Sir Ken Robinson: Anaesthetics and Aesthetics

This afternoon I watched my little boy slip under the influence of a general anaesthetic. I've never seen that happen before - at least not in the real world. It's been a bit like living in an episode of House this week, and we're not through yet.

In a moment of restbite this afternoon I stumbled across this video. A refreshing distraction. I'm a little late to the party, 9.46 million people have watched this before me.

Anaesthetics deaden us to what's around us, aesthetics make us fully alive: youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcD… (Sir Ken Robinson)
— Dave Bish (@davebish) January 30, 2013

There's something very striking in this play with words. We need ideas, imagination, beauty. Why is that? And how can we have more of it? I'm enjoying a bit of Sir Ken Robinson this week. His TED talks are TED at its very best, and this is a great animated version of his key idea.

What do you think? What do you see? Are you awake?