The Ted Talk I chose to summarize was “How painting can transform communities”. What Haas and Hahn argued in their TED Talk was that art can change people. Now they specifically used painting communities as an example. They start by acknowledging that cities across the world have problems from crime to poverty. As a result these cities get judge and judgment causes the people to react a certain way. This is a tragedy, but Haas and Hahn explain how these communities can goes through massive change. They use multiple examples to examine how art, more specifically painting these cities, can bring the community together and change their image in a positive way. During they’re trips, Haas and Hahn were able to use art to bring people together, change negative views, and build communities. Overall, Haas and Hahn demonstrate how they believe art is important.

Southan’s article “Is Art a Waste of Time”, mostly touches on the beliefs of the Effective Altruism organization. The EAs ( Effective altruists ) believe art has little to no place in todays world. They argue art is usually a self-indulgent act and therefore a waste of time. In the EA’s eyes, all time should be spent doing the greatest amount of good possible. The usually means getting the best job you can, and donating as much money as possible to charity. Any activities like hobbies and games are morally wrong because people are dying as you waste time. Art would most likely fall under this category because you aren’t making money and you aren’t saving lives. Therefore, in the EA’s world, art is not only a waste of time, but also morally wrong.

I say art has importance in our world. Art has a very big importance. It can change perspectives, inspire others, and better lives. All of this is perfectly shown in the TED Talk I summarized above. While the EA may say art is a waste of time, I say that they don’t truly understand the power of art. Art is so diverse, filled with countless different forms, that it can reach anyone and everyone. A few of the many things art is capable of is communication, bonding, inspiring, teaching, reminding, helping, etc. This is why art is absolutely not a waste of time. If anything art is a necessity and plays a huge role in the human race. Overall I think the TED Talk perfectly rebuttals the EA’s argument of art being wasteful.