Attended TEDxUIUC

Today, the TEDxUIUC presentations demonstrated the power of the passions and engagement people have in their work and aspirations. Most of the passions focused on trying to understand more deeply the meaning of significant personal and contextual experiences. From three-dimensional models of multiple universes to intensely personal questions of the value of work, the speakers offered thoughtful ideas about living in our world and life beyond. Some of the highlights talked about defining what is life (in the context of extra-planetary exploration), what is the effect of technology (in the context of increasingly mediated social interactions), to the ethical dilemmas of engineering that feed the military industrial system. There were also presentations of work by remarkable people that challenged us to think more broadly about our material surroundings and  to reconsider our relations with other creatures on our planet. One after another, the speakers succinctly presented the foci of their thinking and the thinking we needed to achieve as a critical, dedicated member of the house.