School of Life | The Virtual Human's TED Conference Blog

Regina Saphier TED Global 2011 Day 3

Image via Wikipedia

Thursday, July 14, 2011 11:00 – 12:45
Session 8: Embracing Otherness

She is the host of this session.

Thandie tells her own story of otherness and how dancing and acting helped her understand that oneness and suspended self is the key, and that she should respect her own self instead of being ashamed of it or changing it constantly… but not live in her self, rather aim to reach oneness. It was such a beautiful TED talk, that I will not attempt to retell it, rather ask you to please, listen to it as soon as it will be online. And I have the feeling that it will be up very soon.

Yang Lan
Media mogul, TV host

Yang introduces us to the hopes, problems and needs of Chinese youth.

Nadia al-Sakkaf
Journalist

Nadia shows us pictures and tells the story of how people, especially women and girls in Yemen live today.

Jarreth Merz
Filmmaker

Jarreth tells the story of Ghana living up to the expectations of democracy. He says, yes, we Africans can!

Vertigo
Dance company

Well, they dance…

Bunker Roy
Educator

Bunker, who had the best education and a privileged life in India, decided to go to a village 45 years ago and started the barefoot college for the poor a bit later, in 1972. He says: listen to people, to the poor people and for example train the grandmothers of poor communities to make fundamental changes. He spoke of women being trained via sign language to build solar tools and how these women went home and changed their villages in several countries. His talk included so much genius that I recommend you to definitely watch this talk on ted.com as soon as it becomes available. Wonderful story!

2:15 – 4:00
Session 9: Living Systems

Alain de Botton
Philosopher

Alain suggests atheism 2.0 🙂

We need help, guidance, assistance, because as religions say, people are children… while universities assume we are adults in need of information, and that is all. Well, I am sure you see the right way in the middle, and get a “church ceremony meets university lecture” kind of education for life: The School of Life. Religion: repetition, calendar, structure, rituals, oratory skills, branded multinational institutions… so: lone individuals of the mind, like poets and educators, must group together. Learn from religion. But NO leader needed, because it is a wiki kind of project. 🙂 I feel that Alain’s new TED talk is somehow unfinished…

Erik Hersman
Blogger

Erik says, innovation is equally distributed in the world, and Africa is no different.

Paul Snelgrove
Marine biologist

Paul is cataloging marine life and he shows us some stunning images. My favorite was the Yeti Crab. 🙂

Pavan Sukhdev
Environmental economist

Pavan works to end the economic invisibility of nature. Recognize natural capital.

Pauline Chen
Surgeon, writer

Doctors can cure people and also help the dying and their relatives. Pauline advocates for empathy in medicine. Humanize the medical profession.

Charles Hazlewood
Conductor

And finally music with explanation of the conductor’s job and that music should not be an elite phenomenon in the “West”. Charles says we should make music as freely as Africans do. 🙂 He is starting a para orchestra in the UK for disabled people. And finally he shows us how Haydn explained the importance of trust to one Prince Esterházy in Hungary (the particular Esterházy prince wanted the musicians to move out of his household, so to make his point, Haydn composed a piece during which the musicians leave the stage in pairs until the piece is played by only two people who also walk out finally while still playing).

5:00 – 6:45
Session 10: Feeling

Alison Gopnik
Child development psychologist

Alison says: to be a learning baby is like being in love in Paris after drinking three double espressos. Babies are super learners, they also run unconscious or conscious “statistical calculations” while learning. What they find hard is focusing.

Paul Bloom
Psychologist

Paul says we want to own original artworks because we need to believe that real, hard, skilled work, effort, creativity and history is behind that particular collectible or even music. This gives us deep pleasure. When we learn that the object of desire is not original, we lose interest, because we lose the history we assumed initially and we lose the feeling of pleasure.

Paul Zak
Neuroeconomist

Poor countries are low oxytocin nations. This hormone is the trust molecule. It increases empathy and it makes us moral. It connects us. Dr. Love says: 8 hugs a days will make you happier. And the more people hug each other, the better place the world becomes.

Todd Kuiken
Biomedical engineer

Todd develops highly flexible and functional prosthetic arms with nerve connections and his patients surprised him saying that they have tactile input and so they feel different surfaces and textures.

Mr. Tempest, the magician performed again, and today he impressed me. 🙂

Abraham Verghese
Physician and author

Another medical doctor with empathy telling his story. Don’t just look at data, the computer, but listen to your patients, look at them, hear them and examine them directly. It is an important ritual that people need.