Run-down TED day 3: exceptional creativity
I’ve never before experienced a conference like this one. The first-rate speakers, the quality of the food, beverages and other facilities; all is organised perfectly. All sponsors do their bit and provide all sorts of fun extras, which heightens the whole experience even more.
The questions How do we create? What’s out there? What will tomorrow bring? and What stirs us? are the session subjects of day 3. Starting with an insiders view on developing computer generated film effects to the closure of our united singing – in German – of Ode to Joy (terribly hard as the lyrics are written in phonetic German).
A regular TED day sees about 16 speakers of 18 minutes, 6 3-minutes speakers and all sorts of musical treats in between. Here is a brief summary.
John Knoll, developer of Photoshop and visual effects specialist with Industrial Light and Magic, delivers a beautiful presentation on the evolution of special effects over the last 40 years. As effects maker of films such as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest he gives people a chance to enjoy a magical virtual world.
Author Amy Tan has a striking personal story and gives her vision on life by reflecting her own. Yves Behar, designer of, among other things, JawBone and the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project explains a product will only appeal to people when it’s designed from the outset to accommodate the wishes of the end users.
Robert J. Lang demonstrates almost anything can be made by using origami. Why is this interesting? Origami can be applied practically in all sorts of industries by transporting large materials in much smaller packaging. He really makes amazing things from 1 small square piece of paper (you can find examples on his site).
In the 2nd session Tod Machover’s presentation is especially effective. He is, amongst other things, responsible for the design of Guitar Hero. On MIT he is involved with the interface between people and music. Dan, a severely handicapped boy, is physically unable to make music. He comes on stage and by means of relatively simple software and a web cam he creates an entire symphony that blows everyone away. Tears run down many faces.
Peter Schwartz, futurist, has a positive and particularly well-founded vision on the future. He says most people are sombre about the future, in general people fear the world they leave behind for their children. Peter provides a clear view on what current issues can lead to huge problems, but also vice versa; what good things are currently happening and what effect this can have. He concludes with ‘The future is better than it used to be’.
Medical expert Sue Goldie shows, using a relatively straightforward statistic, how simple screening methods could prevent certain diseases in third world countries. She makes this quite confrontational by determining the value of a human life in different areas of the world. This comes with a fine conclusion; in regard to the numbers and relative low costs in this field there is a lot to gain in poor countries (and money to be made), and by screening you can sell screening products but also early medication to prevent certain diseases.
In a 3 minute talk Larry Burn, VP of General Motors, gives a short explanation on how GM sees the future. ‘In 2015 it will be technologically possible to have completely safe self-steering cars driving on regular roads.’ In one of the many rooms of TED a prototype can be found that won GM awards for the best self steering car.
David Griffin, Director of Photography of National Geographic, is another wonderful speaker. He proves a photo can sometimes speak louder than a thousand words. As soon as this TED talk will be on line, I highly recommend watching it!
Before the end of the TED day there are 2 more speakers worth mentioning. First, author Chris Abani takes stage. His stories are gripping. When he was 16 he wrote a political thriller on a coup in Nigeria. The story was so convincing the Nigerian government threw him in jail twice and tortured him multiple times. He tells wonderful stories about his childhood, the relationship with his mother and all sorts of sweeping events.
Then the party begins. Benjamin Zander comes on stage, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. What a hugely inspiring and dynamic person! According to him, everyone loves classical music, but most of us (about 96%) have never learned to properly listen to it. On the spot he teaches us how to listen to classical music (The job of the C is to make the B sound sad) and with each passing second we all become more and more cheerful. Then, as the final number, we all stand to sing the Ode of Joy together. Today (Saturday) Al Gore looks back on this by saying: ‘TED is so special, yesterday I even found myself singing a German song at the top of my voice’. And I must admit, even I mumbled along.
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