“Why Heroes Don’t Change the World” (video TEDx Talk followed by Zoom discussion) with David LaMotte

We will view the TEDx Talk video “Why Heroes Don’t Change the World” followed by a live Zoom discussion with David LaMotte at the Sunday, December 15, 2024, meeting of the Ethical Humanist Society of Asheville, 2:30 – 4:00 pm at 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC. This will be a hybrid meeting, in-person and also available for interactive conversation by Zoom. All are welcome to attend.

In March of 2024, David LaMotte gave an 18 1/2 minute talk at TEDx Asheville 2024, along with eight other speakers at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts. David’s talk focused on the downside of hero narratives, and how stories that we tell to inspire people can often have the opposite effect. It’s a hopeful message, reminding us that we don’t have to be extraordinary to make change, we just have to work together. David’s TEDx Talk was chosen by TED International as an “Editor’s Pick.”

David will also draw from his book: You Are Changing the World; Whether You Like It or Not, David LaMotte challenges some deeply held, though seldom examined, ideas we have about how large societal changes happen and what our own roles in those changes can and should be. Drawing on stories from his own work and interviews with others in Guatemala, India, South Africa, Australia, Palestine, the United States, and Bosnia, LaMotte methodically challenges narratives that keep us immobile in the face of problems that confront communities, nations, and a world.

David LaMotte is a songwriter, speaker and author. He has performed over 3500 concerts and released thirteen full-length CDs of primarily original music, touring in all of the fifty states and on five of the seven continents. David’s speaking and workshop calendar has included presenting at the PC(USA) Mission to the United Nations, keynoting peace conferences in India, Australia, Germany and at the Scottish Parliament, as well as offering the baccalaureate for 2016 graduates of Columbia Seminary.