Marc West puts his thinking cap on to listen to some of the world’s greatest minds at the TEDxOxford event

Only recently was I introduced to Ted. Who’s he, you may ask – as did I, much to the amusement of my more tech-savvy friend. Well, TED is actually a global phenomenon that is changing the way the world thinks.

Established in 1984, it’s a non-profit organisation dedicated to discussing the three emerging fields of Technology, Entertainment and Design that has since become a universal hub of intellectual curiosity. So, when the opportunity to experience a whole host of these now legendary talks first-hand arose, I just had to satisfy mine.

Independently organised by students from Oxford University, TEDxOxford differs from these other events in one major way: instead of the one-day conference being exclusively for the leaders of today’s world, this audience consisted of over 1,000 of today’s most passionate, engaging and innovative youths between the ages 16-25: the leaders of tomorrow’s world.

Hosted this year at George Street’s New Theatre, 12 ground-breaking individuals – including neuroscientists, economists and campaigners – used TED’s innovative format of “18 minutes of inspiration” to talk on a variety of fields.

Peter Millican blew my mind talking about his research into the realms of computer science and artificial intelligence, Richard Layard spoke of the economic link between happiness and income, but my favourite had to be self-proclaimed “crazy scientist” Anders Sandberg from Stockholm University – who presented the incredibly complex world of neural network modelling in terms that even I could (just about) grasp.

“TEDxOxford is all about sparking a discussion between world-famous thinkers and bright young people, about letting them inspire each other,” said event organiser Leon Musolff.

“Oxford, with its abundance of innovative ideas and intelligent minds, is truly the perfect place for such an enlightened exchange of ideas.”

While I may not have left with all the answers, this event certainly inspired me to at least ask the questions. For details about next year’s conference and how you could get involved visit tedoxford.co.uk In the meantime, be sure to download the TED app to your smartphone. Then, you can carry these little pearls of wisdom with you wherever you go.

If all this inspirational talk has left you hungry for even more, I know just the place to get your curiosity fix. Myth & Discovery is the theme of this year’s fifth annual Think Week – seven days of free and thought-provoking events across Oxford from February 22. Organised by a group of non-theistic societies, the award-winning programme includes talks on themes such as philosophy, politics, science and public performance – including key speeches from philosopher AC Grayling and comedian Natalie Haynes.

For all details visit thinkweek.co.uk