The revolutionary power of diverse thought | Elif Shafak

"From populist demagogues, we will learn the indispensability of democracy," says novelist Elif Shafak. "From isolationists, we will learn the need for global solidarity. And from tribalists, we will learn the beauty of cosmopolitanism" A native of Turkey, Shafak has experienced firsthand the devastation that a loss of diversity can bring -- and she knows the revolutionary power of plurality in response to authoritarianism. In this passionate, personal talk, she reminds us that there are no binaries, in politics, emotions and our identities. "One should never, ever remain silent for fear of complexity," Shafak says.
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[@ruthreyesmoreno4670]

"One should never ever remain silent for fear of complexity" this is making it on my quote wall.

[@dangernoodle2868]

When your words are met by thunderous applause then you were being axious for nothing and your words were as harmless and inert as could be. If people aren't jeering then your words were too normal and were already well accepted. Some courage, laughable.

[@remyllebeau77]

Mr Gorbachev Ruth Reyes, tear down this wall! You should know that walls are racist.

[@twinkacast]

I typically think by using a variety of concepts at the same time, sometimes more related to each other sometimes just barely related. I will be juggling 7 or 8 lines and mindsets at once and comparing then all to each other. While this is great for programming puzzles and strategic games any attempt to explain my thought process is met with confusion. Sometimes you need to dumb down and simplify something to explain it effectively.

[@Ms.AggieMac]

Its on mine :) I absolutely love this xox

[@tyronekim3506]

"One should never ever remain silent for fear of complexity." Huh? I thought most people ask questions because of complexity. I think her premise is not factual, but in Turkey may be otherwise.

[@danielj8858]

"I learned silence from the talkative and tolerance from the intolerant and kindness from the unkind" - Khalil Gibran That really touched me. I think it's really time for everyone to listen to each other, perceive each other not as enemies, but as individual people intelligent enough to communicate effectively. Thanks for this talk.

[@seksualusis]

You presume intelligent enough. Do you think our times are supportive of such a tendency? Why and how?

[@sharifmorshed7648]

40 rules of love... definitely one of the most sophisticated, smart and clever writing in last 2 decades

[@katekane6697]

She is one of the greatest writers of our time.

[@jank8041]

She's fine but if you want to read Turkish novelists check out Orhan Pamuk and Yasar Kemal. If you want to read Turkish female novelists I'd recommend Sevgi Soysal.

[@asheshsolanki4189]

@@jank8041 Orhan Pamuk is the best. Loved his book 'Snow'

[@zai7153]

Can't agree more!

[@phyfts]

lmao

[@stephaniehoahu]

Hands down

[@RashmikaLikesBooks]

"we don't have to pick one pain and one place over others." Yes. What a wonderful way of putting it.

[@aneeshputhurethappukuttan8054]

Such a beautiful mind! Why is that we have less of such people in politics? Souls that peacefully coexist with complexity and ambiguity. Love and respect.

[@SajjadKhan-tn6mh]

40 rules of love... One of the best book I've ever read...

[@cagatayteoman5640]

When she is speaking her magical language with rich vocabulary touches , i feel to be obliged listening. Whatever she talks, she makes it moving like her stories. Eastern wisdom with balkanic beauty. İts very rare. We adore you Elif. As a man how ı would be able to atract you?

[@bulentcamoglu]

Neyini begendin lan ?

[@jazz_and_tea]

I have just started reading the first book that I purchased written by Elif- The Forty Rules of Love- and after reading the last page on Dreaming in English and the first few pages I could feel how relatable this writer was to me. So I had to look her up and my eyes welled up while listening to this amazing brave speech full of human values and care for the direction towards which the society is heading. 💓🙏

[@norahglen5162]

Just amazed how well she put this complexity into words! I became instantly a fan of her. Teşekkürler.

[@emnaelmokhtar3758]

Her honesty takes a courage that is palpable to the listener. Admiring and inspiring.

[@pa7957]

You carry all the ingredients to turn your existence into joy. Mix them, Mix them! ~Hafiz

[@pa7957]

amazing being .. She is so special and very gentle, delicate, refine, soulful , delightful, elegant, exquisite, divine .... Just beautiful inside and out :)

[@deborahwebster7130]

Amazing author I've only recently discovered. I am learning so much, thank you for opening my mind with your brilliant story telling. Everything said in this talk makes perfect sense, if only others would listen.

[@lamiaarib4826]

Elf shafaq is an international bestseller writer,she is among my favourite writers. Her books have really changed my life as she said herself in one of her interview. I like also her English pronunciation. It's just amazing. Today all the world is fascinated by her.I truly wish to meet her oneday and talk with her and why not become a famous and renewed writer like her.

[@return2innocence221]

Emotional intelligence should be understood and valued ALOT more she is right 🕯️

[@ZubairAhmed1024]

I was just listening to this while driving home and was awestruck! ❤️

[@Reader_curiosity]

the forty Rules of Love ... Elif Shafak is the best novelist in Turkey. Among the giants of world novel literature with Dostoyevsky, Hugo, Tolstoy, Márquez and others. Shafak approach is closer to Tolstoy's method of adopting just causes and working to enlighten and confront governments and not to involve high towers and revolution on the current conditions and strive for the best.

[@abdelmoumenbelhachemi8115]

Thank you Ms. Elif for your artful message and musical-like pieces of wisdom your are sharing with the world. The sound minds, hearts and souls all over this planet will resonate with everything you have expressed on their behalf. I am positive that our generation have all that is necessary to design and live an exceptional civilization. Great human beings with great thoughts and hearts who are caring and loving and open-minded will prevail. Negative, sarcastic and those who choose to live with a stinking heart!!! and toxic thoughts should be given hope and opportunity to change to the better otherwise they will be marginalized and unaccepted.

[@Omnyaalii]

You carry in your soul every ingredient necessary to turn your existence into joy all you have to do is to mix those ingredients ❤️

[@TMWriting]

I didn't expect to be so moved by this talk.

[@Omnyaalii]

+1

[@faizan9413]

I have an unusual association with her. Tho she doesn't know me but still through her stories and her way of expressing has me touched to the core. She's amazing.

[@Bradybrad2524]

I have read her books, The 40 rules of love and Honour. I immensely adore both.

[@RashmikaLikesBooks]

I love what she says about plurality. My friend and I were just talking about this, and we have that "comaraderie of the doomed." It's amazing how she totally understands.

[@muratguler6592]

I had the same experience in my exchange year in Europe as a Turkish student. I was part of the doomed team and my camaraderie was consisting of people from Brasil, Venezuela, Poland and Ukraine.

[@MrAykut23]

Whatever followed her talking about demagogue's, was my fav segment

[@EclecticPsychotherapist]

I loved this, I found it very inspiring, thankyou. Elif came across very genuine and authentic and passionate. She spoke eloquently and I'm now going to Look up her writings :)

[@semihcorbaci]

Such a great talk, Ma'am Shafak. As someone studying university and living in Turkey, i can say that you perfectly summarized our worry... Thank you, çokça teşekkürlerimle. Semih Çorbacı

[@bulentcamoglu]

defol

[@user-xc1vw7kk6y]

wow! respect and admiration for this woman and her beautiful mind

[@dottiedarlington-morgan3705]

Thank you. Refreshing and inspiring..

[@hanadi4431]

What a great speech👌🏻 I'm realy love you Elif shafak♥️

[@becksmecks]

"Our political systems are replete with emotions" kesinlikle katılıyorum-absolutely right

[@danilo.moreira]

Sempre bom saber que tem legenda em portugues do Brasil, obrigado galera por compartilhar o conhecimento !!

[@Design111]

Magnificent! Thank you.

[@silesiansailor8884]

TED. Great step from your side to subtitle your videos. I am so thankful

[@lindakiss7341]

Wow! What a dynamic, powerful speaker. How can it be that I have never heard of her before????

[@shankarsharma_music]

wow... profound and epic talk..! I relate so much to this school of thought.

[@osmanparlak1756]

Amazing talk! thanks for expressing the feelings of the people having to live away from their original yurt but loving the reality of having a welcoming new yurt 👍👏

[@gbbanjara2206]

Beautiful heartfelt talk.

[@RakanaxxAlharthy369]

Elif you are great women i love you , you book the forty rules of love one of the greatest pieces of art you have made when i read every word about god and every rule i feel explosion in my conciousness and expanding and that changed me so thank you thank you a lot a lot ❤

[@neuroplay]

As a creative person who barters in the currency of language, I often take this idea into consideration when choosing each and every word I select to discuss my ideas. I want the thoughts I have to convey using this primitive language to access a specific part of the mind and awaken electrical activity in the listener. Wiring new memories and transmitting the access to original thought they have inside themselves. Use your words carefully. They matter, in some sense, more than you might consider for yourself.

[@meepchiche001]

Ofocurse things have different meanings when using different words but do you really want to advocate for thought and word policing while ruining a language while making certain words taboo and others not and making things you deem powerful and turning them into buzzwords?

[@deus_ex_machina_]

neuroplay But doesn't everyone perceive words differently?

[@deus_ex_machina_]

Mendicant Bias I don't think they were suggesting that, although the use of language as a weapon to terminate thought and gain compliance has become scarily common (in some circles).

[@teknramus159]

always a joy to see another example of evolution, beautiful

[@worldp3ac3]

Great talk...you nailed it

[@stephaniesamuel-chhita7811]

Goals! Elif is truly inspiring

[@stephaniehoahu]

This woman is phenomenal

[@Anushka275]

this is the best talk i have ever listened too

[@nirvana680]

That was a delighted speech!!!

[@sevinchasanova2097]

Storyland, perfect approach.

[@d.avraba889]

Inspiring thoughts-for our times. Excellent writer.

[@fatimakhechen3605]

💯 I am one of Shafak's biggest fan ( & of course her fascinating literature ) and i always noticed the "oppressed" speaker thing she mentioned in all conferences she took part in.

[@Ludawig]

This ted talk deserves more views imo

[@youstinaa.yacoup5673]

Istanbul, Paris, Berlin nice, brussels, Baghdad and Barcelona:We have seen one Horrible terrible attack after another and when you express your sorrow and when you react against the cruelty you get all kinds of reactions, messages on social media but one of them is quite disturbing only because it’s so widespread They say. “Why do you feel sorry for them? Why don’t you feel sorry for civilians in Yemen or civilians in Syria and I think people who write such messages do not understand that we can feel sorry for and stand for solidarity with victims of terrorism and violence in the Middle East, in Europe in Asia in America wherever and everywhere equally and simultaneously! Omg! You are great❤️❤️

[@soyhan]

Beautiful talk.

[@yayaschannel1250]

Philosophical 👌👌👌👌

[@releasetheanimals]

This is beautiful

[@vlu8523]

Great writer in this era 😘

[@Edijuli-mz3kf]

Really i can't live anles ted,ted always same me wherever i go.

[@shruthijayavenukumar]

I'm reminded of the book Political Emotions! ❤️❤️

[@hadiahamid4895]

One of the best❤

[@thirdpowerful1]

"The demagogue tells us we'll be safer in our tribes surrounded by our own people." Sounds just like a college safe space to me.

[@andrzejkorytkowski8151]

it was just amazing! no words more.

[@alialidrissi4163]

40 rules of love is great book you should read it

[@minamansri7732]

Magical Elif

[@Nowhere9]

شكرا جزيلا لمن ترجم الفيديو إلى العربية 💓

[@rosieblunt8638]

En sevdigim konusmasi..harika icimdeki endiseye tercuman resmen

[@ozdigg9254]

Thank you Elif

[@qingxian6065]

Amazingly good.

[@napeakor]

stunning talk!

[@MoneyGist]

Homelands are truly portable

[@moonstarer21]

And oh we nearly forgot __ We all are proud global citizens ❤️

[@JimGriffOne]

She makes a great point about the fact that we all live in "liquid" countries, not ones with a solid foundation. It is entirely possible for any country to shift and change in its design, moving to and from Authoritarianism and other horrible ideologies. That's what I took from this talk, minus the feminist overtones.

[@Brutaful]

While I do agree that no country is completely solid, I have to disagree about countries not having a solid foundation. Some countries do have that very solid foundation that lessens the possibility of getting stuck with an authoritarian government. Some countries simply have it better than others and make sure to maintain the polices put in place to ensure that they do better than the countries that don't have similar policies.

[@JimGriffOne]

+Brutaful Good point!

[@seksualusis]

You just believe, that focused attempt, or simply set of unfortunate preconditions can't change matters surprisingly quickly. Didn't U.S. had nearly best on Earth safety net, being flagship of democracy? How many turn-arounds happening overnight, then. They all walk on sand, if even they did so well before for quite some time. Let this alone, to get hit by global matters. Take a look at the curves of populating, face global warming turning big stuff. Non-authoritarian preservatives are nice to have, of course, yet how true and lasting they are is your next story.

[@pa7957]

Love is the water of life ......

[@mercyl3809]

"The main stream of political theory pays very little attention to emotions" She is indeed very true

[@thewiseturtle]

The key is to embrace the withdrawal process and to fully accept that it is a time for navel gazing. In our isolation, we can ask ourselves "What are the especially precious persons, places, and things that we lost, and how did those meaningful things make our lives better?" Sharing those stories of loss will reconnect us. I truly believe that.

[@jafrinajabin8049]

Undoubtedly one of the best TED TALKs

[@aditijain730]

Amazing talk, really important to open ourselves to opinions and ideas that are different from our own.

[@kuroazrem5376]

I fully agree with this woman.

[@wisdomclasses6669]

One of the best Ted Talks ever!

[@nasserabbassi7303]

Hopefully the leaders and people of turkey hear your message too in order to accept other languages and cultures in Anatoli

[@huyendu3487]

THIS IS THE BEST TED TALK I HAVE EVER ENCOUNTERED.

[@nomado3650]

Every single word Elif says in this talk is precious and relevant in this time of the great reset we’ve been dragged through. Bravo.

[@geraltzhu9085]

Love her accent and don't what is her main point.

[@mcristinacbarczinski]

Já estão traduzidos p português?

[@piusha9073]

Love her

[@testcardII]

Elif Shafak 💝

[@mcristinacbarczinski]

I loved💚👏👏👏

[@seksualusis]

From this I will carry the beauty of intelligence.

[@krishnayedage8130]

Thanks

[@0menadds]

Fantastic

[@rohan199221]

That was fantastic

[@heartbreakcats]

Elif şafaaak 💠💠

[@blueberrypie4697]

Great 👍👍

[@Eng2020MS]

Nice talk

[@nina7775]

My idol💚

[@nadhrahhusna3106]

Her words flow like a river

[@geoffreydarwentartconnexu]

A friend lent me her book "Crime d'honneur". So happy she did

[@Qalblozeh2023]

She is a cleaver women and know exactly what she write and the meaning of deep words

[@tourissikbal6936]

She is a clever woman, not women

[@nuri2318]

A Turkish girl told me she and Orhan are just pompous figures , politicising matters and should not be seen as a good representative of Turkey. I just asked her if she had read her work and that was her reply. But hearing her I don't know what kind of person she is in Turkey but I really like her ideas, the fluency with which her speech was delivered and I'll see where i can find her works. I'll send this to her too.

[@weheb7300]

good speaker madam ....sure you are, talking about emotions ,love ,fiction , motherland , its very touching and you'r the best at saying this words , you have talent no doubt, but that's not make you a reference thinker and to believe at your life living way....just looking and listening to your talk we feel that you'r lost...it's sad that talented person so you are..., are far from the reality that soul desire can't be reach in this short life, life can have a sens when you deprive you from thing that you love doing because culture do not allow it ....if you respect your family and your people at your country you must sacrifice.

[@frainchakrit]

LETS SPREAD LOVE AND PEACE IN THIS WORLD !!!! BROTHERS AND SISTERS LETS BE TOGETHER FOR HUMANITY !!!

[@eldanx]

no thank you. I'm fine just like this.

[@frainchakrit]

Okay friend :) I wish you for your wonderful life :)

[@deus_ex_machina_]

Frain chakrit You took that surprisingly well. Kudos.

[@frainchakrit]

Thank you friend :) God would bless you and your family :)

[@remyllebeau77]

Frain chakrit Talk is cheap. How exactly are we going to be "together" and spread love and peace?

[@change9589]

U r the best