The day started with my sessions at TED University. TED U is new this year - 15 minute sessions taught by fellow TEDsters.
History & Impact of WWII Radar Research
Ben Tannen. Extrapolates issues from development of radar to general issues of moving a product from research to development. Key issues (inferred from cathode ray problems): (1) manufacturing (anytime you ask a manufacturer to mass-produce something that was experimental technology, it is problematic for the manufacturer); (2) noise (sometimes the only solution is to turn the technology off); (3) information/interface design (there is always a disconnect that will need to be overcome between those who design a technology and those who ultimately use it).
How to Create an Origami Napkin Rose
Eric Glassy
Mission accomplised!
How to Change Your Life by Joining a Commune
Bruce Johnson
Lessons learned from living in a commune: other people are a mirror to the positive and the negative in your own character; you *can* quit what you hate, do what you love, and stil manage to come to TED; living in a commune is an intentional choice, consequently you must be open to new multi-perspective ways of being in the world. Intentional Communities
Standards and Tyranny of Qwerty
Howard Gutowitz
Current keyboard design comes from the piano; designers were obsessed with it. What do we need to address today? How do we actualize a synthesis between tiny keys with single function (e.g. blackberry) and larger keys but cumbersome multi-function (e.g. current cell phone). One example, see below.
What's a CO2 Diet and how to Do It in a Cool Green Way
Wendy Brawer
Climate is in chaos. What we can do to bring down our CO2 output. www.greenatlas.org
How to make those you encounter believe they're the most interesting people in the world
Sunny Bates
Attempt to create moments of delight/grace/intimacy. Requires three elements: head (intentional - you must want to connect - can't fake it); body (postioning and carriage of your body communicate a lot; be aware); heart (this is what helps you make the intimacy leap).
TED U was a great idea and a great success. I met a number of fellow TEDsters prior to the main conference starting. Some good conversations and interesting insights into what matters to people.
Session 1: History's Arrow
ERIK PETERSON - Futurist
7 Revolutions are driving our future:
- Population (8.1 billion by 2025)
- Strategic Resource Management (food, water energy)
- Technology (computational power, Biotech & genomics, nanotech)
- Information (how do we manage it and the impact it is having globally, on soverign nations, on intellectual property rights)
- Global Economic Integration (BRIC (Brazil Russia India China) will overtake G6 by 2040 AND 225 wealthiest people in the world have wealth = 2.7 billion)
- Conflict (need to figure out how to react appropriately to asymetric warfare)
- Challenge of Governance (what happens when global corporations overtake nations)
ROBERT WRIGHT - author, NonZero
To have a successful future, we need some substantial moral progress. We need to lessen hatred. Need to understand that morality comes about from economically correlated fortunes (hence ZeroSum Game).
This was one of my favourite sessions of Wed. Great, wry, understated sense of humour. I'm looking forward to reading his book.
NICHOLAS NEGROPONTE - founder MIT Media Lab
Overview of $100 Laptop Project.
HANS ROSLING - Professor
gapminder.org
We need a better way to visualise complex data. Our mental models depend on it. Current population often holds outdated models and prejudices because we don't understand or can't visualise the new data.
Session 2: A Sharp Intake of Breath
LISA RANDALL - physicist
PAUL BERG - father of genetic engineering
OK, I didn't understand a lot of either of these presentation (very science-y). However, I get that Lisa was talking about extra dimensions (beyond 4, the three usual spatial ones and time) and how do we prove their existence. And Paul was talking about genetics and the info that is encoded in our genomes - there's more going on there than we realise. Identical twins start life off with identical genomes, but as they get older, their genomes diverge (epigenetics). OK. So, what if the extra genetic info that paul is looking for is encoded in our genes, but on an extra-dimensional level? Lisa and Paul clearly need to talk!!
BILL JOY - founder of SUN, now venture capitalist
New 200 million dollar fund for pandemic research. Our global pandemic preparedness is substandard.
CHILDREN OF UGANDA
Amazing performance by AIDS orphans from Uganda.
Bonus Session - Al Gore
Oh, too late tonight to blog this one.
All I can say is that the US, the world and history lost when Gore had the 2000 election stolen from him by the Supreme Court. His talk, his passion were inspiring. I was lucky enough to snag one of the 100 tickets to bfast with him tomorrow. More on Gore then.
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