Wow. I agree the TED brand has been cheapened a lot by the various TEDx affiliated events (which mainly seem to be B and C list celebrities or wannabes trying to self-promote), but to call it "silicon valley corporatism" is way off the mark.
I guess I don't even understand what "corporatism" is in this context. Is he saying that people who develop and deploy technologies are less interesting when speaking about those technologies and their effects than an academic who studies the social implications of technology?
Interesting is not so important. The article says that it's more important to understand the meaning and influence of new things on society.
I'm not sure that the guy who invented something is the one we should ask about how it would affect society. He's probably biased towards his new tech, and doesn't have the historical, political, social and other types of knowledge needed to try to understand the impacts.
And the corporatism is that TED created a false sense of technological optimism within the viewer, a sense that technology could solve all. But at their core, most of our big problems are social and psychological, and many are tied directly to current business structures.
Don't neglect the fact that advancements in our technology do have an impact on the socio-economical and cultural elements of our society. The way twitter played a huge role in the revolutions around the world show that. The internet has given each person with access an unparalleled source of information right at our finger tips, and has helped push forward globalization.
I agree that there are many problems that are cultural and psychological, however technology can be part of the solution.
I don't believe his concern is with how interesting the talks are.
The corporatism of TED as seen by the writer is that TED's epistemology, the very style of the lectures, serves the interests of the Silicon Valley establishment, in part by excluding other ways of knowing and presentation.
I guess I don't even understand what "corporatism" is in this context. Is he saying that people who develop and deploy technologies are less interesting when speaking about those technologies and their effects than an academic who studies the social implications of technology?