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Talk6 min

Plato’s infamous Ship of State thought experiment

Michael Vazquez · TED

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About

Imagine a ship struggling in an endless storm. Its captain, though strong and commanding, is a terrible navigator. Neither he nor his crew have been trained to sail, yet they tirelessly vie for control through bribery, flattery, and mutiny, and ignore those with real navigation knowledge. This dysfunctional vessel is Plato's Ship of State. Michael Vazquez explores the infamous thought experiment. [Directed by Luis Torres, Mr. Flama, narrated by Jack Cutmore-Scott, music by André Aires, AIM Creative Studios].

The talk

  1. Plato’s infamous Ship of State thought experiment 6 min · TED's player

Credits and licence

Institution
TED
Department
TED-Ed
Speaker
Michael Vazquez
Year
2026
Level
For everyone
Language
English
Subjects
Society and politics, Law, History, Philosophy, Teaching and learning
Source
TED
Licence
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, as TED states it. Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions. TED's terms
Attribution
TED Talks are licensed by TED under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International and are shown here in TED's own player, as TED's usage policy asks.
Who can watch
TED gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from what the source says about it. How courses are placed