TED supplies its speakers with strict guidelines. “Start strong” is the most obvious one, and there is virtually no throat clearing or contrived thanking. Instead, speakers blaze onto the stage like stand-up comics, hellbent on room domination. Some consult notes and stay close by their audiovisual equipment — PowerPoint is used for emphasis, but it never directs the talks — while others pace, spread their arms wide and take up space. No one apologizes for himself. No one fails to make jokes. The appreciative room roars at humor, when they’re not literally oohing and aahing at insight.

It’s not easy to admit, then, that no single idea put forth in the TED talks seized me with its specifics. The necessary fiction at TED is that matters of substance — policy, practice, code — will emerge from the talks. But it’s unlikely that a plan to disarm Iran or treat autism will surface; there’s too much razzle-dazzle for brass tacks. What’s really on display is much more right brain, and that’s what I’ve come to be addicted to: the exposure to vigorous minds whirring as they work hard.

Right now I’m holed up on TED.com, sampling the talks. The TEDsters bellow their ideas at me, and I try to brook more stimulation. These are the people of the brain, after all, the understanders. They have only to chant some nostrums and cast rhetorical spells and I’m suddenly thinking some combination of It’s all going to be all right and The heck it is — but only I can stop it! Thanks, TED. I’m clearly inspired out of my mind.

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Points of Entry

THIS WEEK'S RECOMMENDATIONS

TEDISSIMO: At a TED conference, 80 speeches are given over four days. On your own, you can savor a choice few — or binge on way, way more. To get started, consider four sleeper favorites of the TED staff, all available at TED.com or on iTunes: Wade Davis (2003), Majora Carter (2006), Sir Ken Robinson (2006) and Hans Rosling (2006). The site is set up to let you run into other talks you’ll like.

SUPERFANS: Bloggers like to discuss which TED talks are the best, and their idiosyncratic lists are often more interesting than the “most popular” on the site. Nam-ho Park has a good list on strangesystems.com as does Tara Hunt at horsepigcow.com. The TED group on Facebook is another place to discuss the talks.

DE-TED: If you have been reading Tony Robbins or watching TED talks or otherwise getting way too psyched, it might be time for Moments of Rest, David Beardsley’s tranquillity blog. Nearly every day Beardsley posts a short film of — nothing. Everything. Nature. “It’s not about registering, rating, reacting or ranting,” he writes. “It exists to give you a moment of stillness each day.”