Top TED Moments of All Time

Almost finished reading all the Communications Arts magazines I got at a recent library book sale. This post is based on an excellent article in the May/June 2002 edition (which interestingly doesn't seem to be available from their online store) about TED, entitled "Meme Machine" by DK Holland.

TED is an annual Technology, Entertainment and Design conference held in Monterey, California, that brings together the movers and shakers in those industries (by invitation). Each speaker gets 15-20 minutes to present whatever it is they want to present. The audience typically either have presented in previous years, or will in the future. Lots of smart people. During the conference period, there are lots of opportunites outside the presentations to interact with your fellow TEDites.

To get a feel for this, I suggest watching the two videos, "Welcome to TED" and "Taste of TED" on this page. More on the history of TED here.

The article was concerned with the possible demise of the conference because it was the last conference for the founder, Richard Saul Wurman. Looking at their website, it looks like those concerns were unfounded.

What interested me from the article most was the sidebar entitled. "Top TED Moments of All Time" composed by Holland and a few of his other TEDsters.

I'm quoting it in it's entirety here, plus adding a few links (where I could find them) to help people like me, who weren't there, to appreciate it better.

• The first Macintosh was presented at TED in 1984.
• James Gosling introduced Java software at TED when it was still nameless.
• Scientist Jonas Salk gave his last speech at TED.
• Paralympic athelete and multiple amputee Aimee Mullins removed her lifelike prosthetic legs on stage.
• Wise old men, Billy Graham and Art Buchwald made us cry and laugh, respectively, in response to their observations on truth, life and the human spirit.
• Nathan Myrrhvold, Microsoft Chief Technology Officer, explored the sex life of the dinosaur and explained how they 'did it' with such huge bodies, long necks and tiny heads.
• Boy genius David Dairymple (a nine-year-old college sophomore) amazed us by displaying poise and wisdom far beyond his years.
• Journalist John Hockenberry, who is bound to a wheelchair, introduced and demonstrated Dean Kamen's I-BOT, a gyroscopic electrically-powered chair that can stand on its wheels and go up and down stairs. The audience wept.
• Quincy Jones confirmed from the audience that Herbie Hancock and Makoto Ozone had shared a seminal moment when they performed a piano duet on TED's stage. "It was the kind of thing that happens once in 40 years," Jones said.
• Nobel Peace Prize-winning scientist Kary Mullis called global warming all a big misunderstanding: The devices that provide the air temperature data are usually located in areas that have, over the years, become encrouched on by development. This has resulted in the raise in temperature that we have come to call global warming.
• Sherwin Nuland, respected surgeon, author and professor of surgery at Yale University, revealed that he suffered from debilitating depression for years and gave the details of his illness, electro shock therapy and subsequent recovery. Nuland's candor and humility in the telling of this unsettling odyssey stunned the audience.
• Scientists William Lange and David Gallo showed never-before-seen footage from the deepest parts of the ocean revealing that life may well have started inside the Earth, not on the surface as is commonly thought.
• Conservationist and animal rights activist Jane Goodall and inventor Paul MacCready each explained how human actions imperil wildlife and pleaded for a reversal of our negative impact on the Earth. As designer Clement Mok says, "They explained to me a world I know little about and their commitment to their lifelong passion were demonstrations of passion and the human spirit".

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( Jul 18 2004, 08:42:05 AM PDT ) [Listen] Permalink