After a near death experience, TEDxUSFSP speaker Dan Meyer made a list of objectives he wanted to accomplish in his life.
University hosts independently organized TED event for the first time
The first TED event was held in the 1980s, founded by Saul Richard Wurman, a self-described “information architect.”
The brand became a household name and international intellectual icon in the late 2000s. The convention’s motto “ideas worth spreading” was quickly seen around the world.
The impossible is not impossible, according to TEDxUSFSP speaker Dan Meyer whose life changed after a trip to India when he was 20-years-old. Meyer had contracted malaria and was on the verge of death.
“In the face of death, we embrace life,” Meyer said. He was bedridden for five days and upon his recovery, created a list of objectives he wanted to accomplish in his life.
The list went from surviving on an island for a year to publishing a scientific paper on “sword eating and its consequences.”
During the TEDxUSFSP event on Nov.13, Meyer showed slides of some of the stunts he has attempted. He swallowed 29 swords for “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not,” and another 1,485-degree sword, as hot as molten lava, on the T.V. show “Stan Lee’s Superhumans.”
Meyers then told the crowd he was ready to prove that the impossible was –actually– not impossible.
Jogging off the stage, he revealed a 3-foot sword on a table beneath a black silk cover.
Meyers explained the physics it takes to pull off the stunt: suppressing the gag reflex, silencing muscles in the esophagus, nudging the heart and sliding down behind the sternum.
Then, he raised the sword.
It was over in just a second. The audience was stunned and Meyers stood with a smile.
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USFSP student CJ Villa managed the TEDxUSFSP event. He worked for over six months to bring the event to the USF St. Petersburg campus.
The event was segmented into three categories: Inspire, Educate and Empower.
USFSP professor Dr. Kathleen Gibson-Dee explored mathematical patterns and mysteries of the integer five, Fibonacci’s sequence and phi the golden ratio.
USFSP student Manuela Baron discussed how to begin living a trash-free life. As Baron traveled to France and Malaysia, she was appalled by the excess of trash in the world, but also inspired. Baron took it upon herself to live a waste free life, opting for mason jars and compost in lieu of traditional packaging and waste solutions.
Baron said that she has reached a waste-less state via buying in bulk and being conscious of what her purchases.
In total, the event featured eight speakers, providing an intellectual and entertaining experience much the well-known TEDTalks, but with a USFSP twist.
