TED Session 12: Jay Walker, Jamie Cullum

1. Jay Walker
China will become the world’s largest English-speaking nation this year. English is the language of problem-solving. English is the world’s second-language.
2. Jamie Cullum, musician
3. Gever Tulley
Tinkering school for kids. No limits. Shows a rollercoaster built by 7-year-olds.
4. Barry Schwartz
Practical wisdom and the remoralization of professional life. Virtue. Nothing in a janitor’s [...]

TED Session 11: Nate Silver, Alex Tabarrok

1. Nate Silver, statistician
Election, only 90 days ago. If you look at states, just about everywhere became more blue. 20-30-point swings in highland regions for Obama compared to Clinton, it’s remarkable. What’s the matter with Arkansas. 14-20 percent of exit polls said race was important and said they voted for McCain.
Is racism predictable? There [...]

TED Session 10: Fun, Wacky, Inspiring Stuff

The theme is DARE.
1-2-3. Capacitor (dance troupe) + preview of Where the Wild Things Are (with music by Arcade Fire) + Ueli Gegenschatz (B.A.S.E jumper, wingsuit flier)
4. Mary Roach, writer (fun facts about orgasms)
5. Ross Evans, lasso tricks
6. Lean Maria Klingvall
Born with disabilities — no arms and different-sized legs. But has accomplished much as [...]

TED Session 9: Natasha Tsakos, Evan Williams

The theme is GROW.
1. Natasha Tsakos, performance artist
My favorite language is science. Theater transforms senses and opens the door to imagination. And our ability to imagine makes us explorers.
Up Wake — demonstration of show — hero is businessman named “Zero.” Performed in a stage with three walls, she is the only actor but [...]

TED Session 8: Evan Schwartz, Thelma Golden…

The theme is DISCOVER.
1. Evan Schwartz
Who is the wizard in The Wizard of Oz? He thinks it’s a composite of Edison, Rockefeller, Barnum and the Swami.
2. Thelma Golden, Studio Museum in Harlem executive director
Teacher taught her she could travel the world through art in museums without leaving New York City. But really discovered love [...]

TED Session 7: TED Prize

The theme is DREAM.
1. Jill Tarter, astronomer
Perspective is a very powerful thing. From my perspective we live in a fragile island in a universe of possibilities. If we’re alone, it’s an awful waste of space. Humans have only been the most intelligent life on our planet for a very short time.
“I wish that [...]

TED Session 5: Daniel Libeskind, Kevin Surace…

The theme is INVENT.
1. Daniel Libeskind, architect
Look around — architecture is resistant to change. We applaud the well-mannered box. But to create a space that never existed is what interests me. Architecture, of all things, has to be optimistic. Need to grapple with questions — be political. It must be real, not simulated. Rawness in [...]

TED Session 5: Nina Jablonski, Art Benjamin…

The theme is UNDERSTAND.
1. Nina Jablonski, anthropologist

Darwin’s Origin of Species has only one line about human evolution in the entire book, saying all this could have implications. Much later, in 1871, he did have something to say about it: of all the differences between the races of men, color of skin is best-marked — [...]

TED Session 4: Oliver Sacks, Joann Kuchera-Morin…

The theme is SEE.
1. Oliver Sacks, neurologist

Hallucinations. Tells story of 95-year-old patient who hallucinated a silent movie. Diagnosed her with Charles Bonnet syndrome. In his experience, 10% of hearing impaired have hearing hallucinations, 10% of visually impaired have images. MRIs done while people are having hallucinations show that visual hallucinations activate fusiform gyrus. Animations activate [...]

TED Session 3: Saul Griffith, Seth Godin…

The theme is RECONNECT.
1. Saul Griffith
Kites — every child’s favorite plaything –have a magnificent future. Wind is second-largest renewable resource after solar. Kite powered by robot can power five U.S. households — sustained long-duration flight. Working towards megawatt machines — paper plane enough to power cell phone, and it goes from there. Within two years [...]