Why you should make useless things | Simone Giertz - YouTube
In this joyful, heartfelt talk featuring demos of her wonderfully wacky creations, Simone Giertz shares her craft: making useless robots. Her inventions -- d...
Overview

Added
March 5, 2026
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Audience
parent
Grade range
Grade 6–Grade 8
Page kind
Video
Keywords
TEDTalk TEDTalks creativity demo design funny personal growth robots technology
Introduction
The Value of Useless Things
- Speaker: Simone Giertz, an inventor and maker known for creating "useless robots."
- Core Philosophy: Giertz advocates for the importance of building things that serve no practical purpose, focusing on the joy of creation rather than utility.
- Methodology: Her process involves building "wonderfully wacky" inventions that often fail or perform tasks in absurd, inefficient ways.
- Key Takeaway: Embracing failure and the "useless" allows for creative freedom, experimentation, and a more playful approach to engineering and problem-solving.
- Tone: The talk is described as joyful and heartfelt, emphasizing the human element behind technical projects.
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