Five University of Wisconsin professors speaking on topics ranging from the relevance of music to stem cell research to the effects of the Internet on stimulating debate were chosen as part of TEDxUWMadison, the university’s first independently organized Technology, Entertainment and Design event held Saturday.

TEDxUWMadison, and other events like it, are organized independently from the original TED conference, but are designed to follow the same concept of bringing in speakers to share ideas worth spreading, according to a TEDxUWMadison statement. This year’s event revolved around the theme, “Learning in unexpected places,” and all five speakers shared different insights from their various areas of research.

Why music?

Afro-American studies professor, Alexander Shashko said the way people listen to music has become the most dominant focus of the music world, in some ways eclipsing the importance of the reasons why people listen to music.

Shashko reminded the audience the most important thing about music is why they listen to it.

“Ultimately, why do we care about music, why does music matter?” Shashko said. “Because [music] affects us in some way. It makes us feel, it makes us think, it makes us laugh or cry, we can hear it in the experiences we’ve had.”

Shashko encouraged the audience to think about what music means and the messages it can carry for society.

Music has wisdom to impart if people listen closely, Shashko said.

“Challenge your own preconceptions,” Shashko said. “Listen to music you’ve chosen to ignore, that you actively dislike.”

Human brain development

Waisman Center researcher Anita Bhattacharyya advocated for learning through stem cell and regenerative medicine research.

Bhattacharyya said researchers discovered recently it is possible to study early human brain developments through stem cells found in skin cells.

Bhattacharyya added the information gained from stem cells can be used to bridge the gap between animal and human clinical trials because new medicines can be tested on these cells to measure their toxicity for humans.

Peeking prenatal

Christopher Coe, director of the Harlow Center for Biological Psychology, addressed the commonly held idea that children are born as blank slates. Babies are not all the same at birth, Coe said.

Coe researches what types of prenatal events affect developmental trajectories for children. In his talk, he explained his lab has been able to demonstrate that nine months spent in the womb are some of the most important events in peoples’ lives.

Prenatal experiences, particularly the experiences and conditions of the mother during pregnancy, such as having the flu or being anemic, can affect development later in life.

“The mother’s pregnancy conditions affect the health and well-being of the baby at birth,” Coe said.

Why polarized debates used to be good for us … until the Internet came along

Dietram Scheufele, life sciences communication professor, said the Internet has hindered the ability of people to participate in debates.

Talk matters, Scheufele said. However, the Internet has changed who people talk to and how they talk to them. He challenged the notion the Internet has created more heterogeneous network because people now are able to more easily interact with people who are like them.

He added the anonymity of the Internet and the nature of online interactions has allowed people to forget how to disagree with one another.

“We end up interacting in online environments without the slightest idea of how to do it well,” Scheufele said.

Scheufele advocated taking off the “virtual ski masks” and remember what is appropriate to say in public debates, especially online.

Learning in unexpected places: Around the world and back again

Lori DiPrete Brown, associate director at the UW Global Health Institute, discussed the ways people can change the world. She emphasized the idea that small changes can often have the most effect on the world.

DiPrete Brown said people are in a better position to assess what is possible in the world because of the increasingly globally-connected world.

“With small changes you can change the world and you can let the world change you,” DiPrete Brown said.