I'd rather see TED team up with another discussion forum (like Quora) insted of creating their own walled garden of conversation. Offering a way to talk with TED speakers on an already popular service sounds a lot more sustainable.
From the recent developments we have been hearing from Quora, maybe it is TED that is trying to break down Quora's walled garden. I am impressed that TED went out on their own, just hope they try and keep it as open as possible.
Dude, chill out. TED never said anything about Quora. It's mashable which is making a connection.
So, I'm not sure where your criticism is coming from.
Moreover, TED doesn't need to piggyback on Quora's hype, TED can stand on its own. In fact, if anything, this article will make more people who didn't know about Quora will make them look at it.
Re 2) - I think the opposite of focused "intelligent discussion" may be casual discussion rather than unintelligent. I'm sure we can all spot both kinds here on HN.
Where does sophistry fit into your model? How about crackpots writing long dissertations about alleged government nanotransponders secretly implanted in dental fillings? I wouldn't call those casual, but the label of "intelligent discussion" doesn't quite seem to apply.
That's not their goal, but it's the inevitable result of the way their comment system is structured: they only show the last few comments, there's no or minimal threading, the user base is huge, and the moderation is ineffective. YouTube is a forum for unintelligent conversation, by its very design.
Direct link to TED conversations http://www.ted.com/conversations