TED Controversy: Impact and Ongoing Discussions

Dr. Sheldrick's talk censorship unexpectedly amplified his message and sparked widespread support and discussion.

### The Impact of Controversy: Reflections on TED Talks and Public Response
* 📅 It's been a year since the controversy surrounding the TED talks, and many **significant events** have unfolded since then.
* 🌍 Dr. Sheldrick shared that during the initial uproar, he was in India and had no internet access, only to return to **overwhelming support via emails from people expressing solidarity**.
* 📞 After returning to England, he received a call from TED curator Chris Anderson, who sought to **address the situation and work collaboratively on a resolution**.
* 🗣 Dr. Sheldrick emphasized that he and Graham were merely engaging in **meaningful discourse** at the TEDx event titled "**Challenging Existing Paradigms**," which they felt was aligned with the event's **purpose**.
* 💬 Despite TED's attempts to quell the discussions surrounding their talks, the debate gained **unprecedented traction**, resulting in **more comments than any other TED talks**.
* 📈 Initially, Dr. Sheldrick's talk had **35,000 views** before being removed, but it has since reached **at least a million views** across various platforms, demonstrating the **unintended amplification of their message**.
* 🤝 He noted that the conflict between **dogmatic skeptics and proponents of new ideas** is a natural part of paradigm shifts, and he holds **no resentment** towards those who opposed them.
* 🔄 Ultimately, the controversy has underscored the **necessity of open debate** in the face of evolving ideas, highlighting the **dynamic nature of public discourse**.

discussions on Ted uh as far as these gentlemen are concerned it's been a year since this controversy has sort of uh come and uh a lot of things have transpired since then and uh I think it'd be really great to hear the good

things and the interesting and maybe the bad uh all the things that have transpired since then so I was wondering uh perhaps Dr. Sheldrick if you'd like to start if uh you want to just give us a synopsis of what's been going on as far

far as you've been concerned since the since your um video was pulled yes well the the immediate effects of this were um dramatic when there was a huge viral protest on the internet that um I hadn't expected I was traveling with my wife Jill in India at the time this all blew

up and I was out of internet contact for several days we were in a remote holy town in Madhya Pradesh called Maheshwar I got onto the internet and suddenly I got all these emails from people saying we support you we're behind you don't

let them censor you I didn't know what they were talking about and by the time we got to go uh the situation became a little bit clearer um and I just got back to England I'd only been back for a day or two and I had this email from the

curator of Ted the guy who runs it Chris Anderson saying uh dear Rupert can we talk on the phone can I call you so I said sure So anyway he rang me up we had a long conversation um and he asked me to work with him on solving this problem

Well, I pointed out it was not me that had created the problem that Graham and I had been, uh, speaking in a TEDx event in London called "Challenging Existing Paradigms", and we'd actually done what it said on the [Laughter]

label. Uh, anyway, the whole situation kept running out of control. TED kept trying to close down these debate forums, and they had to open up new ones trying to shake off the debate. It ended up was the the debate about our talks have had more comments than any other talks

on TED, even though they were from a small TEDx event in London. When my talk was taken off the TED website, it had 35,000 views. It's now all over the internet. It must have had at least a million, and probably similar for Graham's.

Um, but it what really this is saying, showing, is is that this attempt by these, uh, dogmatic skeptics to suppress this had a tremendous effect on actually amplifying the message. Um, they're part of the process. I don't bear them any ill

will, um, because they actually are doing what they should be doing. If there's a parent paradigm change going on, there's bound to be conflict, and people won't be aware of the fact that there's a change unless they see that conflict in action. And they actually manifested, uh, this

whole process. Um, a year, in April this year, there was a group

Rupert Sheldrake on being banned by TED

Jungian Online

Initial reaction to the controversy and the subsequent events.

A year has passed since the controversy began, and much has happened.

Dr. Sheldrick is asked to summarize the events since his video was removed.

The immediate effects were dramatic, with a large online protest while he was traveling in India.

He received supportive emails while offline and learned about the situation upon regaining internet access.

Upon returning to England, he received a call from the TED curator, Chris Anderson, to discuss the issue.

The TED organization's response and the unexpected outcome.

Dr. Sheldrick clarifies that he and Graham were speaking at a TEDx event about challenging existing paradigms.

TED's attempts to close down debate forums backfired, leading to even more discussion.

The talks garnered millions of views online, far exceeding their initial view count on the TED website.

The unintended consequences of censorship and the role of conflict.

The attempt to suppress the message ironically amplified it.

Dr. Sheldrick doesn't resent the skeptics, as their actions highlighted the paradigm shift.

A year later, in April, a group [sentence incomplete].