I refrained from tweeting out all of the great quotes today so I could just truly absorb the entire experience of TED. However, I did paraphrase as many of them as I could (while still paying attention) in my notebook, so I thought rather than typing out several tweets tonight, I’d just type them on my blog and link to it from Twitter. So here we go…
The first one of the day I had to write down was from June Cohen, Executive Producer of the TED Conference, when talking about the people that drive us crazy with their obsessiveness on subjects they are passionate about:
“I believe we’ve evolved as a species BECAUSE of the collective obsessiveness of individuals.”
The next one I enjoyed was Nina Jablonski, who studies skin and evolution and referred to how far we’ve come as a species as well:
“200 years after Darwin’s birthday, we have the first moderately pigmented President of the United States.”
Arthur Benjamin, math enthusiast, called for a different approach to what is the pinnacle of mathematics. He said that calculus is interesting, but not what will drive students of the future. It is probability and statistics. Love it.
Louise Fresco, a Dutch food and agriculture expert, talked about the upsides of mass food production (often just painted as plain bad) and instead of just local or just global food production, we should be talking about REGIONAL food production:
“Never before has the responsibility to feed the world been given to so few people and never before have so many people been oblivious to this.”
“Small scale farming is a luxury solution for wealthy Westerners, but not a solution for solving world hunger.”
I totally, completely fell in love with Elisabeth Gilbert of Eat, Pray, Love fame (will now definitely read her book). Everything she said about the anxiety of the creative process really resonated with me…to the point where I burst into tears and jumped to my feet cheering Olé! She was incredibly poignant at describing the frustration I share with her on the lack of understanding people have for creativity. I think my parents STILL wonder what I do for a living. I can’t wait until this one comes out in video. Here are some memorable quotes:
“Is it rational that anyone should be afraid of doing the work the felt they were put on this earth to do?”
“Nobody ever asked my father, ‘Do you have chemical engineering block?’”
“Individual genius is too much pressure for one frail human psyche to handle. It’s like asking someone to swallow the sun and I think it’s what’s been killing artists for 500 years.”
“The creative process does not behave rationally – it seems at times to be paranormal.”
She told the story of a poet whose poems come flying over the hills. She can feel the earth rumbling as it approaches and she knows she needs to run like hell to find pen and paper so she can catch the poem as it travels through her body. I’ve totally been there. Not with poetry, but ideas.
Jacek Utko’s design work on a Russian Newspaper increased circulation by more than 30% for some regions and doubled other regions. His designs are freaking killer amazing. He said:
“To be good is not enough.”
I loved Margaret Wertheim‘s crocheted coral reefs project – a real international community effort and a fantastic way to spread the word about the dying coral reefs. She suggested “Play Tanks” instead of “Think Tanks”. I like that idea alot.
Post-lunch, I felt lukewarm about Daniel Lieskind’s talk. I don’t like to think in dualities, but he did say some really profound things:
“Today, we have an evangelical pessimism all around us.”
“Many buildings outside tell us a story, but that story is very short. It says, ‘We lack a story’”
Kevin Surace’s EcoRock is well worth checking out if you are going to be building anything that requires gyprock. I also really loved the idea of intelligent outlets shown by John LaGrou. (sorry…no link I could find to the actual outlets). Shai Agassi, who talked about an awesome electric car network (turning our current vehicles into electric cars instead of merely manufacturing more cars) said:
“Hybrids are like mermaids. When you want a fish, you get a woman. When you want a woman, you get a fish.” (I think he was quoting someone else)
There was more, including a hilarious interlude by AskANinja, but I stopped taking notes at some point. Sarah Jones was amazing. My favorite TED Prize was presented by Sylvia Earle who was amazing and passionate about ocean life and I was deeply stirred by José Antonio Abreu’s wish to spread El Sistema and the beautiful music played by the youth orchestra. I was also tickled to see that all the TED Prizes from 2008 are doing well: Once Upon a School (Dave Eggers project), Next Einstein (creating the next Einstein in Africa), and Charter for Compassion (my total fave…love this project about religious tolerance and understanding).
February 6th, 2009 at 12:18 am
Excellent summary, Tara! I hope to hear more about all this in person. And I’m looking forward to reading your book.
Best wishes,
Mariva
February 6th, 2009 at 12:33 am
Fantastic turn of phrase, enjoyed reading it.
February 6th, 2009 at 12:58 am
Thanks for posting these quotes & notes, Tara. Katy read Gilbert’s book a little while ago; it sounds like I’ll definitely have to scour the shelf for it when I get back home, and I’m really looking forward to see the video of Gilbert’s talk, too!
Have a great time at TED and do post a bit more when (if?) you get a chance!
February 6th, 2009 at 6:29 am
Tara,
Thanks so much for sharing. I already feel inspired just by following your tweets and reading these quotes. I cannot wait until they’re posted online. Please keep them coming!
@ryancmiller
February 6th, 2009 at 7:29 am
I love what you wrote about Elisabeth Gilbert. Her book is amazing. You will truly love it!
February 6th, 2009 at 7:33 am
Thanks so much for the quotes. And I am so glad to mentioned Liz Gilbert’s talk. I heard her speak and left feeling so luck to have had the chance- and to hear her talk about the creative process in particular. It was so cool to learn that when she writes, she alwasy writes “to” someone real in her life, just to help her find what voice to use. I think that’s so useful to anyone who puts their thoughts on paper.
February 6th, 2009 at 9:59 am
I am so down with Elisabeth Gilbert’s creativity talk! For me, instead of ideas flying over the hills, they first very politely tap me on the shoulder or whisper in my ear. At first, mind you. After a while, the tapping becomes more insistent and the whispering a little louder. If I am being really stubborn, then I get sat down and a firm talking to. By then I usually writing whatever it was that wanted to come through me.
Thanks, Tara, for giving us a recap and a brief glimpse of the fantastic world of TED this year!
February 6th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Great collection of inspiring words !!!
February 9th, 2009 at 9:19 am
Thank you for posting this. I know the feeling of wanting to write it all down to remember what everyone said, and I have notebooks full of notes, but actually getting that info on to a format for everyone is really a gift. Thanks again!
Renee Giroux
Ijustfinished.com
February 9th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Hi. I’m very envious that you were able to attend. But, good news, they’ve already posted Ms. Gilbert’s talk:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html
Thanks again for highlighting her talk. It was terrific.
February 9th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Thanks for the great summary! I was completely inspired by Elisabeth Gilbert’s of “Eat, Pray, Love”. You’re going to love it!
Thanks for posting the link to her talk, Peter. It was awesome!
Sincerely,
Tina
February 12th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Love the quotes, especially the mermaid one. Made me chuckle.
Thanks for writing all those down. Glad to hear that you’re enjoying the conference!
Misty Faucheux
http://www.viscape.com/users/mistyfau
February 13th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Just discovered your blog….
“Nobody ever asked my father, ‘Do you have chemical engineering block?’”
I’m sure that’s the best quote ever…
February 13th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Thanks for the great recap! Sounds like it was an amazing event.
February 17th, 2009 at 7:46 am
thank you..
February 20th, 2009 at 4:01 am
Thanks for sharing your experience at TED with such fresh and sparkling authenticity!
I was so inspired by the comments you made about creativity and will definitely look up Elisabeth Gilbert. I have often thought I was crazy — and how are you making a living being an idea channeler?
My ideas come in what I see inside of everywhere I look — kind of like looking at the clouds and seeing pictures — I look at a wrinkled piece of fabric or a rug and sometimes see people doing things, sometimes see animals, sometimes I see one large image — then I look somewhere else and see another scene. My life is a continuous experience of visually generated story and idea — my challenge is to manifest those ideas without being overwhelmed or giving in to just making money…
Thanks for helping me think about this!
February 25th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Thanks for this great overview. I can only imagine how amazing it was to watch all of these people speak. Love Eat, Pray, Love too.
March 5th, 2009 at 6:46 am
I love Elizabeth Gilbert’s writing and talks because she is honest about how hard and yet how easy it can be to be productive creatively.
If you have not already read Elizabeth Gilbert’s essay “Some Thoughts on Writing” – it’s well worth a read (and periodic rereads)
http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/writing.htm
“Magazines, editors, agents – they all employ young people making $22,000 a year whose job it is to read through piles of manuscripts and send you back letters telling you that you aren’t good enough yet: LET THEM DO IT. Don’t pre-reject yourself. That’s their job, not yours. Your job is only to write your heart out, and let destiny take care of the rest. “