Eighth TEDxExeter talk featured on TED.com

We should be fascinated by numbers says Alan Smith in his challenging and amusing TEDxExeter talk Why we’re so bad at statistics. And TED must agree as they have selected his as one of the few TEDx talks that are featured on TED.com, where it will reach a much larger, global audience.

In his talk Alan Smith, who is the data visualisation editor at The Financial Times, uses statistics to illustrate the massive difference between perception and reality in many areas of life. “Statistics are most wonderful when they surprise us,” he says. “They are about us as a group … the science of us, and that’s why we should be fascinated by numbers.” Amusingly he demonstrates that the National Statistician and Jeremy Paxman are just as likely not to know what’s really going on in their neighbourhood as anyone else. He also busts the myth that some people are good at numbers, while others aren’t.

"I am thrilled that this talk has been selected for TED.com,” said Alan Smith. “It's increasingly hard to avoid statistics in modern life - so we need to learn to love them for what they are: surprising, revealing and the key to answering so many important questions.”

TEDxExeter organiser and licensee Claire Kennedy adds: “We are delighted that an 8th TEDxExeter talk has been selected for TED.com. Our talks have been watched an incredible 10 million times, and we already know from our own website that we have visitors from around the world: now these talks will be seen by an even greater global audience.

“Alan presents numbers in ways that we can all understand – even those who have thought themselves bad at numbers since maths lessons at school. Not only does he challenge prejudices and misunderstanding, he also makes you laugh. It is great news that Alan’s ideas will now reach people all around the world through TED.com.

“Ideas generated here at TEDxExeter inspire and impact people in incredible ways. Our audience grows bigger each year, both the audience watching our event live on the day and through the livestream, and those who watch our talks online afterwards. Having more talks on TED.com will increase the reach and impact of our speakers’ ideas.”

TEDxExeter talks have been viewed more than 10.5 million times, and 8 have been selected to be featured on TED.com.

Karima Bennoune shares stories of real people fighting against fundamentalism in their own communities; Scilla Elworthy speaks on non violence; Bandi Mbubi calls for fair trade phones; slam poet Harry Baker wins over audiences with his love poem for lonely prime numbers; Manwar Ali, once a committed pioneer of violent jihad who now works tirelessly for peace. Danny Dorling - Maps that show us who we are (not just where we are); and Deeyah Khan What we don’t know about Europe’s Muslim kids, in which the filmmaker unearths the rejection and isolation felt by many Muslim kids growing up in the West — and the deadly consequences of not embracing our youth before extremist groups do.

In addition, two of the nine talks on TED.com’s Road to Peace playlist are from TEDxExeter, the Talks to Restore your Faith in Humanity contains a talk from TEDxExeter, and Michelle Ryan’s 2015 talk tops the TEDx YouTube playlist on The Way we Work.