Unconventional thinking // to understand the world, we should listen more to poets and artists than economists.
Here is a summary of the key points:
- The speaker was originally scheduled to give the first talk at a TED conference, but was moved to the final talk slot instead. This disrupted his plan to relax and listen to others’ talks after giving his own.
- He quotes philosopher Mike Tyson, who said “Everybody has a plan until they get a punch in the face.” The speaker’s “punch in the face” was having his talk rescheduled.
- The speaker observes that all the talks have focused on the rapid pace of change in the world and its impacts. He quotes Lenin, who said there are decades when nothing happens and weeks when decades happen.
- As an economist, the speaker would normally analyze issues with charts and data. But as an Irish economist, he will instead use poetry.
- He analyzes the 1919 W.B. Yeats poem “The Second Coming,” which captures a sense of a world in chaos. The poem says “the center cannot hold” and “the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”
- In 1919, economists wrongly predicted stability and recovery, while the poet Yeats correctly sensed coming turmoil and conflict. The speaker believes artists and poets think unconventionally, allowing them to better predict change.
- The speaker argues that our education system rewards only one type of intelligence and belittles other talents, leading to misjudgments later in life.
- He warns that overconfidence and groupthink, especially among economists, can lead to poor decisions and mistaken certainty. Quoting Leonard Cohen, he says we should look for the cracks and openings to see the bigger picture.
- The speaker concludes that to understand the world, we should listen more to poets and artists than economists.
Cohen said, “There is a crack in everything. And that is how the light gets in.”
