The first TEDx conference in Pécs

All of the various presentations are connected to a certain topic decided in advance, furthermore through an intrinsic motivation on behalf of the speakers as well, since they all introduce the audience to the most exciting part of their scientific field. In this case, another link can be identified, which is the University of Pécs, because the organizers as well as the speakers are connected to the University in one way or another.

We can congratulate to the organizing team of the first independently organized TEDx Pécs on a job well done: Gábor Nagy, Virgínia Balogh, Enikő Czigler, Bea Bóbics and Viktória Horváth. They invited speakers, who were highly capable to give informative and at the same time quite entertaining talks throughout the evening. The motto and guiding thought has been life-long curiosity, focusing in the first half of the event on exploration, discovery and on future in the second half.

Joe Petersburger (József L. Szentpéteri - ITD, Faculty of Sciences, University of Pécs) biologist, photographer and communication expert was the first speaker. He invited the audience to pay attention to the wonderful experiences that are available close by, in our immediate vicinity. This way it is possible to decrease our ecological footprint: “Travel less, value and explore your neighbourhood”. After that Andreas Héjj (Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Education and Regional Development, UP) evolutionary psychologist talked about the conditions regarding the emergence and evolution of beauty, attraction and love, and combined his presentation with a bit of humour. Rita Weintraut (Medical School, UP) research psychologist stressed the importance of the ‘here’ and ‘now’ without ‘if only’. She highlighted the diverse positive effects of mindful presence, which the audience could try during her presentation in the form of a mindfulness exercise. She pointed out the visible positive changes of mindfulness in the brain on MRI scan pictures.

The focus of the second section was directed at the future. Szabolcs Balásy, who has absolute pitch and can name the sound of even a hand-drier, talked about the students’ receptivity of music and the benefits of group singing in stress relief. Mária Törőcsik, professor of the Faculty of Business and Economics, UP gave a fascinating talk about the smart consumer. Among others she was looking for answers whether the signs of the consumers becoming smarter, such as tolerance, conscious purchasing are yet significant, or are the trends going to shift in the direction of egotism and tribal systems in the future.

Another professor of the Faculty of Business and Economics, UP József Vörös highlighted the key role of industrial production in the socio-economical as well as the individual prosperity: “without production there is no innovation”. Last, but not least in the series of thought-provoking talks Levente Alpek B. (Faculty of Sciences, UP) focused on survival strategies in the 21st century. He raised interesting questions concerning the nature of future intelligence. In his opinion, we should find our way back to our humanity, thus finding intelligent answers to the emerging questions. In conclusion we can say that the audience could take part in a meaningful event, where they could listen to great speakers and could familiarize themselves with their views on discovery, future and curiosity at the first TEDxPécs.

Written and translated by Mariann Tóth.

Original article: http://univpecs.com/kultura/kivancsi_vagy