In the days of Plato, Socrates and Aristotle, people came from all around to hear great thinkers share their ideas and debate about what really mattered. The aim of the TED website is to recreate this kind of platform for speakers with something on their mind, and this is a great website that can change the way you think about everything in your life.
In a world that is rapidly losing the ability to pay attention, short bursts of information seem to have the most effect. On TED, you can watch people speak their minds, or represent ideas that they have in a way that will remind you of a talent competition. The short nature of each idea burst means that they person presenting their idea has a limited chance to try and get their point across, which leads to high quality, highly entertaining fragments that will make you think, laugh, cry, or simply boggle at the way that some people think. Expect talent, challenges, and occasionally, the purely bizarre.
Here is a list of examples just to give you an idea about the kind of thing that you can find at ted.com.

Graham Hill – Less stuff, more happiness
This fascinating speech tries to convince people that having less stuff in your life can actually help you to happiness. The argument centres on the fact that we are all inundated with stuff, constantly. Adverts, work, stress, family, films, music – the barrage is never-ending. And it spills over into our everyday lives. The movement towards minimalism seems to be counter the general capitalist instinct, but check it out – you just might be inspired to change the way that you live.

Jake Shimabakuro plays ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’
A great post, which champions the idea that the world needs more ukulele players and music. Jake goes on to play a cover of Queen’s legendary anthem, which, to put it mildly, is amazing. Entertaining, exciting and funny at times, this is the kind of post that is light-hearted in nature but will blow you away.
Apart from the wide array of videos to support various ideas, there are also discussion groups and platforms that allow you to make your opinion heard. Nothing is taboo, but be warned that this site has a lot of avid fans and you may have to defend your point against some strong opinions. Take the plunge and find some ideas that are worth spreading.
This guest post was written by Victoria. She loves learning about things such as the Canadian Guide and the Canadian Economic Guide.