Global systems, societal shifts, planetary impact.
Get TicketsAn independently organized TED event
DisordersofMAGNITUDE
01 / The Concept
When scale breaks perception.
What happens when scale fails, and our measures no longer match reality?
Disorders of Magnitude explores the fixed-magnitude biases we inherit across fields: assumptions about which voices, impacts, and priorities deserve to outweigh others.
It asks us to unlearn default orders, rethink value from the ground up, and trace how microscopic shifts can trigger systemic change far beyond what our instincts are prepared to measure.
Quantum mechanics, individual actions, cellular change.
02 / Voices
Catalysts of Change
Partner at IBM Consulting
Sun Yan
From Freshman Year to Forever: Growing Together in Life and Career
DKU Professor
Tommaso Tesei
The Power of Cognitive Dissonance
DKU Student
Kate Elosta
Rethinking Parenthood: The Case for Shared Lactation
DKU Professor
Ian McNally
The Art of Infinite Change
DKU Alumnus
Ace Asim
Communitarianism and AI Ethics
DKU Student
Coco Zhang
The Environmentalism Trap: From Consumer Guilt to Conscious Living
DKU Student
Teohan Blind
Fix the Money, Fix the World
DKU Student
Roberto Adames
The Power of a Card
03 / Schedule
The Schedule
08:30 AM
Doors Open & Registration
Arrival, check-in, coffee, and the first conversations before the theater opens.
09:30 AM
Opening Remarks
The organizing team frames the day and introduces Disorders of Magnitude.
10:00 AM
Session 1
The Macro: Systems at Scale
Talks on planetary infrastructures, collective risk, and the institutions that determine what counts.
12:00 PM
Lunch & Networking
A slower interval for reflection, conversation, and interdisciplinary collisions.
01:30 PM
Session 2
The Micro: Invisible Catalysts
Talks exploring tiny mechanisms, quiet actors, and hidden forces that reshape visible worlds.
03:00 PM
Coffee Break
Reset, regroup, and continue the conversations between sessions.
03:30 PM
Closing
Synthesis Panel
Speakers and organizers return to the central question: how should we reassign scale, weight, and value?
05:00 PM
Reception
An informal close with music, conversation, and room for the ideas to keep moving.
04 / Organizing Team
The Curators
Noah Caplan
Lead Organizer
Jiyuan Liu
Lead Organizer
Colden Johnson
Curation Director
Alessia Barreca
Event Management
Mateja Bokan
Technical Director
Ethan Deal
Design
Giorgia Guardamagn
Marketing
Michael Cornell
Digital Operations
Experience the shift.
Join us for a day of profound ideas, layered perspectives, and conversations that unsettle the scales we take for granted.
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