Christopher Herot's Weblog

Twelve Things I Learned at TED 2009

One of the best parts of the TED conference is the breadth of ideas one is exposed to.  Some are profound, some are interesting, and many will only be appreciated later when they eventually become useful as part of a larger pattern.  The following are offered as a sampling:

• The Greeks and Romans believed that creativity came not from artists but through them. (Elizabeth Gilbert)
• Art is about sharing responsibility between the artist and the viewer. (Olafur Eliasson)
• Cisco Telepresence looks great, takes 4 mbits/sec (5 to be safe) and costs $80,000 for each endpoint.
• The CGI for the first hour of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" took 155 people two years to make.  (Ed Ulbrich)
• More than 40 3D movies will be released in the next two years.
• Game theory analysis tested by the CIA says there is a 90% probability that Iran will make enough weapons-grade material to show they could make a bomb, but won't actually build one. (Bruce Bueno De Mesquita)
• Blue Man Group adjusts its act for each city.
• 25% of the prescriptions drug sold in the developing world are counterfeit. (Bright Simons)  
• In teaching students about math, statistics may be more useful than calculus. (Hans Rosling)
• If you need delicate surgery, you may be in better hands if those hands belong to a robot (albeit controlled by a skilled surgeon). (Catherine Mohr)
• Bacteria communicate with each other, and disrupting that communication may be the key to a new generation of antibiotics. (Bonnie Bassler)
• There are a lot of things we could learn from India, the world's "youngest" country (Nandan Nilekani)

TED2009

The annual TED conference wrapped up on Saturday and was a bright spot of optimism amidst an otherwise gloomy mood worldwide.  In contrast to the World Economic Forum which convened the preceding week in Davos and which concentrated on the economic crisis, TED2009 took a longer view towards what would sustain progress once the current mess was behind us. The theme, "Ideas worth spreading" could not have been more appropriate. Those ideas ranged from Bill Gates' rethinking of philanthropy to Elizabeth Gilbert's thoughts on the origins of creativity.  Both of those talks represented the best of how TED has evolved and why it is increasingly relevant.

Founded by Richard Saul Wurman in 1984, TED explored and celebrated the intersection of Technology, Entertainment and Design.  It saw the rise of the personal computer, the digitization of media, and an Internet boom that made billionaires out of many in the audience and on stage.  That stage was occupied by CEOs, entertainers, and designers who were often household names and who were attracted by an equally varied and accomplished audience.  When Wurman sold the conference in 2002, he could be forgiven for thinking it was at its peak.  Indeed, when the new owners, a non-profit run by Chris Anderson added a new emphasis on problems such as poverty and the environment, it was greeted with some trepidation but in hindsight it was perfectly timed.  While the period up to 2002 had created a lot of wealth, the newly wealthy (with Gates as perhaps the most visible) were looking for a way to give back to the world, and with the collapse of the Internet bubble, the rise of global terrorism, the AIDS epidemic, and the realization that the planet was warming, there were plenty of problems that needed not just money but creative approaches.  Now with the realization that the wealth created by the recent bubbles in housing and on Wall Street were mirages, there is the realization that the ultimate source of progress is the human imagination.

The other big change in TED is its visibility.  When I first started going in 1993, TED, like the Internet, was celebrated by those who went but almost unknown in the larger world.  That all changed when TED started distributing the talks on the Internet, creating a new constituency, especially among people in their teens and twenties, and new attention in the media, such as a recent article in the New York Times, Confessions of a TED Addict.  The increased attention created increased demand, which made admission to the conference increasingly difficult, even at $6,000, but also made it increasingly relevant now that there was a way to disseminate the content worldwide.

Throughout all the changes, TED remained true to a formula which assured it success: thought provoking speeches followed by breaks long enough to talk, and an audience of people who are interesting to talk to.  A recent example was the above-mentioned talk by Elizabeth Gilbert on how genius was perhaps something that came through instead of something that was within us. Whether or not that explanation was too mystical for your taste, it was a good departure for a discussion.  In my case, one of those discussions was over dinner with an old friend from the computer business and two biologists who we just met.  We looked at everything from recent research on cognition to hypnosis and meditation, whether there was a supernatural force and whether it mattered, and what each of did to find our inner (or outer) genius.  We didn't solve all the world's problems that night but we did come away with some new insights and made some new friends.  More than that you can't ask of any conference.

TED University

Part of the pre-TED activities is TED University - a collection of short talks by members of the TED community.  This year they are presented in the Centre Theatre, a smaller room behind the main venue.

Some of my favorite talks:

• Bruce Johnson on How to Make Cheese at Home, using simple ingredients such as yogurt and cheesecloth.
• Dan Sharp on the Rule of Law and How to Save It. 
• David Bolinsky with an animated visualization of the microbiology of Dengue fever. 
• David S. Rose on High Tech Tools for Your Car, contrasting video clips of James Bond, Batman, and Night Rider with some very similar technology available off the shelf today.
• Jim McCarthy on Live 2.0 - how value has shifted away from recorded music and into live concerts. 
• Matthew Childs on Rock Climbing's 9 Lessons. 
• Richard St. John - From Fame to Flop - Avoiding Success-to-Failure Syndrome. 

Long Beach Prepares for TED2009

It's February again and time for the annual TED Conference.  This year the event is in a brand new venue - Long Beach, California.  Already, people are starting to arrive and the air is practically crackling with anticipation.

With the change in location the conference organizers seem to have made a special effort to make everyone feel welcome.  In addition to TED banners along the streets this year introduces the TED Host program through which about 100 long-term TEDsters will have dinner tonight with TED organizer Chris Anderson and take a tour tomorrow of all the facilities, preparing them to welcome new TEDsters into the community.  It's a great idea - although about a third of the audience is new every year, it can seem to a newcomer like everyone knows everyone else, and that with so many accomplished people on stage and in the audience that it might be difficult to start a conversation.  In reality, TED is a large and welcoming community and by the end of the week even the newest members have made new friends.   It's good to see the conference make a conscious effort to encourage this process and I look forward to participating.

Some photos of pre-TED Long Beach here.