My TED Talk is online! Here's what's next for me
I'm shifting my focus to help people connect through (and despite) conflict
“Idiots… are everywhere.”
That’s how my 2026 TED Talk began. The crowd laughed at that first sentence — at the first word, actually! — but the subject is serious. Right now people don’t seem to know how to deal with one another, and the impetus to choose cruelty and/or violence is growing. I won’t stand for a world in which the people I love are threatened because people don’t know how to handle conflict.
THE PROBLEM
Imagine a sports fan who cheers for their team but doesn’t understand the rules of the game. Absurd, right? So are today’s politics… and for the same reason. People separate into factions, dazzled by their chosen side, wearing the emblems and shouting the slogans, but without understanding why their team plays as it does. We just cheer, and our “team” profits whether they win or lose. Without understanding the game and demanding the best for your dollar, that’s not a fan.
That’s a mascot.
Nowadays we are surrounded by people and groups making money and gaining influence simply because they’ve amassed enough mascots to keep the cheers going without asking questions: or perhaps, without asking the right ones. The good news is, the game is simpler than we might think. Not “easier”, but not that complex.
At the core of all politics, business and culture is persuasion, and persuasion is a game. I want to make it as ubiquitous and accessible as basketball or soccer: anyone can play at any age or skill level, with minimal equipment and in their own style. Right now persuasion feels a bit too much like figure skating: exclusive, expensive and esoteric. Here’s the truth: persuasion, marketing and politics play on our basic psychology and emotional wiring in ways you probably already know.
To raise the game, we must level the playing field. We must share the playbook.
WHAT I’M DOING ABOUT IT
That’s why I’m reviving this website, as part of my civic project to help people everywhere connect through conflict. I call it The Resolution.
The cornerstone of this project is my role-playing game where players adopt personas to debate ideas. Choose a topic, pick personas for the Yes and No sides, choose a duration (20, 40 or - if you dare - 60 minutes), assign a Moderator to keep order, and dive in. You can have up to 3 Judges and an unlimited Audience, all of whom help score the debate. It takes a village to play The Resolution, so if you love putting game night groups together, this is right up your alley.
The Resolution is free to play in a very basic, first-generation form - just timers and a scorecard - but with more support I can hire developers to build it out.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
- Share my TED Talk with anyone you think could use help dealing with the “idiots” in their lives
- Subscribe to my YouTube channel
- Share my story with organizations who might want to book me for a keynote or workshop — joshuajohnson.me
- Check out the game at this link and give it a try — let me know what you think or if something doesn’t work at joshua@joshuajohnson.me
Cynicism gets us nowhere. Fatalism insults your potential. There is plenty we can do, it’s simpler than it looks, and now is the time to build these skills for ourselves.
It’s time for the fans to start playing like pros. That’s how we raise the game.
