It has been said that fear is a powerful motivator. Certainly, when it comes to feats of superhuman strength and acts of bravery, the adrenaline and endorphins pumping through our system are most readily driven by fear. In a normal situation, I probably wouldn’t say anything at all to a wild-eyed guy with a knife, but if he puts that knife to my throat or to the throat of someone I love, I’ll be compelled to say something and/or to do something to eliminate that threat.
[Due to technical difficulties yesterday (namely that I had no access to the back-end of my website) TED Talk Tuesday had to be delayed until Wednesday. However, to thumb my nose at the internet gremlins who attacked me, I refuse to change the name to TED Talk Wednesday. So there!]
When I began watching this talk, I fully expected to hear Lawrence Lessig tell us how our political system is broken. What I didn’t expect to hear was how we could fix it, let alone why we should fix it. Lessig’s story about his lecture at Dartmouth (15:24) and his response about love stirs me to the core – not because of my love for country, but because of his passion and his definition of a love that would do anything and everything.
It is my belief that love changes the world. In Lessig’s area of passion, that may be love of country. In mine, that may be love of God and his people. In yours, it may be love of something else. Whatever it is, love will do anything and everything and, just maybe, can bring hope to a hopeless situation.
