AEP Blog #1 - Analysis of TED Video

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http://www.ted.com/talks/aubrey_de_grey_says_we_can_avoid_aging.html

My analysis of this presentation video is:

Impression:
De Gray's main point is that human aging can be delayed, and he predicts that 1000 year lifespans are very much possible if funding is provided for research. Is his talk persuasive? I would like to hear a professional critique by biological experts, but he seems to show that he is already extending the lifespan of mice steadily. Whether it is true or not, the talk is very valuable for us to think about the possible social consequences of living longer and longer. He argues that the idea that longer life is bad for society does not make sense. Aging causes death just like diseases, and it seems logical to find a way to reduce it. He argues that more funding should be given to anti-aging research.

He talks very, very fast, but I enjoyed listening to him to the end and felt the talk was informative, somewhat persuasive, and definitely thought-provoking. Also, cool beard. Makes an impact.

Strengths
His presentation strengths are

• He includes a lot of information in a very short time. Very informative.
• He talks with no notes and almost without looking at his slides. He knows his message and the ideas come out very clearly at an amazing speed.
  
• Organized and logical. He gives his outline at the beginning and follows it to the end. The flow of logic is easy to understand.
• His PowerPoint slides are not fancy, but they are effective because they match what he is saying. The key words match what he wants to emphasize. Very efficient.
  

Weaknesses

• He really should talk slower. His persuasiveness would go up with fewer words and more pausing. Does he care whether the whole audience understands and keeps up? Fortunately, TED has video, so people can go back and listen if they have trouble following.
  
• His body movements at the beginning seemed distracting.
• More definitions of terms and more explanation of diagrams would have been helpful for me as a non-expert.