How the Net destroyed democracy | Lawrence Lessig | TEDxBerlinSalon

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Lawrence Lessig is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School. Prior to rejoining the Harvard faculty, Lessig was a professor at Stanford Law School, where he founded the school’s Center for Internet and Society, and at the University of Chicago. He clerked for Judge Richard Posner on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice Antonin Scalia on the United States Supreme Court. Lessig serves on the Board of the AXA Research Fund, and on the advisory boards of Creative Commons and the Sunlight Foundation. He is a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Association, and has received numerous awards, including the Free Software Foundation’s Freedom Award, Fastcase 50 Award and being named one of Scientific American’s Top 50 Visionaries. Lessig holds a BA in economics and a BS in management from the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in philosophy from Cambridge, and a JD from Yale.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@artikid]

Interesting speech, but wrong title. This is not about "the net", this is about the manipulation of popular will by the media. It really doesn't matter if right-wing or left-wing media.

[@ThePzrLdr]

It is the road to a dictatorship and slavery. Plain and simple.

[@RobertDMoore]

"net" sounds familiar it is coming from the man-made bible to control so it is an entrapment of technology to dupe the American Public at large. Just saying

[@cmck1777]

...sigh. What do you mean 'the media'. You know, if you just work backwards on your own thoughts, you'll often find yourself agreeing more with smart people.

[@blanedoe4683]

We can criticize anyone if we all have different perceptions of facts, The important thing here is awareness. But stop! Look at this message board and how many smart and alert people there really are. Where does this info we share right here go? That's the point!!!!!!! We are only feeding the full while the starving remain hungry. A worm on a fish hook we are the weight..... Bush. The band or the President either way it's a fact and a perception

[@robbedontuesday]

He is being paid/supported/funded by private companies and paid universities. What did you expect…???

[@narrowisthegate4790]

The TEd talks model, great for sharing ideas. But I have also come to understand that this is also a platform for throwings things at the wall, and seeing what sticks.

[@willlinke2849]

I fear not the outcome of an election if I am allowed to pick the nominees

[@watkins_653]

“Let me issue and control a nation’s money and I care not who writes the laws.” Mayer A. Rothschild in 1790. Central bankers are the 1% of the .02%

[@murkydiver]

Tweedism after Boss tweed from Texas.

[@donnajbasham]

@@murkydiver Do you really think Boss Tweed was from Texas??

[@WirHyperboreer]

American in Berlin: "We just elected the worst president because of the internet. That would never have happened in the 20th century." Berliners: "Oh really?" *cries in 1933*

[@bboldt2]

Nathan is right. Admittedly Biden is the worst. Nearly as bad as Trump, which I didn't think possible!

[@edwright5475]

@@bboldt2 yell trump was bad. he had he united states the number one producer in oil and had the boarders under control and was building the wall to make it more secure and had the best employment before the virus hit and they had to shut everything down and his campaign was America first not last and was the most attacked president by the media in my lifetime because they knew they could not pay him off. But Biden has managed to stop all of that in a matter of months. His campaign should be make the united states last. He has so much money that he obtained by selling out are country and you compare him to trump. You sure can tell the media has brainwashed you if you believe anything they say concerning trump which is the only president that ran just to make America great and not for money, by the way he did not take anything for being president for the 4 years he was in office and took losses in his companies during this time.

[@michaelpowell7120]

COMMUNIST LEFT "DEMOCRATS"........................how boring.

[@philpaine3068]

@@michaelpowell7120 The biggest Communists are Trumpies. Not only was Trump put into power and completely subservient to Putin's KGB/Communist Revival regime in Moscow, but he endlessly repeated his admiration and love for the most brutal Communist dictator on Earth. Everything that comes out of the mouth of any Trumpie is EXACTLY THE SAME THING as what comes out of the mouth of any Stalin-worshipping Commie. The same bigotry and racism, the same worship of power, the same brutality and savagery, the same fanatical mysticism. Anyone who has had the misfortune to live in a Communist dictatorship can immediately recognize the GOP and Trump's fanatical barbarian followers are 100% Communist.... they just call themselves something else.

[@aceous99]

no?

[@danharrison4835]

Recommended for grad students studying “how to undermine your own talk and lose half your audience through political bias”.

[@aceous99]

I think the moral of this mans story is that the media helps the elites to keep the peasants divided so they can be more easily controlled until the end of time.

[@riisky2411]

Yep. Once he brought up most people hate trump I lost all interest. The net would have us believe that statement but that’s only because the right is censored. The left is not

[@patrickdaly3628]

If this is trolling it's brilliant

[@HMMELD]

@@riisky2411 there one thing you aren't censored on - crying, complaining, moaning, groaning. GOP - biggest cry-babies ever in the history of the world!

[@withaak]

Get smart!

[@cyndephillipshohbein8232]

UNBELIEVABLE. If those of his ilk are teaching our young people, no wonder they are all over this place. I'm exiting in less than 3 minutes.

[@kitspics526]

Once “ money” was legislated as free speech and corporations as people we were doomed.

[@alepsky]

Long story short: when polititans in 19C didn't know what "the people" want, they proposed their more or less honest view of what people should want - and it was fine. But when the technology made it possible to know what people want it all went south.

[@aceous99]

i dunno where your getting at. It seems to me the different major medias are all propaganda tools to keep the peasants divided and misinformed about the true crimes of the corrupt corpo gov we live in

[@justgivemethetruth]

Because it is not what people really want. Put it this way, as Robert Lustig defined it ... people think they want pleasure, but what they really want is happiness.

[@usertogo]

Should it not better say '... destroyed the illusion of democracy' ?

[@RalphDratman]

That illusion is an important part of the thing itself. It might more commonly be called "confidence" or "faith" in democracy.

[@robbedontuesday]

You cannot destroy what does not exist.

[@gemeinschaftsgeful]

Everything man made is imperfect. If it is imperfect we can improve it or go negative and call it an illusion.

[@usertogo]

@RED PILL PORTAL indeed we went from beginners to master class on fear and illusions

[@albertoaguilar2651]

Amen brother

[@justadad6677]

Knew it all. Learned so much. That was another great Ted Talk. This is what I dedicate the rest of my life on as well, from the oldest quote I remember from high school "All virtues can be summed up in being Just" - Aristotle

[@mygreekdiary]

Lovely quote to remember ! Almost 2400 years since that quote... I guess it is not enough time for all humans ( including me)

[@ArtyomMe]

When 99% of news you see on TV are telling you the same thing, that you suspect is a complete bs, then you start searching you information elsewhere. It's ironic and sad how this guy, complaning about the polarized society, doesn't realize how much he and people like him contribute into this polarization.

[@msmith53]

artiyom ....Do you enjoy ALex Jones? He is different!!!!

[@cajunroadwarrior]

Hit the nail right on the head on this one. People supposedly hated Donald Trump because 99% of everything themedia wrote about him was negative. People are told how to feel and what to think about and sadly they don't even notice it.

[@brojoseph7]

This is why shows like the Joe Rogan Experience will continue to dominate as a more trusted source of truth over the 99% of news you see on TV.

[@excidedous]

@@msmith53 I enjoy Alex Jones. I don't believe anything he says. I also enjoy Tex Avery Cartoons.

[@mariannerivera2720]

WE HATE THAT MORON IS BECAUSE OF WHAT COMES OUT OF HIS BIG MOUTH, NOT WHAT WE READ, HE IS A COMMUNIST AND HE IS PROUD OF IT! HE NEEDS TO BE ELIMINATED JUST LIKE THE TOAD PUTIN!!!

[@AndrewMartinIsHere]

Well, this is fun watching this in the summer of 2020. 😅

[@AzazelsWings]

And look at us just 7 months later, a blink of an eye really. All those sitting somewhere thinking " ehh there's time, I'll do it later..." tomorrow isn't gonna come....

[@neway20045]

Hi Larry - I've struggled to understand voter apathy (ultimately that's what we're talking about here - a form of voter apathy) for 20 years. It even happened to me in 2015 - so I built an online ballot where I could organize all the candidates on my ballot side by side and pick my favorites. I then built ballots for all 50 states and facilitated the 2016 online National Assoc of Student Council and National Student Parent Mock Election (5 million participants). Guess what happened? All the students were able to see and hear all the candidates in all the races on their ballot - compare them side by side and pick their favorites. All without TV ads, or radio ads, or CNN or even lawn signs. Win My Vote is the answer to your unanswered question at the end of your talk - and I'd be happy to share with you why and how...

[@MagellanRose]

'Informed' is the key. Censorship is not the way which the establishment is trying at the moment with its social platforms.

[@waldemarkirszniok298]

Rarely can we find a speech this insightful on such a universally problematic, yet tragically underrated topic. Thank you!

[@joelchambers3087]

i would like to see him speak on the present situation vs how he spoke on the last admin

[@waldemarkirszniok298]

@@joelchambers3087 I think that was exactly his point. That we should not speak to each other as members and from the point of view of groups that we identify with, political or otherwise. Only if we throw the 2 sided rhetoric out the window and start to view every topic as a separate matter and discuss it as equals, while listening to the arguments that others have, do we have a chance, however minute, to dig out of this mess.

[@iancasey1486]

Quite relevant to today in April 2020! A lot covered in a short time.

[@rogerclark9285]

Well, Mr. Harvard Law Professor, you represented your tribe to perfection.

[@leskobrandon691]

Ha...I just sat through 20 minutes of another Tedtalk only to realize in the last few minutes that I had wasted my time when he revealed his biases. So I decided to go straight to the comments first on this one. Thanks for spelling it out!!

[@leskobrandon691]

Also, I guess his choice to give this talk in all places, Germany, who has nothing to do with changing things over here was a dead giveaway. Groveling to some Europeans to shame half our country is a typical move for his ilk.

[@KipIngram]

"When we are informed and deliberated"... perhaps we should have to pass a quiz before we're allowed to vote. Probably a good idea - but who gets to design the quiz? Those people will hold great power, and that's contrary to the goals of democracy.

[@prestonhall5171]

Unless those who design the quiz are the people themselves.

[@KipIngram]

@@prestonhall5171 That's a good point. And it could work, if we were starting from a strong position of education and rationality. As it is today, though, would we really wind up designing a "good test," or would the process descend into an endless quibble over what a fair test WAS? I think you'd wind up with each special interest group pushing for a test that singled out people sympathetic to its own agenda. We've already had that argument over academic standardized tests, with minorities claiming the tests are unfair to them, etc. etc.

[@King8james9]

Or civics could be mandatory in schools. Or you can make it illegal for the powerful to buy candidates. Or you could allot tax money to a pool that candidates use to run their campaigns that's shared evenly. Less time looking for money more time solving our problems.

[@KipIngram]

@@King8james9 Yes, agree completely with your list.

[@ranbymonkeys2384]

If we can agree the sky is blue and I ask what color is it, is that designing a quiz, or should people know how many supreme court justices there are?

[@chuckrice8496]

Do not confuse Democracy or Mob Rule with Republicanism or a Republic that protects minority rights. Grace and Peace, Chuck

[@catharsis21]

Harvard Law... 'nuff said.

[@10HW]

In addition of information being fragmented it also is circulating super fast. Faster and faster everyday! And we have to "run after" this information like mad men. We're not waiting after messengers on horses but after instantaneous texts which prompt us to act feverishly and without clear judgment. The faster information will travel the crazier humans will become.

[@johntheos]

I don't have to "run after" information. Look, I'm replying to your post today, seven months after you made it. Relax, take your time and learn.

[@agdam00]

Read weekly news, not daily. ))

[@ye333]

Some good observation and understanding there!

[@Isaacaguilar30]

some people vote with their hearts (emotions), so even if they want the same thing, it does not mean its best for the rest of us.

[@hollydowns2279]

Everybody votes what they want ,be it tax breaks , a cleaner world , jobs women or minority rights . We all vote with our heart

[@redgrey1453]

Everyone votes with their emotions. Without emotion, you cannot decide who to vote for.

[@matthewmelyn9688]

Secret... we vote for who THEY nominated. Your vote matters almost nothing. They pick the voting districts, the choices that we get are all owned by the people / corporate funders. We have zero say.

[@garystenstrom5072]

@@matthewmelyn9688 LOL ... I saw Lessig's presentation on that too!

[@justinyarbrough4821]

I'm agreeing with everything that Lessig is saying, except for his thesis . . The exposition he gives tells another story: Democracy has never functioned according to the ideal. He begins by reviewing a history of democracy in which the common people could not be consulted. Then during the era of broadcast media, the news makes sense in a way that dominates the public mind without allowing space for dialog. Those are not examples of what we can hope for a democracy to come. Perhaps we have never really had a functioning democracy before. Perhaps that would be a better thesis: There never was a democracy, but now maybe we have a chance, if we can learn to use this thing called the Net to our advantage, however it needs work, and here's why: . . .

[@philsarazen6619]

In my 20's we had a common story which was a lie: the Vietnam war. The number of people who spoke against and stood up against this war in Canada's capital Ottawa was five people at most. This common story, common will, common lie crushed all but the most determined.

[@Markus451]

Canadians weren't drafted and had no way of voting for US pro- or anti-war politicians, so most Canadians felt they couldn't do anything about it anyways, so why protest? Sorry we disappointed you.

[@brucehutchinson9527]

As a student I witnessed the the burning of the Bank of America in Isla Vista.. I have the most wonderful employees who are refugees and children of refugees from the Vietnam War. Canadian took the coward's from the USA. Candidate who now has a tyrant for a prime minister. You idolize Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden. Hannah Jane. " burn baby burn" ¿

[@keithcassidy6461]

@@Markus451 eight years after the war, Iranian extremists over threw the government in Tehran. They also over ran the US Embassy taking everyone hostage.Well, not quite everyone. The Canadians actually secured a number of Americans and smuggled them back to the Canadian Embassy where they hid them until they were able to ship them back to the States. It took extreme courage to do that.

[@SoaringEagle1]

Lawrence here said the word Democracy 22 times throughout this video........He never once mentioned the word Republic......and his "Title" is Professor of Law & Leadership at Harvard Law School........Chew on that for a while.

[@cjhepburn7406]

What are u saying? Can't you have democracy in both a Monarchy or a Repubic?

[@SoaringEagle1]

@Iron Sensei My whole point was (and still is) that The United States of America is not a Democracy, (nor a Monarchy for that matter).....despite how many times the Media, The Misinformed, Political Pundits, some Elected Officials, and this "Professor of Law & Leadership" in this video spew it out to the masses on a daily basis.... It would behoove you to read The Declaration of Independence and The US Constitution thoroughly and entirely to learn something yourself.....you will find that those 2 words never appear within......The USA is a Constitutional Republic, ruled by Law......"A Democracy is 2 wolves and a small Lamb debating over what's for dinner.....a Constitutional Republic is a well armed small Lamb contesting the vote" - Benjamin Franklin

[@dieSpinnt]

@@SoaringEagle1 The problem is there is no instance in Franklin's writings about this "quotation", nor does the statement appear in the National Archives‘ online database. Let me formulate it this way: Besides punctuation symbols (......... you like them, or?) we have letters. They form words who have a meaning. A Chrysler is a car. It is a car! A system where people vote their representatives is a representative democracy. Your constitutional republic is a representative democracy, how shocking. But i know, you love quotes from the people back in the old days, where Native Americans had the best living: From Alexander Hamilton to Gouverneur Morris, 19 May 1777 "But a representative democracy, where the right of election is well secured and regulated and the exercise of the legislative, executive and judiciary authorities, is vested in select persons, chosen really and not nominally by the people, will in my opinion be most likely to be happy, regular and durable." BTW, whom did you cite above with *"Professor of Law & Leadership"* ? An uneducated a would-be know-it-all?

[@dieSpinnt]

@Elijah Javner I give up before another scribe and librarian that is completely disconnected from reality quotes me into slavery with this kind of nonsense:P

[@junkmail4613]

The comments of this topic deserve to be profound and eloquent, and worthy of patient deliberative thought, however I'm 70 and no longer have the time or ability to deliver such a comment. If I had such ability, I would suggest, and go down to my local governing body, and try to instill such understanding of this TED Speech, and try to MAKE it part of the local governing body, with our public to be involved. Like try to plant in those audiences, the ability to be Mongolian Citizens in our own country. If you've got to start somewhere, start at the bottom and work your way upward! "Somebody Bless America"

[@big-t2060]

In 2005, the French people voted against the European constitution that would have given unlimited power to unelected people in Brussels. In 2007, the French parliament did ratify the text with very minimal change. To many people, it has been felt as a treachery. This didn't only happen in France; a very similar behaviour has been seen in Ireland and in the Netherland. The pattern has since then been repeated many times - like more recently in the UK. I did not know that "the net" was a synonym for "the government". PS : It certainly only is a matter of time before governments captured by private interest take away _every_ single one of our freedoms and _every_ single one of our rights as humans. But it is not "the net" that destroyed democracy - it is the treachery of politicians that stir and use the envy in the people that vote for them in exchange for stealing from their neighbours...

[@aceous99]

when the common people learn to share more we all benefit in the long run. Elites want the common to pay more for everything and keeeping the common people from sharing is their goal..

[@dbergerac9632]

He clearly only knows what his "tribe" allows. He explained it and then demonstrated it.

[@ursirius4878]

Wow! The comment section is very polorized. Amazing how ppl correct him on whether we have a republic or a democracy, we've always had both, democracy is an important part of a republic. We need to learn how our country was engineered to work first. Since the beginning we have voted for people to represent our will through all levels of our govt. Hence the democracy part of our republic. What we didn't start with was the us against them mentality of Democrats and Republicans. For as John Adams said his biggest fear is that we would divide ourselves into two parties and rip our beloved republic apart. I think Mr Adams was a bit of a prophet.

[@jamesanton3000]

dazed_confused moto_rider one thing that they got wrong was the office of the president maybe making the person too dignified or something that trump completely is the opposite of I can’t remember exactly what it was.

[@jorel2140]

@June Kreps you are on to something but we must be carefull. the majority usually tends to view things nearsided. when you are elected you must make hard decisions. you must not let the people have an ehical dillema. that is what makes a great leader. taking the hard calls even if it means not be in power again.

[@KITLEVEY]

Ursirius - "We need to learn how our country was engineered to work first." I agree, but don't think trump bothered to do that and 1) most of his base remains loyal 2) the lies and the chaos has become intolerable to all but his party 3) the lack of a foreign policy, or even some sort of plan, along with alienation of our allies, seems to be no problem. Education and understanding is apparently unnecessary these days. I am officially lost and rudderless.

[@hermanvanniekerk1270]

Kit Levey if you are lost it is your own inability to comprehend anything beyond your ideology. The media had a lot to do with the reason that so many people see our president as anything but a master at what he is achieving. Remember he needed a magic wand and he happened to have one.

[@Cryin_Lion]

@@jorel2140 what do you mean by nearsided?

[@christianwanabe4804]

Social media does edit, more than you know.

[@ohmusicsweetmusic]

he would be easier to listen to if he brought it down a notch and learned how to more effectively dole out his emphasis and passion. Every phrase is this over the top dramatic, elocution. Also, i'm looking for solutions. We tend to regurgitate the problem to one another year after year.

[@iendedyoui]

@8alot4t That's a baseless assumption.

[@88_TROUBLE_88]

@@iendedyoui yeah, I agree.. Unless this dude knows the OP there's no way of drawing such specific conclusions about the OP's character and beliefs.. Of course, I didn't take into consideration the fact that he's not just some guy commenting on a KZbin video - He's an expert in the science of extrapolating to discern a person's beliefs

[@michelvds1128]

I totally agree, only direct democracy can be called democracy! Like in Switzerland! Perfect democracy !!

[@davidu8688]

Really Switzerland is a "perfect democracy where they take about 50% of your earnings? I dont think so! And if you are taking what a guy who cant even figure out what Trump meant when he said "I won the election by social media" and that meant well if it wasn't for social media constantly smearing him (like they still do) he wouldn't have been able to get that much publicity which is what makes people want to go out and vote for their candidate while h is what makes the candidate win then he sounds like he may not be that bright kinda like most liberals ya know lol!

[@michelvds1128]

@@davidu8688 they have the highest earnings, so that does not matter. They have the best possible life in Europe too.

[@davidu8688]

@@michelvds1128 yeah idk about that, it's difficult to tell with all the socialist propaganda today and would really have to delve into and research comparing apples to apples instead of oranges to apples like many of these poles and what not do. I know that a competitive market always wins out on one that does not have to compete though for sure.

[@aceous99]

politiiiiiiks

[@HVBRSoF]

@@davidu8688 you don't know about that, but you can learn about it if you wanted to. if you're already close-minded about opposing ideas, you have no hope of finding out which one is right, because at the very start you are already biased.

[@Jager2020]

A lot of thought provoking content. Some ideas I agree with, and some I think are not correct due to other factors that are not discussed, but greatly influence the analysis. One thing I would say, is that the Donald Trump bashing doesn't add to the discussion, but is polarizing for some, who will stop listening and thinking about the other valid content -- exactly what he rails about when talking about "the media" polarizing issues.

[@MrGarysugarman]

Agree with both of your points. Obama was hailed when he went on frivolous talk shows and did skits on the likes of "Between Two Ferns". He was credited with reaching a broader public in novel ways. This professor put way too much stock in the "knowledge" today's polls provide. Why? They gave him what he "wanted". There was plenty of undisputed, common knowledge about Swillary's career. Didn't keep at least half the country - including the "highly educated" - from going to bat at the most important plate with probably the worst candidate, based on career record, in this country's history. He did have me with much of his presentation, but his partisan inserts and weak ending rendered the overall effect rather vague. Other speakers have discussed this same basic issue in much more effective fashion, including interesting ideas to attempt to solve it. I have no problem with people disliking Trump; but the constant infantile finger pointing by folk who went to war, and lost it, with such a blundering plan of attack only makes them seem like childishly delusional sore losers, not respected academics. Look in the mirror and take responsibility for your own "will". Intelligent losers admit and learn from their mistakes. Sore losers repeat them. Stay smug, prof. You are maintaining fragmentation.

[@jackiebain9405]

Exactly! He is obviously explaining that ignorance is why we have Trump, that's not anything that belongs on TED stages, it's ignorance that broadcasts these ideas daily on almost every channel of the media.

[@pathauser9532]

Well said.

[@gregorykelly8000]

Free us please freedom is the only philosophy that includes all and excludes none?

[@Serai3]

Stating the truth is not bashing. Please stop with the buzzwords.

[@johnparadise3134]

24:50 •The voice of the common people. •The voice of a random sample of the common people.

[@whatthef911]

Operation Mockingbird - The most extensive discussion of CIA relations with news media from these investigations is in the Church Committee's final report, published in April 1976. The report covered CIA ties with both foreign and domestic news media.

[@wakeuptotheonepartyoverlor8797]

Exactly. People are clueless if they don’t understand the control and propaganda manipulating every nuance of “public opinion”

[@jamesharris8128]

Oh my, the First Amendment is so important, even to this fellow.

[@clavo3352]

A recent survey that asked kids what they wanted to be was very illuminating when it reported that kids highest desire is to be popular. This comes at a time when more kids are the products of single parents.

[@MrPhiltri]

The systematic analysis is correct. We need to come together without the veil of the net more often)

[@DrRestezi]

Let this be a lesson that with any new sweeping technologies there are always unintended consequences. The next BIG TECHnologies coming on stream--data mining and AI will make the downsides of the internet look downright rosy by comparison.

[@freedom4mealways]

Representative Democracy- Intact, Accessible, and Available Documentation Of The Vote- Part One In Representative Democracy that preserves a Constitutional Republic, verifiable and traceable elections are a must. Of course, public balloting is necessary as choosing public officeholders is a public responsibility that can only be entrusted to those who care to publicly disclose their choice of candidates. Paper ballots are totally essential and this is the only form of ballot that can be both verifiable,immutable, and traceable. These records, in this form, have to be accessible by any who chooses to see how the electorate voted, either collectively or individually. Voting is too important for mistakes or fraud to occur in the tabulation of ballots. Any system that does not provide 100% error free counting of the votes must be forsaken. 100% accurate vote counting can only happen if the ballots are publicly cast via immutable paper ballots.

[@mdmader]

I know this is a year old, but this comment reminds me of the dimple and dangling chads from the paper voting in Florida. Brought about decisions at the Supreme Court that decided. I believe that this could have made paper ballots, mutable. Just a thought.

[@freedom4mealways]

@@mdmader This comment expressed that public balloting was a must. This means secret balloting must be ended!

[@Chris-ug7bi]

You should have avoided being partisan in your talk- otherwise some interesting points!

[@msmith53]

Chris Turner .....FACTS are not partisan! Only facts contrary to your already biased viewpoint!

[@JacobAnawalt]

I agree. It would have helped to remain neutral. Makes it tougher to share. For example, even if Gore did great things if you can’t see the hypocrisy of him being the face of green, maybe your a little too partisan to one side.

[@thomasdavico3107]

Facts mean nothing without context, and everyone has their own story.

[@josephcoon5809]

Not interesting or beneficial.

[@Chris-ug7bi]

I stand by my original comment. Interesting partisan presentation.

[@jonrose7687]

Functional democracy in our complex local, national and international world needs to move beyond popularity competitions, adversarial, polarized decision making to a system of Deliberative Democracy incorporating citizens advice juries connected to parliament along with facilitated deliberative processes by elected officials to support more effective decision making. The core of our constitution needs to be reformulated into a set of values we agree upon (developed in a facilitated deliberative method using citizens advice juries) along with structures to provide high quality, evidence-based information as well as promising innovative practices... Implementation models such as "Public Value" (making explicit the public value, engagement of stakeholders and resource requirements) reflects an improvement in governance extending democratic values...

[@MoDizzle92377]

we are not fragmented we are divided.

[@jamesanton3000]

MoDizzle we are lost and don’t have a clue that we are.

[@bert8807]

The title should be "How the Net has made Us Aware of the Manipulating Main Stream Media."

[@weaselworm8681]

Bert Torres Right wing dictatorships are on the rise. There are fewer democracies in the world now than in 1970. Smearing the main stream media is one of their best weapons. Your comment shows that it can work here too. Which makes me sad.

[@sherry10-4]

We obviously got banished from some way more advanced society that probably has been teaching us a lesson for sometime now. This AI is coming just in fricken' time!! That's with all the robots doing the work we have NO excuses to just put everyone of us is trained on each new person being taught needs to not only

[@Antraeus]

@@weaselworm8681 Surely there are more democracies now that communism has collapsed. Capitalism is inherently corrupt. So democracy can only ever be waiting in the wings for a time when we evolve beyond savagery, war and unfair competition.

[@josephyoung6749]

@@Antraeus no

[@Antraeus]

@@josephyoung6749 Yes. But you have to take into consideration the fact spiritual forces have arrived to take us out of the karmic school that Earth has been for a long time. And for that you need to have done the research and be a lot more aware than somebody who can only say 'no' like a zombie.

[@jimmygravitt1048]

"Deliberated (adj.): [of a subject (usually of contention)] discussed and debated by a well informed electorate" count it.

[@jamesmurray6481]

I've watched probably 50 Ted Talks so far, and you are the first host I've seen that was absolutely, in-your-face partisan. You are perpetuating the very problem you identify in the media. One would think your experience of participating in the 2 day poll, where you were impressed with the ability of the local non-scholarly people to positively participate would have instilled a little humility, but no. A little self reflection goes a long way.

[@johnalexir7634]

That's the thing with TED, some of it is good, some of it is woke bullsh1t.

[@williamwhitten7820]

@@johnalexir7634 And this guy is definitely woke bullsh!t = A bidenista fliptard.

[@Markus451]

Don't worry, Drumpf MIGHT not to prison, so you'll be able to vote for him again.

[@kevinholmes4448]

​@@Markus451Get some help.

[@stevefitt9538]

The sound level is too low. I use amplifies little speakers, all levels set at 100% and still can barely hear him. Good thing I can read the subtitles.

[@okrajoe]

Sousa was right! ( 6:05 )

[@danielr82]

He didn't mention that Sousa wrote music, and would be paid per score sold, not per recording sold.

[@msmith53]

danielr82 ....not everything is about money. Sousa was speaking about human behavior as culture!

[@danielr82]

@@msmith53 true, but it is undeniable that he had a financial interest in banning these "talking machines" previously he'd have been selling copies of his scores to bands. now one band could buy his score, record his work and he would get nothing for it. (this was before the advent of recording rights collections.) - the "talking machines" took money out of Sousas pockets.

[@Cowabungacards]

This is the first "Ted" where I've learned nothing. I listened, I really did. Brought up problems but no solutions. Then in between, alot of preamble.

[@hawk6111]

Mack Attack your comment is the democratic party in a nutshell.

[@megamillionfreak]

Tessa Rossa So much leftist anger I sense. ❄️🐸👌🏻😂

[@Brett_S_420]

@@hawk6111 and your's is as Republican as it is based on propaganda.

[@pensarfeo]

@Tessa Rossa this is simply not true :)

[@RalphDratman]

​@@hawk6111 Why do you assume Mack Attack is a Democrat?

[@leonidasspyropoulos849]

Awesome video, thank you.

[@whatthef911]

The 19th century had small town politics and there literally was a public square. Social media is also about small group politics. Social media also discusses corporate media coverage of government similar to 19th century getting big city newspapers in small towns.

[@RyanHoguePassiveIncome]

*"You won because you got more votes than your opp.... nevermind, forget that point"*

[@Riptack7591]

I guess he was trying to be funny.

[@BGmary]

AND MOST OF THOSE VOTES WERE DEAD PEOPLE..

[@tiffany4217]

Exactly! I was thinking the same thing. Thank God we have an electoral college and not mob rule. Maybe this dude should take a look at the electoral map. Trump clearly has red all over except the large liberal cities that these radical leftest are running into the ground.

[@MEshaoWords]

Man his political BS completely ruined the entire talk.

[@dariocarere8711]

Trumps won thanks to Cambridge Analytica. The decisions of voters are controlled, it does not matter if there is a mob rule or not. People with a huge wealth can influence morons better than left parties, simply because they have more power. Britain left Brexit for the same reason. CA used the social networks to take advantage of morons - and it looks like America has many. The smear campaign against H. Clinton was planned by the same people. Also: Trump contributed to destroy the planet. Maybe you didn't notice.

[@ChipmunkRapidsMadMan1869]

Much anger I sense.

[@megamillionfreak]

Tessa Rossa ^Example of “tolerant Left” whose greatest alleged “concern” is standing up for the “little guy” and “working men and women” of America. Unless they’re “store clerks” in which case they’ll be derided, mocked, belittled, called deplorable names by angry, snotty libonauts with heads firmly in the clouds.

[@Mercure250]

@@megamillionfreak Do you even care about tolerance though?

[@megamillionfreak]

Mercure250 Do you, libonauts?

[@tomcat8662]

The thing is, people have greater access to information than they ever have in history. In the past, they were entirely dependent on their local newspaper or the oligarchy of news networks that the FCC allowed bandwidth to. Whether or not people choose to take the extra effort to vet their sources is entirely up to them. The point is, now they have access. In the past, they lived in information darkness. This guy seems to have an ax to grind in regards to the Trump presidency, which is clearly directing his lecture rather than the other way around where he might lead with facts. But if we are simply throwing out political opinions, then I have to say I can't stand Trump either. However pointing to opinion polls doesn't help prove your point. After all, Obama had similar disapproval ratings. And I was just as shocked that Trump won as I was that Obama won---twice. It seemed to me at that time that democracy might have failed because people were uninformed about the dangers of socialism. But here we are today and nothing that bad happened. Luckily we had a Republican congress to stop him from his worst impulses. I'm sure the end result of the Trump presidency will be similar. The dire predictions that the end is near and global warming will kill all warm blooded mammals on the planet will never come to fruition,. We will simply move on to the next media-driven manufactured crisis and keep drudging along.

[@mike53153]

Well 3 years more and Obama's VP is now the President and is way worse than Trump. He is under 50% approval with his own supporters. Biden had said at the start of his Presidency that it was the end of the Republicans but he may have ended the Democratic party with his incompetency.

[@WhenDevilsDuel]

Bro drinking the Kool aid big time over here. Sure buddy. Nothing's changed. Right. Smh

[@marcuscrowley6496]

Thanks, Lawrence.

[@justinyarbrough4821]

The internet is our only hope to save democracy.

[@ThekiBoran]

When I read the constitution I don't see any mention of democracy. The reason is because the founder knew that democracies eventually eat themselves.

[@robbedontuesday]

DIRECT DEMOCRACY OR BUST.

[@ThekiBoran]

@@robbedontuesday Please God!!! No more democracy!!! We can't survive any more than we have now.

[@thetubeshows]

@@ThekiBoran The Constitution established a Federal democratic republic. It is the system of the Federal Government; it is democratic because the people govern themselves; and it is a republic because the Government's power is derived from its people.

[@deadfox03]

We should be cheering this! The common knowledge is no longer controlled by three companies.

[@ThatsMrPencilneck2U]

I am far more at ease with the election of Donald Trump after this lecture. Lessig is describing the Manufacture of Consent as if it were a good thing. For those of you not familiar, it began with the control of popular publications to bend public opinion toward entry into the first World War and the original Red Scare in the wake of the Communist Revolution.

[@kimwarburton8490]

So as the public become exposed to more sources of info, they polarise n hate each other more... n thus lack empathy. How is that a positive? Youve seen the popularity of crackpot theories rise And yet, on an individual level, i for one am glad i seem more informed than the msm'ers even if it does frustrate xD

[@Brett_S_420]

Feeling a creeping red scare now? This is a test. This will be on all of our permanent records. This time it's really taken hold.

[@kimwarburton8490]

@@Brett_S_420 im more worried about bojo turning into a soft dictator atm thanks to pg48

[@MasseuseMassageChairs]

What a great talk! Thank you!

[@migueljose5673]

The professor was apparently very satisfied with the artificial and forced hegemony of 3 TV networks represented by Peter, Danny, and Tom who decided what we should know and what was not worthy of knowing along with 40 years of continuous one-party rule of the House of Representatives from 1954 to 1994. Those years saw rise of the New Left along with many years of cultural decline.

[@jmcee6122]

well said.

[@vgahren]

Seems like he’s more disappointed with the results of the 2016 election and created a presentation around it.

[@christianeriksson4733]

Agreed. Like Trump won with the help of main stream media rather than dispite main stream media.

[@richarddouglas8015]

Sousa was one of the greatest brass. And military band arranger composer .He hated recordings ,

[@folkeholmberg3519]

So refreshing, Please also listen to Cris Hedges ❗

[@waywardgeologist2520]

The public wants to be left alone to live their lives.

[@adeadgirl13]

I don't see any way for the internet to become less polarizing. No matter which "tribe" you're in, you can find information biased to your views.

[@SexycuteStudios]

Well, the removal of algorithms and datamining is a good first step towards eliminating polarization.

[@Biskawow]

truth is not a part of a tribe, its universal. one side likes to "find information" that is obviously fake, and just runs with it. Guess which side is that. The chinese hoax side, yup.

[@mswen1983]

It's also given us a wider variety of news sources. And younger ppl are more likely to get their info from multiple sources and less likely to believe any one source unbiased.

[@junkmail4613]

aditya thakur 6 months ago,"I don't see any way for the internet to become less polarizing. ... " William Rumley 2 months ago,"Well, the removal of algorithms and datamining is a good first step towards eliminating polarization." ---------- HOW ABOUT REVERSING THOSE ALGORITHMS ----------- Maybe, 'The Algorithms' instead of being SELF SERVING, and feeding us the "opinions we've already shown to be our personal tribe information, SHOULD BECOME PUBLIC SERVING,and send us an overwhelming diet of NON SELF OPINIONS, so we are FORCED TO HAVE CONTACT WITH OPPOSING OPINIONS, and opposing facts and opposing reasoning.

[@jamesanton3000]

Junk Mail I like how you think about that seeing much more different things than just what you already think can only be good.

[@keithsmith4780]

6:40 Vocal cords, not "chords."

[@johnparadise3134]

16:33 “But though it’s great for culture, it’s terrible for democracy! Because what this fragmentation means is that there’s no common story, no common fact-radical polarization in what we know, and radical polarization in what we should do! And there is no better proof of it then “this man…”

[@johnaweiss]

This talk felt a bit fragmented.

[@AllyWhiteArtist]

This speech should be called "What broke society?" I feel like the title is a bit misleading, and distracts from the power of the information presented.

[@loganpe427]

What "power of the information" would that be? He's a whiney liberal.

[@christianeriksson4733]

Yeah, or "How idealistic controlled media broke society"

[@justinyarbrough4821]

Absolutely, social media is hyper-fragmented. But social media is not the epitome of network technology. Now is the time to look beyond these capabilities to really consider what is pertinent to a network media that does generate common stories. We need a new kind of deliberative media that is engaging and pedagogically challenging, that is intertextual, that generates contexts. In order to achieve this, we first must archive all of our sources in a common space. I recommend a distributed system that is owned and operated by the people: IPFS. What is lacking is a way of revealing the meaningful interconnections between sources--we need a people-powered semantic web as a foundation for collaborative sensemaking.

[@michaelmcphillips4079]

What the people wanted since the industrial revolution was what the factories thought they needed and produced it for them. The priests knew as much as the people did and that process continued till the advent of newspapers, radio, and TV and advertising.

[@emiltrees]

I feel like spitting at the TV.

[@CumminsCat]

"This mf spittin." Lol

[@jannepellonpaa]

I have a friend who's almost 10 years my senior and he finds it baffling that I don't own or watch network TV and have zero interest in it. In my view it's just another obsolete, outdated technology like fax machine or pager or even radio.

[@Alexander_Kale]

@@jannepellonpaa I can see why your friend would be rather baffled by that. This man just told you that you need to approach information presented to you with a mind primed for criticism and rational thinking. The venue by which that information is presented is irrelevant.

[@jannepellonpaa]

@@Alexander_Kale And I 100% agree with that. What's your point?

[@Alexander_Kale]

@@jannepellonpaa The rather jarring disconnect between THAT and your opinion about where you get said information. The venue is irrelevant, TV is not "outdated", and independant internet media are not by definition "progress".

[@fightfannerd2078]

16:31 lol we must control like we do with the media

[@rokljhui864]

We are here to help and guide you towards a proper democracy.

[@ozzyfromspace]

Unpopular opinion: democracy is inadequate for our modern needs

[@cjhepburn7406]

Polls were correct til 1936? Wow.

[@entityrocknrolla]

Take away the Donald Trump bashing and this piece of talk has the potential for a really good piece of democracy on democracy. Sad that the speaker succumbed to include some bias of his own into the talk.

[@XenBossgaming]

You showed literally everything what lies today in every countries dramatic democracy

[@rapauli]

This is one of the more important presentations - it will inform us to face the present and the future. Thanks so much

[@ufewl]

The US entry for The Bullshitter of the Year Competition.

[@michaels1416]

Wow. Mr. Lessig agrees with Donald Trump that the News Media is divisive and polarizing!!!! Therefore, the Net is not destroying democracy, the Main Stream Media is!! Thank you Mr. Lessig for your insight.....

[@SexycuteStudios]

The net has become the main stream, or haven't you noticed?

[@TheNipSnipper]

you can hardly argue 54% is 'most' on solid ground.

[@calysagora3615]

Particularly since that "54%" is the slice of the 53% of Americans that actually voted. In reality anarchy won with a 43% landslide, while Drump and Killary both got less than 25% approval of the actual population. Statetheism is dead. It just don't know it yet.

[@jamesanton3000]

Nice

[@loganpe427]

It was enough, that 54%. Thank God.

[@bxbank]

Money corrupts.

[@TommyD903]

His analysis is mostly improperly framed. He thinks polarization is due to how the media works. On one level, that is indeed an influence. But the more profound clash is between the deep-seated American ideal of individualism vs. the emerging global power structure.

[@dpasek1]

Individualism is not a good ideal? When you fractionate the leftist post-modern "ideal" of "group identity" to its logical conclusion, you ultimately wind up at individualism, which is exactly where leftism does not want to go.

[@TommyD903]

I'll speak for myself, Adam. I consider myself conservative because of my belief in individual liberties and responsibilities. Leftism, by definition, places the common good over individual liberty.

[@TommyD903]

I'm sorry, Adam, my meaning was unclear. I meant to use myself as an example. You characterized the right as fearing individualism and free thought. I, and the conservatives I know, are examples of just the opposite. Individual liberty is the spirit at the heart of the American founding, and those are the principles that I believe lead to the best outcomes for society. We want less Big Brother, less regulation, less bureaucracy, less mortgaging the future for goodies now. The common good was clearly defined in the founding. Expansions of that definition are the building blocks of crony capitalism - inefficiency, injustice, and corruption.

[@SexycuteStudios]

The very fact that people are "arguing" on a forum like this, illustrates the need to fix the problems we have in media and how it is created and distributed. Each person here is so fragmented from the rest and has his or her own "ideal" situation, and that is precisely what we *do not* need.

[@tiarezavaleta8850]

+Tom Dardick parties in my country are slightly different than American parties and not so polarized but you could say that I am more inclined toward the left. I think that you really nailed the definition of conservative. It is just my perception or conservatives in America nowadays are not following those values?

[@nickcage633]

i had to turn it off when he said most people hate trump...75 million love trump

[@karensholar9021]

me too. that's a lie from "the media"....

[@marcusonesimus3400]

nickage633 It would be rash to assume that people only vote out of 'love' and admiration for a candidate. Although I am not from the USA, I have spoken with quite a few American Christian brethren who vote Republican for one reason primarily-----------the Democratic position on abortion is abhorrent. By the same token, I do not vote for ANYONE where I live. Essentially all parties and the secular media support abortion and euthanasia. Lots of 'evangelicals' are disgusted with Trump, not only for his foul talk, but because he callously disregards the suffering of others. He spoke warmly of foreign dictators who persecute the Church, including the monstrous Kim Jong-un, with whom he 'fell in love'.

[@nickcage633]

@@sethbaker5261 it's not to late to save america- vote trump

[@alexharrel]

MOST don’t

[@alexharrel]

@@marcusonesimus3400 ironic that they have a huge problem with abortion yet love love love hunting and imposing the death sentence, bombing innocent civilians and unfettered police murders.

[@KipIngram]

What it all boils down to, Mr. Lessig, is that people must THINK in order for democracy to function well. That is the core problem - we don't think. We just react emotionally to the stimuli delivered to us by the media. We also have to set aside the notion that the goal is for "us to win" (I'm talking here about any particular subset of us). This country is supposed to work as well as possible for EVERYONE. Given how diverse we are, that likely means that NO ONE is going to get everything their way. THAT IS OK. The end goal is a compromise that we can all live with. This "sports arena" mentality that has gotten associated with politics, where the goal is to "crush the opposition," is just as wrong as it could possibly be. Every single one of us brings something worthwhile to the table. Everyone should have a voice - no one should be ignored. Unless we can learn that simple lesson and take it to heart, our nation is effectively doomed.

[@jodracona2722]

I know this is not at all the point even a little but, I and people I’ve met of my tribe agree that GMOs (genetically modified organics for those who are unfamiliar) are safe to consume. The concern is, however, that all of the products we mass produce and consume are modified in the same way, and often do not change. These means that if a disease were to find an opening within one of those products, that could have the potential to kill off all of that product in a given area, destroying economies and potentially leaving people starving and/or without an essential ingredient or material. If a disease evolved and killed all of the corn growing in 1 state in the US because there was no variation in the genetic makeup of those corn plants, and therefore no corn plants with an immunity or defence from the disease, that would cause huge problems for the farmers, the consumers, and the people of that state in general as they rely on it’s economy and its stability. GMOs are essential to feeding the world’s population, and by god they should not go away, however the production and monitoring of them should be handled by ecologists, botanists, and evolutionary scientists, not companies trying to make a quick buck selling seeds and plants that don’t come back the next season.

[@EqualSharedParenting]

The constitutional assembly of citizens in Mongolia can be done much easier via teleconferencing in the USA, or in person. This Harvard lawyer concludes that the Mongolia citizen assembly cannot be done in the USA - so let the elitist self-serving lawyers continue to do it. Really? First, we need a government where the citizens can actually talk with their elected official or get a real email answer to questions, and not only when they are campaigning for re-election.

[@Oram77]

I think meeting in person is better, and there is no reason that cannot be done in America, and in fact there have been deliberative polls in America.

[@bangdon12]

Agreed

[@jamesanton3000]

Polls can say anything about anything

[@KipIngram]

You scale it with a REPUBLIC, which is what we are. You deploy as much power as possible to the states, and let them run the process you just described. Also, each state selects, from its own randomly selected 800 or so people, a handful of people to go participate in the national level process. But you see, if most of the power is at the state level, then less damage can be done by a national level process that revolves around a smaller percentage of people. This was a BEDROCK of the way America was designed, and we've systematically let it slip away as we've sent more and more power to Washington. This is something we need to reverse.

[@femazone6865]

Right , so greed ,power, and domestic enemies has nothing to do with it!!

[@ukumar2604]

My feelings exactly!!

[@utGort]

The Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School should know that we do not now nor have ever had a democracy in America.

[@manuelriveros2911]

He's either incredibly naive, brainwashed or a sycophant.

[@ProjectBoredomKiller]

Wow... An "Everyone knows" kinda guy. I've never seen one before.

[@jamesanton3000]

Project: Boredom Killer everyone doesn’t know but they should by now.

[@central8448]

Great speech. The average American agrees on 90% of issues. But talking about what we disagree on and finding information on the internet that confirms it feels too good. Feeling good and right is like a drug.

[@timmychang1791]

Better than lying or corruption.

[@h.skiprobinson7668]

He is not understanding how the Nation-state has "always" been controlled by one form of an oligarchy or another. Democracy has never really existed to any degree and went it has, it was still monopolized by the ruling oligarchy. It has never provided for what is in the best interest of the majority, obviously catering to wealthy special interests. And they generally don't last very long without being oppressive to the majority. I like to say that an institution (the nation-state) which is predicated on the use of force to fund its operations (taxation, regulatory fee, and fines) is obviously going to make them a prominent activity for its success. With over 110 different taxes, fees and finds Americans pay either directly or indirectly, it pretty obvious this is true. The middle class, just as in about every nation-state before us, is being crushed by the plethora of these taxes if you examine disposable incomes. Examining the Roman Republic, as a new society, it operated on a very low overall tax rate of less than 5% in the beginning and flourished, but as the time when on, the leadership eventually placed higher taxes on the majority eventually bankrupting the entire republic. No society, other than the Celtics which lasted from about 650 AD to 1650 AD and had no nation-state, has been able to curtail the size and scope of government despite having been Constitutionally attempted. The U.S. being a great example; the Federal Government alone today costs $4 trillion annually. So the question I ask you is why have the international central bankers worked so hard at sustaining the powers, the nation states have over their people?

[@mihirm3632]

so tired of this anti "big government" thinking it will just kill off the working class and destroy the civilisation. Look, government spending is not the issue, the issue is oligarchs and despots dominating the decision making mechanism and killing liberty. Not GOVERNMENT. elite oligarchs like Murdoch and Zuckerberg.

[@PamelaDritt]

It did during FDR's administration.

[@ronaldstarkey4336]

Shoelaces... lol

[@h.skiprobinson7668]

@@PamelaDritt There are several best-selling books that refute your claim. "Free To Choose" by Milton and Rose Friedman, "The Creature From Jekyll Island" by Edward Griffin, and "The Forgotten Man" by Amity Shalaes. You probably got your information from either our glorious high school and college textbooks, from the MSM, or heresay being spewed by our two-party system.

[@lavellweathersby985]

I like this, simply because this man seems to be providing his own therapy. I sincerely hope that this helps him in "getting over it".

[@lizannewhitlow1085]

“this man”?

[@johnaweiss]

26:08 What does he mean, he doesn't know who to scale the Deliberative Process? He just gave the example from Mongolia.

[@SwoopGD]

Seems like a visible look at Moore's Law in action. Collage-art journalism shared through a private Lot 49-like mail system needs to start up asap.