I've recently become obsessed with the TED 'topics' page. Not because I love TED talks (although I do) and not because it's full of engaging content (it's just a load of words and numbers), but because it lists all the tags TED use to categorise their talks.
The TED 'topics' page reads like a menu of what we should all be thinking and, more importantly, talking about in the 21st Century; Health, Women, Parenthood, Love, Education, Peace. It's not just about the big stuff either - Ants, Monkeys, Origami and even Dark Matter all feature several times. But there's a huge gap, right between History and Human Origins; something's missing.
There are no TED talks on Home. Not one.
Is there a single concept more important to humanity? Whether 'home' is a planet, a nation, a town or city, a hut, house or hovel, where we live shapes not only how we view ourselves but also how we view everything around us (and often, sadly, how the world views us). If you don't feel secure in your home or, worse still, have no home, your chances of leading a happy, fulfilled life are significantly reduced.
'Make yourself at home,' we say, because 'home is where the heart is'. We come home, feel like going home, get homesick. It's no coincidence that the US Government, when creating a new department post 9/11, tasked with 'keeping America safe', chose the name Homeland Security. Reduce that security to a basic, individual level - how you feel when you close your door at night defines how you feel when you open it again and go out into the world the next morning.
Home affects every single one of us, every day, at every stage of our lives, wherever and however we live. What can be more important than that?
TED talks are thought provoking, inspiring and, often, moving. They generate debate on the key issues we face today as people, nations, the human race and caretakers of planet earth - home to us all.
So why are there no TED talks on Home?