Irrelevancy as Fuel to Generate Collective Action is a TEDxBoston talk by 📝Benjamin Von Wong, delivered in 2022, arguing that the fear of becoming irrelevant may be the greatest tool at our disposal for combating big global issues.

Rather than treating the anxiety of not mattering as something to overcome, the talk reframes it as fuel: the same fear that paralyzes individuals in the face of problems as large as climate change can drive them to join collective efforts bigger than themselves. The argument distills the logic behind Von Wong's participatory installations, which turn hundreds of volunteers into co-creators of each monument. The talk was originally listed on TED.com under the title "How Your Fear Might Be Our Greatest Strength."

It is one of three talks Von Wong has on TED.com, alongside Pursuing Ordinary and Does the World Really Need More Art?