swine flu

Description

Enny Das starts with a question: am I someone who can inspire you? She is a sensitive person, she says, and likes to take the opportunity to relax for a minute... or eight and asks the audience to just keep quiet for a little while. She keeps still for a second of twenty or so, and compliments the audience for taking in the silence with her. "How did it feel?" she asks. She explains that she did this because she hates faking certainty. People in exciting situations don't want to admit that they are uncertain, even though everybody knows that everyone else is. People try to suppress uncertainty. Take the Mexican or Swine Flu for example. People were uncertain, anything could happen. And what do we do when we are uncertain? We try to define what's happening and gather information. Das points at a graph showing a surge of media attention every time there was an outbreak of the Mexican Flu: people try to cope with their uncertainty with info from the media. They try to choose one certain picture of reality, such as with the famous optical illusion of the pretty lady/old woman. Next time, it might be a good idea to embrace uncertainty; not to avoid it. Because the uncertainty may be part of the real you. The real thing. About TEDx In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)