Marco Tempest | The Virtual Human's TED Conference Blog

Regina Saphier TED Long Beach 2012 Day 3

Thursday, March 1, 2012

11:00 – 12:45

Session 8: The Courtroom
Hosted by Chris Anderson

Jim Stengel, Marketer
Sherry Turkle, Cultural analyst
Tali Sharot, Cognitive neuroscientist
Bryan Stevenson, Public-interest lawyer

Lets see… Jim… I am sorry, but selling lots and lots of toxic deodorants with ideals… that is pathetic. And I am saying this with a marketing degree (diploma work in marketing ethics). Jim did not convince me. Sherry spoke about the avoidance of intimacy… people hide behind technology. Many young people have very little social skills, feel lonely, and need real attention. Tali warned us that we are way too optimistic. She called it the optimism bias and it could be responsible for the ongoing economic crisis. Depressed people are more realistic. But optimism leads to success. People love anticipation. Taylor Wilson, a really young nuclear physicist told us about his home made fusion reactor and also pointed out that for a scientist the glass is always full, because of water and air. 🙂

Bryan received a really long and deserved standing ovation for his wonderful talk on integrity, race, and fighting for justice. In his opinion richness is not the opposite of poverty, it is rather justice. He believes that each person is more than their worst action. When a judge decided to put his African American teenage client on trial as an adult, he made a motion: lets try him as a 75 years old privileged white male corporate executive. He advocated for proximity between the privileged TEDsters and people in poverty.

2:15 – 4:00

Session 9: The Design Studio
Guest curated by Chee Pearlman and David Rockwell

Chip Kidd, Graphic designer
Liz Diller, Architect
David Kelley, Designer, educator
Thomas P. Campbell, Museum director
American Ballet Theatre, Dance company
John Hodgman, Expert
John Hockenberry, Journalist

A highly entertaining session. Chip told the story of his book cover design process. He has the persona of a stand up comedian really and was dressed like an elegant and intelligent clown. Liz spoke about the redesign of a museum in Washington. Not my kind of design. My favorite speaker was David, a person who is well known as the one who helps people rediscover their creative power at Stanford. He gives back people’s creative confidence. He is such a compassionate person. Thomas spoke about the curated museum experience at the MET. It would have been nice if he showed one of the tapestry exhibits on the TED stage. When I moved to New York in 1999, I spent my first two weeks at the MET. True story. Also true: when I was 9 years old, my parents lost me in the MET, in the book store in 1981 (luckily they did find me, after they realized in the lobby that I was missing… my father lost me actually, he has ADD I think… not with antiques, only with kids). The ABT did not particularly impress me. John Hodgman made fun of design. John Hockenberry told us about his father’s wisdom: design by intent. Intent makes all the difference in your actions and design.

5:00 – 6:45

Session 10: The Campfire
Hosted by June Cohen

Jared Ficklin, Visualizer
Joshua Foer, Writer
Philippe Petit, High-wire artist
Jon Ronson, Writer and filmmaker
Abigail Washburn, Clawhammer banjo player

Jared made flames dance and made us see sound. Joshua decided to write about memory training and ended up winning the competition he wanted to write about. We remember best when we memorize topic by topic, or in fact place by place. Make your life memorable, pay attention, be mindful, and remember to remember. Philippe told his fascinating story with passion. He made us imagine the moments when he crossed the air between the WTC buildings. Marco Tempest invited us to his digital campfire.

Jon told the TED audience that there are probably 30-40 psychopaths among them. It would be normally only 1%, but it is 4% among CEOs. Corporate psychopathology is responsible for a lot of suffering in the world today. Abigail was singing in Chinese while playing the banjo. She was obviously born to perform.