Why Fantasy Matters | Elizabeth Chapin | TEDxCamarillo

Fantasy isn't just for movies, TV shows, or books about dragons. In this TEDx talk, Elizabeth Chapin explores why fantasy should be at the core of what we do as human beings.

After graduating from Claremont McKenna College in 2015 with a Literature degree, Elizabeth has returned to her hometown of Ventura, California to pursue a career with the National Park Service. She currently works as an interpretive park guide at Channel Islands National Park. Her degree reflects her deep love of books and reading. Her senior thesis, which was awarded the Best Thesis in Literature for that year, explored the subject of women and the feminine in subgenres of fantasy literature. When she’s not teaching local students about the islands and their surrounding marine environment, she can be found devouring the latest fantasy novel or rereading Harry Potter.

[youjunggweon]

This is a very important and underrated message. The speaker does a superb job of delivering the talk, with poise, good pace, appropriate pauses, and passion.

[anikimfomana]

This is PRICELESS! It was a wonderful talk and maybe my favorite one. In a world as crazy as ours, it's wonderful to see someone encouraging people to think about the possibilities out there. Not only what is, but also what it could be. Wonderful!

[Vogelkinder]

Creativity and self-expression is so fundamental to our well-being. Escapism provides a place to figure out issues we all have in our lives, and particularly in my own. This was a great talk.

[nivanisadhai]

Fantasy is important simply because, through Fantasy you are enabling yourself with a good more beautifully designed and developed imagination. That’s how I learnt.

[seanharrison]

This is unbelievably beautiful. Thank you this

[ditteinatonnesen]

Very simple and well said, about a broad and fluffy fenomena. Fantasy is real, because you cant describe, what you havent seen. Thank you!

[GreatOldOne]

Do we walk in legends or on the green earth in the daylight?

A man may do both. For not we but those who come after will make the legends of our time. The green earth, say you? That is a mighty matter of legend, though you tread it under the light of day!

J. R. R. Tolkien

[crankfrank]

Really well done talk. Surprised this doesn't have more views/likes.

[xxmxxng]

Such a great talk! Surprised it isn’t more popular, but the beginning and the middle portion of the talk were vastly different. So I assumed people just clicked away because it sounded like written poetry in the beginning.

[stineelmbkjacobsen]

What if, you were the president of the United States!?... I loved your speech so much, and couldn't agree more. I have just produced an audio walk on two islands in Denmark, where I brought a series of local folk tales back to life. I found 26 letters written a hundred years ago about Bakkefolket (small magical people, living in hills), which the people of the Islands back then used to explain things they could not else explain. It really was an adventure to make this project, where reality and fantasy met. Of course the people on the Islands didn’t use the stories about Bakkefolket to move forward in their development, as much as just to explain what they experienced, but it still had an enormous effect on their imaginative skills. And maybe occasionally they were encouraged to try to copy Bakkefolket, and felt inspired by them to change something in their lives. Who knows. All in all fantasy certainly is a power that drives us forward and makes the world beautiful - both the world we see, and the ones that still just lives in your minds. I hope all your dreams come true. Even if they are just a bunch of oranges ;)

[NadwornyBlazen]

It is so surprising to me it has so few views.

[KJKP]

I think she is overlapping creativity with daydreaming with fantasy, and crediting the value of creativity to all three. But, the first two are for fun, not productivity- unless you are a writer. But, I watched because she is a fabulous speaker and story teller. She could have success as a speaker, teacher, writer, etcetera.

[masternoob]

Try telling this to miserable people who literally go out of their way to hate EVERY, OTHER, Movie that comes out 🙄
Life sucks. Let people have their escape.

[zachrez]

Love it. Bravo. This resonates with me. Get in touch Ms. Chapin if you would like to be interviewed and featured in my upcoming book about Role Playing Games in Schools.

[nivanisadhai]

Phenomena is spelt like this, and not fernomena.

[klara]

Okay, so Andrzej Sapkowski made a joke and you are judging him because of it. Dude chill it's just a joke.