TED TALK 2006 TONY ROBBINS "Why We Do What We Do"
by Sophia Rodriguez
Summary:
Robbing begins his talk by stating that contrary to popular belief, he is not a motivational speaker. He confidently states that he is a "why" guy. He wants to know "What is it that drives you in your life today?" He encourages the audience to consider the these exact questions upon reflecting their own lives because people should identify what it is they connect with and why. People should as why (kind of like how I am asking why people create TEDTalks and why people watch them upon analyzing TED Talks) and says it is important for two reasons: 1) “So that you can contribute more.” and 2) “that hopefully we can not just understand other people more, but maybe appreciate them more and create the kinds of connections that can stop some of the challenges that we face today." His whole talk reflects on the connections we make with ourselves and what we learn from ourselves and what we learn from what we involve ourselves with.
Reflection:
This was the first TED Talk that came up when I searched for "identity," so it led me to this spectacular speech by Tony Robbins. Although it sounded like a motivational speech the first few minutes of the video, Robbins began guiding my mind to a thought of reasoning and purpose of our thoughts. As I watch more TED Talks I really believe that what Robbing emphasizes may be what TED Talks are all about: to contribute to society, not through self-interest or financial gain or recognition, but for the simple sake of spreading humanity, spreading awareness, spreading innovative ideas to the public. Through almost every TED Talks speaker, I noticed a pattern: humanly connection, world connection, unison amongst human beings in this planet.* Ask questions like “how” and “why.”
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ReplyDeleteRobbins's reasons remind me of Burke's parlor conversation. The interesting thing about this iteration of the dialectic is that the parlor has indeed been renovated.
ReplyDeleteWhereas Burke refers to all knowledge in print as the 'conversation', what you're probing at seems a 'transaction' well suited to improve the conversation and move it out from the parlor and into the foyer.
I do have a concern, however, that hosting the new dialectic through a medium that is transaction only for its contributors may evolve into a new intellectual Palladianism because of Tedx platform's reach. Discourse, what the parlor espoused long ago, may be supplanted with opinion editorial as Truth with capital T.
I actually love TED Talk, they always seem to throw in something innovative and thought provoking at staff meeting or professional development. I think its so ironic, in my experience, you watch a video at work and your brain starts to generate ideas. Your voices start to be listened to in your head and then out of nowhere you get to get with co-workers and the boss just stops your little voices in their tracks and just tells you what needs to be done to pick up scores. The asking of "how" and "why" many times is thrown out the window and you just do what your told to do.
ReplyDeleteI have only watched a few Ted talks but what I like about that is it information that can yes be considered motivational or in this case makes you think about why? What I like is it doesn't seem gimmicky like that facebook message I got from that pastor assistant that told me she had important message from God for me and then tried to charge me to hear it. Anybody can look up a ted talk rather it be on facebook or you tube. It seems more like I want to help people think about why they do what they do and also how we learn about other people. But its your choice what you take from it and what you do with it.
ReplyDeleteSophia, what a good place to start with TED talks. Yes, TED talks are usually not about motivation but more about something created, an aspect that has to do with all humans, new things, philosophies, literature, research, the list can go on! I once watched a TED talk about why humans dislike the sound of their own voice when they hear it played back to them. Another one I've seen was about women who choose not to have children and the myths about their sadness and unfulfillment. You'll see anyone from scientists, writers, tech developers, to celebrities, humanitarians, and professors. This TED talk you mention seems to touch on a few points of identity. Robbins is using Kairos when he takes the moment to tell the audience reflect on different aspects of themselves. And one of the main rhetorical questions is why. Frequently when meeting one on one with professors they often ask me 'why.' Why did you write that, why is it important, why is it compelling. etc.
ReplyDeleteI think the most important thing he said was that we must try to understand people. Many times, we only look at things from a narrow perspective. If we broaden our knowledge by asking how and why, we can truly understand things in a way that transcends us as a society. I recently heard a podcast that I thought was great. It's by Revisionist History. The podcast researched parapraxis (AKA Freudian slips). Now, I'm not talking about kids being sexually attracted to their parents or anything like that. The way the podcast framed this was subconscious slips that occurred for particular reasons (the why that Robbing discusses). One thing researched in the podcast was Elvis's rendition of "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" This song is a song that Elvis had performed countless times. However, towards the end of his career, he could never sing the song correctly. The podcaster examined the King's life, the song, and the mistakes that he most commonly made. He asked why instead of assuming that it was just Elvis forgetting the lyrics. Turns out, there may have been more to the mistakes than thought. When Elvis started getting the lyrics incorrect, it was during his divorce with his wife who had left him for someone else. The lyrics he sings incorrectly are always the bridge. The song talks mostly about the singer's concern for his ex-partner, however, the part Elvis always messed up on was where the singer talks about his own loneliness and heartbreak. At first, I thought this was just a longshot argument, but it started to make sense the more I listened. I'll go ahead and stop rambling about it here. The point of bringing it up was that this rhetorician asked why. Instead of accepting the mistake as a mistake, he asked why he made that mistake and how he made that mistake. At the end, we discover something so intimate and emotional about Elvis. The rhetorician closes with something along the lines of "Maybe these aren't mistakes, but rather, gifts of insight into the person."
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