TEDxCoeur d'Alene: A Wonderland of thought
COEUR d’ALENE — In the words of a humble toy salesman: "Ditch the tech and reconnect."
"The human race is walking a very fine line right now between a new age of enlightenment and a fall back into the dark ages," said Devin Summer, of Figpickels Toy Emporium.
"If we wish to avoid the latter, I think that we really need to be honest about how we interact with technology," he said. "We need to think about our approach to education, and we really need to think about our ideas of human culture so that we can adjust our behaviors and get back to a healthier lifestyle where all of us play more. We have entered into a very unhealthy and very unbalanced relationship with technology."
The key point of his presentation was simple — we need to remember how to play.
"We build online personas instead of investing in our own confidence and self worth. Instead of playing in the dirt and feeling the earth in our fingers, we make a virtual farm. How does that teach us anything about agriculture?” Sommer asked as his audience applauded. "I know all of us have witnessed parents using smartphones and tablets to babysit their kids or avoid temper tantrums. The problem is this: This is not play, this is not how nature designed us to learn, and it’s actually altering our brains in some pretty frightening ways."
A performance poet and community activist, Sommer was one of 12 speakers who gave fascinating presentations Saturday during the third annual TEDxCoeur d'Alene in the Salvation Army Kroc Center. This year's theme was "Wonderland."
The day-long event featured athletes, podcasters, authors, entrepreneurs, professors, activists, artists and more who spoke on a number of topics to a full house of about 300 attendees.
Podcaster, TV producer and comedian Dan Cummins, of Coeur d'Alene, discussed the quandary of "fake news" and how people are beginning to lose faith in those who are supposed to be on the public's side.
"If we stop trusting experts, that's not good for the future of our society. Then who is left to trust? By definition, people who are not experts," he said. "When has trusting people who are not qualified to lead ever anything done good for anyone?"
Cummins said he feels that there is too much negative news being reported all the time, and it's turning people off completely.
"I think sometimes negative news can be so negative, it can seem fake because it's an inaccurate depiction of the world we live in," he said. "I think so much negative news is now leading to people losing faith in not just news, but in the education system, the scientific community, the medical establishment and more."
He said money is the underlying cause of this barrage of negativity.
"Money makes our definitely not flat world go round," he said. "There's an old saying in journalism, 'If it bleeds, it leads.' Tragedy sells. Tragedy has consistently sold more newspapers, pushed more interviews, pushed more website clicks than positive, feel-good stories. This is true for podcasts, as well.
"Was there ever a time when the news was largely positive, or at least neutral? Yes, yes there was," he said. "Back when no one made any money in the news."
The "TED" in TEDx stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. Other presentations from the day spilled across the thought spectrum, giving guests fresh perspectives on subjects such as author Emalee Gillis' experience with bipolar disorder, and child marriage and female empowerment as presented by Brook Bassett's young female cast of "Girl, Awake!"
TEDxCoeur d'Alene is a function of Discover Ideas, Inc., a local, volunteer-run nonprofit. Event co-organizer Nick Swope said it's a great event for Coeur d'Alene as the area is experiencing an intellectual boom.
"Looking back 10 years, it seems like there's so much more momentum now of ideas being shared," Swope said. "There's a lot more innovation, there’s a lot more tech, design and art, all coming together."
Info: www.tedxcda.com