Useful or Useless? | Emma Jung | TEDxSeoul Youth
Emma Jung challenges conventional definitions of usefulness, arguing that what society deems useless can actually be valuable depending on perspective. She uses J.K. Rowling's experience of hardship as an example of how supposedly useless periods can create the foundation for major success.
Summary
Emma Jung opens her TEDx talk by questioning what 'useful' and 'useless' actually mean. She shares a personal anecdote about spending time clicking on Google's 'People Also Ask' boxes, initially viewing this as a useless hobby. However, she realized that this random internet browsing led her to learn about neurodiversity and autism, fundamentally changing her perspective—something she now considers valuable despite appearing wasteful.
Jung then presents J.K. Rowling as a case study in redefining usefulness. Rowling was broke, homeless, and a single mother—circumstances typically considered the most useless and failure-laden parts of life. Yet, this difficult period provided Rowling with something more valuable than a steady job could have: the time and emotional depth needed to write Harry Potter. The hardship wasn't just something to overcome; it became the foundation for her success by giving her authentic material about loss and struggle that readers could relate to.
Jung acknowledges that people in the audience, particularly in South Korea's academically-focused culture, are likely sacrificing passions and hobbies for more 'useful' pursuits like homework or career paths with higher success rates. She suggests this trade-off isn't necessary if people redefine usefulness for themselves.
Finally, Jung presents her own definition of usefulness as a matter of perspective rather than objective fact. She disagrees with both the Cambridge Dictionary definition (achieving a purpose) and society's definition (bringing money or success). Instead, she argues that usefulness is what you make of it, and that finding what matters to you personally is the most useful thing anyone can do.
Key Insights
- Jung argues that spending time on seemingly useless activities like clicking random internet boxes changed her entire perspective on autism and neurodiversity, making what appeared to be wasting time actually valuable
- J.K. Rowling's state of being broke, homeless, and a single mother—conditions typically considered the most useless part of life—provided the necessary conditions and emotional authenticity to create Harry Potter, her biggest success
- Jung claims that a normal person with a stable job cannot give undivided attention to a passion like writing, but hardship forced Rowling to do exactly that, giving her an advantage
- Jung defines usefulness not as achieving a purpose or bringing money/success, but as a matter of perspective dependent on how one responds to and thinks about experiences
- Jung argues that usefulness is subjective and self-determined rather than objectively defined, and that challenging official definitions of usefulness is important
Topics
Transcript
[0:07] [applause] >> Ladies and gentlemen, the English language has been lying to you. We've all heard the words useful and useless. But do we actually know what they really mean? I have this very time-consuming hobby of clicking the little boxes that appear after doing a Google search. They're called the people also ask column. And the more you click, the more [0:37] off-topic from the original search they get. One time, I remember I searched up something about linear equations. Then ended up with Does Elon Musk have autism? And by the way, the answer is yes. And at the time, I thought that this was a completely useless hobby. But then, as time went on, I realized…
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