TED Talk Tuesday #65: The danger of a single story

Watching TED Talks is a popular pastime at CN&CO. We visit TED.com regularly to clear our heads, have a laugh or get inspired. TED Talks open our minds, spark new ways of thinking and can lead to some very interesting conversations. Each week we pick a favourite and publish it on a Tuesday, because we like how “TED Talk Tuesday” sounds. This week’s talk was selected by Neo Matsei. Here’s why she chose it…

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is described as a stern, resilient, and unapologetic reformist- feminist.  She is a Nigerian novelist, writer of short stories, and nonfiction, also a kick-ass international speaker! In this Ted Talk, Chimamanda puts light to how our perceptions – of countries, people, culture and the like – are often influenced by what we hear and how we conclude to that being the truth.

The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Like the great storyteller she is, Chimamanda takes a different approach to the idea of stereotypes and over simplified versions of other people’s realities.