Taryn Simon Photographs Secret Sights TED Talk

Taryn Simon's TED Talk vastly differed from any that I have watched so far; she is a photographer who sheds a light on reality of situations that are usually covered up. The majority of her talk was her flipping through her photos and describing the unusual circumstances under which they are taken; she was not very lively or involved, but that did not distract from her talk. She almost needed to be monotonous to be able to absorb the full impact of her pictures. In the end, empathy is what her talk came down to; the little stories allowed me to relate to the situation, but the photographs showed the  raw humanity and irony of certain situations. Simon seemed a bit ill prepared when it came to her TED Talk; she "ummed" her fair share and did not seem at home up on the stage. It felt like the whole thing was her reading a script in front of a huge, attentive audience. She works beautiful with photographs, but speaking motivationally was not her strong suit; her photographs could have played in a slideshow to music with captions of the story and it would have had the same effect as her speaking. If she had used more emotion in her voice, or even displayed the slightest amount of connection, this talk could have been magnificent.

Simon really only details one message: "Our eyes are easily deceived." Near the end, she launches into one of her projects; she photographed men who had been wrongly accused of malicious crimes including rape, murder and robbery. These men had to serve time for crimes that they weren't remotely involved in, for men who were guilty and slid by free of charges. In multiple cases, photographs were given to witnesses in order to to identify their attackers; the victims were drawn to a photograph (of a man similar to their attacker) and that picture was taken and put into another group of photos for the victim to review. They again picked the picture of the person they assumed to be their attacker, but this time the face in the photograph had replaced the face of the actual attacker. Those that were wrongly convicted were then photographed in settings relevant to their arrests; one man accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering woman  was photographed where the crime allegedly occurred. He had never been there. Simon sets out to expose the realities of life through beauty and whimsical imagery. She describes one situation in which Disney World rejects her request to access her subjects: photography threatens fantasy. This shows that in today's world, we rely too much on photography, and not enough on our own memories. Her angle is to show the ironies involved in photography compared to that of reality; it gives a different tone to photography and adds refreshing fact in a sea of obscured truth.

"A picture is worth one thousand words;" it's an accurate statement, but sometimes we don't know the truth behind it. When I was little, I looked at a picture, thinking it was myself. I told my mom, "Wait, I don't remember ever taking a picture in that chair..." She responded, "Maria, that's because it isn't you. It's your sister." My sister and I aren't twins and there is quite an age gap, but the picture was taken at a time where we looked quite similar. It could have been error due to young age, but I don't believe that. My eyes were deceived and I knew no better than to think it was me. It would have never occurred to me that it was actually my sister in the photograph. In society this is an extremely important error to be made. The public is easily persuaded by the photographs placed in TMZ or advertisements or Breaking News Bulletins, and those photographs easily, easily, could be fabricated or tampered with and the public would never know. We believe whatever we see because someone saw it somewhere, and that is proof enough for us. Not everyone goes and checks every backstory on every photograph we see in People Magazine showing how Britney Spears has cellulite or how Gwyneth Paltrow got abs fast! We believe it because someone that we think has authority decided to publish it. But we don't really know if Britney has cellulite, or if someone decided to make it appear that way, no one investigates it either. As Simon says (no pun intended) the picture can replace the memory; when I see Gwyneth Paltrow, I won't think of a person, but the tan fit body and bleach blonde hair of Gwyneth Paltrow. But why does this even matter? We turn humans into objects, fabricate memories, and lose touch with our memories and ourselves. In total, we pretty much lose our human nature by relying too much on photographs. We do not live in photographs, we do not live in the false smiles and photoshopped bodies of Abercrombie adds; we live in reality and it's time to move away from leaning upon pictures as a crutch. The eyes are easily deceived, we cannot trust something fully if it cannot accurately display the situation. Photographs must be supplemented by some other truth. Simon's photographs contrast the relationship between reality and photography. People must take this approach to life, showing both sides of the spectrum and allowing the truth to be shown through imagery. 

Dan Ariely TED Talk: Are we in control of our own decisions?

Dan Ariely's TED Talk details the psychology behind decision-making processes; they are not made personally, but are technically decided by the person who designed what is being decided upon. People do not wake up in the morning and know what they are going to wear, but they decide what to wear by comparing different designs. This leads into Ariely's view of decision-making; people are irrationally predictable, making the same choices in patterns that others find illogical until they study the topic. Decisions are harder to make when the results are equally balanced, but if another decision is thrown into the mix, one choice is made to look more opportunistic than the other. Ariely describes a situation in there are three different choices: an online magazine subscription for $59, a print magazine subscription for $125, and a combo-pack of both for $125 dollars. When he surveyed students at MIT, he found that the combo pack was preferable by over half and the online subscription made up the rest of the total; the print-only subscription was preferable to no one. It seemed pointless to include an option that was not preferable to anyone. So, he surveyed another group of students but eliminated the print-only option; the results showed that the online subscription became more preferable by the majority. The option for print-only made the combo-pack seem like more of a deal than it actually was; Ariely calls this "Decision Illusion," which parallels that of an optical illusion. When the outside distractions are taken away, the viewer is able to see the true value. This is one pattern that Ariely has observed, which proves his theory off irrational predictability.

Ariely shares his interest in human psychology in a way that is completely relatable to the average person. The viewer can tell just how truly ingenious he is, but he “dumbs” it down in a way that does not feel like he is talking down to someone inferior. He describes optical illusions using photographs; he proves that two tables are the same length and two colors on a cube are actually the same color, but then takes the proof away again. He explains that nothing is wrong mentally if, when the proof is taken away, the perception of the illusion returns back to as it was before he showed them as equal. He further explains optical illusions as a metaphor for decision illusions. If he had tried to explain decision illusions without first introducing optical illusions, the concept would have been lost amongst the audience; but, since he used something that the average audience member knew to relate to his subject, he made it relatable and easier to understand. Through out his talk, he used the projector to enhance his ability to explain; decision illusions, greatly related to optical illusions, are not easy to describe without visual effects. He put up two photos of two brothers, and asked which one was more preferable to you specifically. He proceeded to put a distorted photo of each brother in between the two regular photos, and, again, asked which was more preferable. Whichever brother was distorted seemed less preferable to the viewer. This is another example of decision illusions and predictable irrationality illustrated in another way. Ariely uses multiple examples to make one point clear, which, again, allows the situation to become more relatable to the viewer. 

Irrationally predictable are two very powerful words that do not seem like they should be directly next to each other in a sentence, ever: an oxymoron of sorts. I think of irrationality as something being so unreasonable and unpredictable that no one can understand. My view of irrationality, in itself, contradicts the idea of being predictable. Dan Ariely creates a bond between these to concepts that shows how human decisions are not as irrational as we believe they are because, to a degree, he is able to show trends in "irrational" behavior. If further studies were conducted in order to prove his idea, the world would benefit greatly. Every person should know how they think and make decisions; it opens up their ability to understand themselves and then others. Publicizing these studies also would reveal whether someone is actually using their opinions to decide upon something or subconsciously allowing others to make decisions for them; it could easily be adopted by more companies as a marketing strategy, thus improving sales and the economy. But how can someone change these seemingly subliminal behaviors? How can someone change how he or she is persuaded to do something? Simple (in concept, maybe not in practice): way out the pros and cons and eliminate one of the decisions. We cannot change the way we value certain things, but if we change the perspective and quiet down the distractions, we will be able to see life and its decisions in a different light. Schools need to look into this more deeply also. If they can understand why students do what they do, it will be much easier to teach and for them to learn. As a student, I know that I am not always stellar. I would rather lie out in the sun and feel the breeze or laugh and smile with my friends than sit and do my homework inside for hours on end. I know I need to get my homework done; I know I want good grades, but sometimes I could use a little less stress and frustration in my life. My motivation to do these tasks decreases because there is an alternative that seems more pleasurable or rewarding. If a student were given the choice between friends and homework, most would choose friends; but if they look into the long run, it is like comparing friends and a decent education. Then which would they choose? At this point, I am not sure which would be more popular. My point is that students are predictably irrational, and I feel that it is the teacher's job to both focus students in on what really matters and to help keep them on a path to finding what matters. Students, teens especially, lose focus of their goal by facing so many distractions, teachers must teach them how to turn down the volume and consider what they truly are looking at. When this is achieved, they will be able to make choices individually, instead of by what outside forces are trying to pressure them into. In total, decision illusions need to be clarified by students, but teachers must help them learn how to do this first. Reflecting personally, I could use some help in these situations. I get too caught up in the moment and the little details to realize the big picture; with some guidance, I feel like I could become a better student and like I would be able to sort out my priorities in a more efficient manner.

People's decisions are not as irrational as they seem; Dan Ariely's TED Talk enlightened the viewer to show the truth behind decision-making processes. Decision illusions change the perception of choices, but in the end it's all just a trick of the mind.

Dave Egger TED Talk: Once Upon a School

In the past few years, Dave Egger has started a trend by opening a pirate supply store, which doubled as a free tutoring center. Weeks passed and no one came to the store; they could not figure out why people had not come in for any help. Eventually they were able to get students to come in and get the one on one attention they deserved. Egger’s main message became evident within the next few minutes of his talk; children need one-on-one time that schools cannot provide with ever-growing class sizes. Students began to shine due the collaboration with students, interns, volunteers, and staff members and the time they spent learning with others. Classes began to visit on field trips, then tutors were sent into classrooms, and later they were given a classroom at a school; students who would not usually seek help ended up getting the same treatment as anyone. Across the nation, Egger’s movement inspired copy-cat stores which doubled as free tutor centers. These centers changed the students’ motivation and made them not only get their homework done, but actually want to get the work done well.

Egger tended to ramble, to say the least; he seemed a bit nervous and spoke quite fast. He changed focus frequently which gave him an heir of disorganization, but in the end he brought everything back together to form an idea worth spreading. He told little stories of children overcoming seemingly impossible challenges to show the impact one tutoring center made on the typical child. Despite his wordiness, the viewer could tell just how much he loved his topic and the potential it holds in the present and the future. Egger loves what he does and wants others to share his joy, and then share the newfound love with the world, too. He highlights the internal reward of getting active within the community and shows how donation of time and personal connection is far greater than a donation of money.

In the past few years, my class sizes have remained relatively small in comparison to those of my peers; while their classes had 30 or more students, mine stayed within the mid to low 20s. I feel this is unfair; honors and advanced students need attention still, but the average grade level student needs more of a guiding hand. The larger classes tended to be those with larger numbers, which is the exact opposite of what is needed; if these students really do need more help, they will not be able to receive adequate attention from their teachers. Egger sent volunteers and tutors into schools to allow the one-on-one time that they needed; more people need to join this movement in order to help the youth change their motivation and provide better futures for them. Without one-on-one attention, students may never know what they are capable of accomplishing; they need the pressure to do well in combination with wanting to achieve their goal. Not all people are motivated in school, and I think the relationships that are forged between student and teacher (or tutor) can change the way students are motivated. It should start with respect; I have noticed that students who respect their teachers (generally) produce better work. Through out the school year, I have grown much closer to my teachers, and I do homework and projects to the best of my ability both because I want to and because I do not want to disrespect or let my teachers down. If students grow close to their teachers, maybe the same principle will apply to them. They will grow to respect their teachers and tutors enough to build up a new sense of drive and then they will be able to motivate themselves. In society, people should try to create closer relationships with others and their motivation will change too. Spending personal time helping others is much more rewarding than donating money to a cause; it shows that you actually care about the future, in comparison to “caring” about immediate fixes.

Dave Eggers has one wish for schools and people across the globe: "I wish that you- you personally and every creative individual and organization you know- will find a way to directly engage with a public school in your area and that you'll tell your story of how you got involved, so that within a year we have 1,000 examples of transformative partnerships."