Qualitative Analysis of a Ted Talk

¶ … Minimalists

In the Ted Talk, "A Rich Life with Less Stuff," Ryan Nicodemus and Joshua Fields Millburn, a duo with a YouTube and web following who are also known as the Minimalists, discuss the basic principles of their take on the minimalist approach to life, which differs from the traditional minimalist approach. Ryan begins the discussion by talking about how he used to define rich, and how that definition, which was based on earnings, had to continue to expand because it could never be enough. He discussed how he had material success but that he was still essentially unhappy and mentioned having just experienced a divorce. Then he moved into a comparison with friend Joshua Fields, who, like him, had recently gone through a divorce and had also experienced a death in his family, and credited his transition to a minimalist lifestyle with his ability to find inner peace.

Of course, when discussing the minimalist lifestyle, the two men do discuss the role that stuff plays in life and how it can make life less pleasant. Together, the two men pack up Ryan's stuff and he discovers that he only uses about 15% of the things that he owns, despite having been feverish to acquire those same things, to the point that he went into debt to acquire those things. Therefore, for him, minimalism involves prioritizing the importance of things in his life, and realizing that he had placed a greater emphasis on things than on quality of life or relationships. This actually led him to reevaluate his commitment to his corporate lifestyle, because he realized that he was pursuing a job that did not provide him with happiness to buy things that also did not bring him happiness.

However, the men approach minimalism in a somewhat more inclusive way than other people who approach minimalism. Their theoretical framework for minimalism is less about eliminating things from life as it is about placing the appropriate value on those things that are in your life. For example, they discuss the role that electronics play in most modern lives and how these highly desired items detract from the quality of life and actual human interactions between people. This is not something unique to their discussion; one of the recurring themes in modern social commentary is about how all of these electronic devices that are supposed to increase human connectivity have actually resulted in a decrease in actual communication and people becoming less connected with one another.

What is the most interesting about their approach is that they differ from many other minimalists I that they do not attempt to shame the audience members for their attachment to things. Instead of shame, what they seem to want to encourage is thought. They want people to think about whether they are placing value on those things that truly matter to them or whether they are placing value and importance on things that really are not important to them. This was an interesting approach to minimalism and far less rigid than the traditional approach, which may make it easier for people to apply it the approach in their own lives.