The theme at TED2008 is "The Big Questions" - so each session is themed around "big" question. I've found that most speakers either start or end their talks with "I would reframe that question as ..." - makes me chuckle.
Session 1: Who Are We?
The opening speaker this year was Louise Leakey, third generation anthropologist and granddaughter of Mary Leakey. She was fantastic! She shared that our history as homo sapiens sapiens isn't really that long in the grand scheme of things. And she talked about a time in the history of our world when more than one hominid species lived. I wonder what that would have been like - to live alongside other hominids. Key quotes:
- Finding fossils is hard work. They walk slowly over the African terrain staring at the ground. Foot by foot. She showed a video. I couldn't do it. Requires the patience of Job and eagle eyes.
- As a species, our tool use has evolved (I chuckle as I picture the evolution from stone-tipped spear to Nokia N95). But our technology has removed the checks and balances that used to keep our species in check (e.g. population growth issues).
- Sometimes we make poor choices that are ultimately bad for our survival.
Jay Walker - his awesome library is the set decor for TED this year. Fun Fact: the energy required to move 1 MB of data is equal to 1 lump of coal. Downloading a video from YouTube is like burning a large bag of charcoal briquets.
I read Wade Davis' Serpent and the Rainbow in university. I remember a lot of my professors speaking of Davis with a bit of disdain. After hearing him speak, I really can't understand it. His work in preserving indigenous cultures, languages and traditions is quite remarkable. I very much enjoyed his talk. his language is lyrical; his photography is evocative and his passion for these cultures and people is palpable. His talk isn't posted yet, but there is one from a few years ago of him at TED.
I met Chris Jordan at TED last year. His photography is so provocative. This year, as a speaker, he was genuine, passionate and articulate. He shared some of his more recent work where he continues to try to make the mass impact of individual poor decisions understandable. The most startling picture for me? The image created to show the number of plastic cups used in six hours on airlines in the US - 1 million plastic cups every 6 hours! His images are intended to outrage - his fear is that we don't feel enough - we don't feel enough grief, enough anger, enough outrage to spur us to action.
I took no notes at all during Jill Bolte Taylor's session. I was simply dumbfounded by her experience. She is a neuroscientist who had a stroke. She shared the experience of going through the stroke - but most important to me where her crystal clear realizations about the nature of the choices we must make every day: are we going to be right-brained and participate in community and the one-ness of human energy and experience. Or, are we going to be left-brained and identify as a solitary self for whom ego is the driving factor. We obviously need both - but we need to recognize that it is a choice which one we listen to and how often. Jill's openness was most astonishing. It was so moving to hear someone who has been to the brink of death (physical and mental) describe and share so freely the experience. Utterly unfathomable.
Photo Credits: Andrew Heavens, Chris Jordan, Andrew Heavens
Note: I am a terrible live-blogger at conferences. So these notes posted generally at least a day later are the thoughts that percolated to the top and what I can decipher of my notes. The uber-bloggers of TED are Ethan Zuckerman and Bruno Giussani, plus the posts that are happening by a couple of different people at the official TED blog. I had the pleasure of sitting at Blogger's Alley with Zuckerman and Giussani last year. I only stopped in briefly this year - though I think I may try to spend part of the day tomorrow (Friday) there. I also just found a "Tips for Conference Bloggers" guide that Zuckerman and Giussani put together. Very helpful!!