TED 2018: Soul-Searching at the Inspiration Assembly Line

Somewhere between my eighth and eighteenth turmeric lattes, I realized I was dangerously close to falling for TED. The annual conference, which gathers elite technologists, thought leaders, scientists, economists, futurists, visionaries, activists, physicists, poets, enthusiasts, academics, entertainers and billionaires has a binary reputation: For anyone who hasn't been, it's an object of easy mockery. For anyone who has, it's a religion. After five days in the garden of TED, downing blueberry mint kombucha, champagne gummy bears and green juice described as "good for when you feel like you're being chased by a cheetah," I had seen the light. The ideas felt exciting (flying cars!