she hoped others could join this project to read the world.
These are all talks we can practice to become a better version of ourselves. But every time we are motivated, we are just motivated. And then we just do what we used to do.
This is not particular on TED. It happens at every corner around the world, even around you.
I have a story in my life. When I was a freshman, my English was so limited that nobody including myself supposed I could learn English well. But after I become pretty good in English within two years, some of my friends wanted to learn from me and asked, "How do you learn English well?" I was very enthusiastic to tell them about it. I told them how to do dictation. I told them how to read passages. I told them everything I knew to become better in English. I was so happy because I believed I could help them.
What's ironic is that after three months when we sat together, the same friends asked "How do you learn English well?" And I answered "very sincerely": "Read more books."
When I was browsing some study website, I found that people are more interested in essays on learning methods, but the passages filled with real knowledge are unfrequented.
The tellers' words speak louder than the listeners' action. People always want to know something, but they don't want to do something.
We live in a time where we are witnessing the declines of hard working, and learning is kind of boring.
So please, if a story or a method moves you, act on it. If a story or a method moves you, act on it.
How can we act on it?
1. Being more curious and more skeptical and ask more questions about the tellers' social context in which he/she employed these methods. Is my situation the same as his/hers? Can the method he/she uses apply on me?
2. Switching off your phones, stepping away from your screens and stepping out into the real world to act on it.
We don't need to find out some complicated methods to carry out. Simply ideas can make a great difference in our life.
John Francis mentioned in his book "Planetwalker" the experience of becoming a UN Ambassador and an environmentalist. He said he only did two different things: walked for 22 years, and keep silent for 17 years.
If 20 years ago, someone just told you, "Do you want to make a difference? Then you just walk, walk around the world." And after you walked for a while, the man just told you "Shut up!" Can you believe that just walking and not talking can make a difference?
But that is the reality.
So please refind the book, story or method that moves you, and act on it.
We are obliged to tell all guys that "Action speak louder than words."