Covid did not *cause* our mental health crisis. Thank you for attending my unplanned TED Talk.

This week, I had the unexpected opportunity to speak on the main stage at TED in Vancouver. (I’ll share some medicine/health insights and highlights from the conference with you tomorrow.)

Here’s what happened. On Wednesday, Bari Weiss gave a talk in which she covered a lot of ground. Basically, it was a flight-of-ideas list of things she believes that, in her view, ought not be controversial. I found myself agreeing with some of what she said, and disagreeing with other parts. In the midst of her meanderings, she briefly delved into Covid-19.

Uh-oh! What she had to say—and what she implied—on the topic was basically incorrect.

Well, it turns out that live audience members at TED can submit little proposals for mini talks, given in response to any of the main ones from the headliners like Weiss. So, I filled out the online form, and, voilà, I was given the opportunity to take the stage and address the 1,200-person TED audience for 90 seconds later that same day. It was my chance to set the record straight. Here is what I had to say:

The audience’s reception was quite nice and I am really grateful to the TED team for giving me the microphone for just that moment. But I want to talk with you about how troubling it is that public intellectuals can just say stuff that sounds good and most of the time, there is no meaningful way to refute, fact check, or contextualize what amount to incorrect interpretations of the world we inhabit.

So, let’s discuss this…and, also, find out what any of this has to do with a certain Nobel Laureate in physics…