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Being at TED Aspen 2008 … Day Two

Posted by Joseph Riggio on Thursday, February 28, 2008

I am at the TED Conference in Aspen and it’s Day Two ... you can join those of us who are either here in Aspen or in Monterey live virtually by visiting TED.com. I understand that they are broadcasting the conference in high quality video so you can at least see the sessions and take advantage of some of the most exciting ideas on the planet. Here’s my first review from the ground to whet your appetite for what is TED ...

Hello Folks,

I have been a TED.com fan for years ... I go there for inspiration and intelligence ... I recommend it to my students at Parsons ... and I’m sure after this experience my appreciation will have only increased. However, what I wasn’t able to get before was the electric energy of attending a TED conference live. Ultimately from this perspective, participating in the conference live what you get are that connections with people resides at the heart of TED.

One advantage of these connections are that they extend the experience of the presentations because it becomes possible to see the effect the presentations have on a live audience as they experience the presenter and the topic with you. Being here also immerses you in the social experience of the TED gathering. As fascinating as the presentations are, the people that TED draws ... their diversity, their range of accomplishments, their willingness to engage with the ideas ... are just as fascinating or more so. As I said, the atmosphere has an electricity to it ... and I’ve been told that even more true of the Monterey crowd.

So far the topics have covered:


Day ONE:


  • Who are we?

  • What is our place in the universe?

    • Day TWO:


  • What is life?

  • Is beauty truth?

    • Among the fascinating ideas that jumped out for me have been:

    Patricia Burchat, Particle Physicist from Standford University presenting on dark matter and the expanding universe.

    Peter Ward, Paleontologist who talked about the relationship between global warming ... the transition from reptilian life to mammalian life ... the impact of bacterial blooms and hydrogen sulfide ... life preserving medical technology ... the Gaia Theory - NOT! ... and my favorite, the lack of intelligent life in the Universe other than on Planet Earth (I’ve been a proponent of this idea to the bane of my intellectual standing according to some for years ...) how’s that for list of things to connect?!!?!?!!

    Craig Venter, Genetics Pioneer and Paul Rothemund, DNA Origamist talking about synthetic life forms.

    Susan Blackmore, Pyschologist who took Richard Dawkins work on memes and expanded them into a full fledged science, memology.

    In addition there have been a couple of kick-ass musical performances including one be Kaki King, who you must hear if you have never heard here before ... she’s an incredible guitarist with a virtuoso technique!

    BTW I have to say that I’ve never been to a better organized or higher quality conference in my life! These people are brilliant at putting together a world-class conference. From the logistics to the on-site coordination and help, to the extra-added “goodies” like the best conference gift bag I’ve ever seen ... beyond what I’ve even considered could be possible as a gift bag. The organizers and sponsors are totally into making TED the best conference on the planet ... while keeping it feeling totally non-commercial!

    So you are probably getting that I am having a blast and learning a lot in the process ... and we’re only half way through Day Two. What I find so exciting revolves the excitement of ideas ... not so much what they are ... but much, much more about what they do ... they way the replicate and expand once they become public. It feels like being in the midst of something important ...

    What personally excites me has to do with the idea of integral thinking ... or convergence ... ideas coming together, effecting one another, expanding from their own force ... ideas expanding beyond the boundaries of fixed categories and being considered as an interplay of a unified dynamic system that we call the Universe. This idea has yet to reach formal education that still insists upon categories of ideas, subject areas, domains of expertise. The entire academic/professional paradigm demands evidence ... proof ... of expertise as gained in a “primary area of interest.” In college these are called “majors.” In professional life these are the gates that hold out anyone without the right credentials ... regardless of proclivity, experience or skill. Yet here at TED ideas come together ... and are accepted without boundaries.

    I’ll follow up after I’ve experienced a bit more of TED live ... doing my best to share some of what I’m getting here with you. And, I’ll likely be adding in a bit of my own commentary in one way or another over the weeks and months to come.

    I’m thinking, “If they let me ... I’m coming back again next year.” I think I’ve become a TEDster.

    Joseph Riggio

    Aspen, Colorado

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