Highlights from TED@ASPEN 2008 Day 2

(This is my first experience at blogging live - let me know your thoughts)

Day 2 starts with Session 3 "What is Life"

Alisa Miller Presdent and CEO of Public Radio International started the day with a 3 minute view of how the news shape the way we see the world. She  showed a map of the number of news seconds that were were transmitted in February 2007 - it distorts the way we see the world. News networks have reduced the number of news correspondents around the world by 50%. Covering Brittany Spears is cheaper than covering global news. it is interesting that on Google 14,000 stories covered just 24 news events. More than 50% of Americans in a survey state that they now follow global news - a rise in the last 4 years from 37%. An interesting view of how we see the world. A link to the video.

How can we digitize life - the topic Craig Venter discussed. The sequencing of the Human Genome is trying to move from an analogue world and bringing it into a digital world. The question can we synthesis a chromosome and if we can is it possible to Boot it up"?  How do you build an artificial chromosome - the information has to be really accurate as minor flaws can have major negative influence on the ability to succeed,  They used a building block approach and designed ways of joining the blocks together of up to 100,000 base pairs of genome fragments. This is the start of a DNA Assembly machine  but how do you boot up a synthetic chromosome - evolution is not just a small incremental factor - one chromosome at a time, but chromosomes can change species and multiple chromosomes can transfer simultaneously. This is building on 3.5 million years of evolution. Why do this? There are three people on the planet for every person that was in the world in 1946!' We are consuming more resources than ever and this rate of consumption is not sustainable over time.  There are 20 Million genes that have been discovered to date these genes are the building blocks for the future. there are possibilities of using this 'technology' to convert Co2 to Fuel. The project is hoping to define "What is Life" and possibly replace the petro-chemical industry! There are, however, many organization and interest groups who are keen to stop some of these things happening.

The genome is analogous to a computer program. Paul Rothemund is a DNA Origamist who is looking to start to build DNA structures from the bottom up - effectively using a molecular program which can be programmed to create new entities - DNA Origami! Unfortunately this technique does not scale, however Algorithmic self-assembly uses tiles as DNA building blocks to build on the concept of DNA Origami. "Remember that life uses molecular computation and we need to build something to understand it by uses DNA is ways nature never intended". Taking computer science and looking at how molecular science can make amazing 'things'.

Dean Hornish talked about how to grow your brain - Chocolate, tea, blueberries, alcohol, cannabis can all increase the number of Neurons. Changing your life style can increase your brain and live longer. Our Genes are not our fate they are changeable.

The Meme Machine is a great book written by Susan Blackmore a Psychologist from the UK. Her talk entitles Memes in the Cosmos. We humans are the earths Pandora's species - we have changed the world and can't put it back. Darwin's idea of universal evolution is the 'best idea anyone ever had' - so simple and yet describes all design within the universe. If you have creatures that vary and if there is a struggle for life and all the creatures die and if the very few that survive pass on to their offspring the elements that helped them survive then you musty get evolution. No plan is required if you have these conditions then you MUST get evolution - or "design out of chaos without the aid of mind". The Definition of Meme is 'That which is imitated/copied" - things that are passed on from person to person. Ted is a great Meme-fest! A curious meme - toilet paper being folded into an arrow - this is a meme that has passed around the world even to the depths of Africa - a meme! Humans are a 'meme-machine' and this gives a new view of the origins of humanity - language, use of tools, fire etc. are all memes (the second replicator) - its not all about genetics! Technology Memes or Teams are an interesting way of looking at the way society is developing and finding new ways of behaving and communicating - this is the third replicator.

Neuroimagry is the ability to look in real time at what is happening in the brain - allowing is to 'control' the brain - rather than using pills or surgery. This is being used to control pain through the visualization and control of the brain - like yoga for the brain. the big question is we are the first generation to look inside the brain - what will we do about it?

We next heard from Doris Kearns Goodwin a historian who writes books on the life of the US Presidents. Abraham Lincoln is the subject of her latest book 'Teams of Rivals" and she found that he had such passion he had seen so much death in his early years he did, however take solace from an ancient teaching - "if you can accomplish something significant in your life you will live on". He appointed each of his three rivals in his cabinet when he won the general election - he had an unparalleled emotional strength and political acumen. What made Lincoln great - integrity of his character and the strength of his morality. What she found through all her work at looking at these presidents lives - "the importance is finding balance in your life". "He laughed so he did not cry and a good story was better than a drink of Whiskey".

TED Europe in July 22nd to 24th in 2009 in Oxford. this will be a slightly smaller conference - the theme is "the substance of things not seen". Ted Global will take place in Mumbai in India in November 2009 with a lot more of color and of course Bollywood.

Session 4 is entitled "Is Beauty Truth?"

Our relationship to beauty is very complex. We define beauty in ways we don't understand. Survival of the Prettiest - we respond to beauty physically. But what do we find prettiest and why? We thought we learnt what we think of as beauty is, however research shows that we respond to beauty. People across the world have a surprisingly common understanding of what a beautiful landscape is. We have an innate sense of beauty. The book 'Survival of the Prettiest' by Nancy Etcoff an evolutionary psychologist, discusses our views on beauty and how society views and uses beauty.

Isaac Mizrahi an international fashion designer talks about his 'process' which just started hen he was a kid. His creativity is motivated by his insomnia and he walks endlessly and he follows people who look interesting. He says that a lot of his design ideas come from mistakes and tricks if the eye. Inspiration comes from lying awake and thinking - it doesn't come from research. Creativity should be like  a bodily function! Balance of Irony and Earnestness - balance is what it is really about. Color is a great motivator - not usually found in nature - "how can I make anything as beautiful as Greta Garbo?" He is involved in many things and justifies it by saying "If you do many things you get to feel lousy about lots of things rather than just one". "As a fashion designer you have to be bored with everything if not you have to pretend to be bored by everything". "Style makes you feel great because it takes your mind off the fact that you are going to die".

The Guggenheim foundation has as its director Thomas Krens who is the man responsible for its expansion for a single New York museum to a worldwide brand. Is beauty truth - define truth, define beauty, what is art, what is truth? He showed a series of images that showed that beauty is truth. How are all these objects tied together?  The beauty is not in the objects themselves but in the the exchange between the object and the viewer.  "Our museums conjure a Greece that never existed" (Andres Malraux 1852). Art is biological it exists in all civilizations and at all times.Rethinking museums - the Guggenheim is a point of view? "Passion is a remedy against boredom" (Joseph Brodsky)

Ted.com 30 million talks viewed by 15 million people - 100,000 people everyday watch Ted Talks - also available on Virgin America flights. Next month Ted Talks posted daily as well as translated into different languages. Go to 192021.org to see Richard Saul Wurman, the founders of Ted, new project which looks at 19 cities that will have more than 20 million people in the 21st century.

The bringing of impossible theories together is the Garrett Lisi's topic. Quantum mechanics is a way of describing how the universe works - continually branching into alternate possibilities. Everything that can happen does - this is quantum mechanics."This is an 'all or nothing' kind of theory - meaning its going to end up agreeing with and predicting damn near everything, or its just wrong. At this stage of development it could go either way (Garrett Lisi on physicsforums.com). The theory is based on a beautiful mathematical shape called E8 - with 248 symmetries it is large, complex and beautiful.

Session 5 "Will evil prevail?"

This session starts with a 'world authority' on evil Dr Phillip Zimbardo. The psychology of evil - the Lucifer Effect in Action - What makes people go wrong? The line between good an evil is permeable and moveable. The Lucifer Effect is the exercise of power to intentionally harm phsycologically. He used images of Abu Grabe prison to illustrate evil - was it the people or was it the system. There are the bad apples and there is the bad barrel, the external factors that can crush the system. Where is the power in the system? The Lucifer Effect is a celebration of minds to make people good or evil. All evil starts with a small event - the acts get more evil over time. He talks about the experiment he conducted with students in the 1960s - the study ended after 6 days because the students suffered breakdowns. If people change their appearance they are more likely to commit torture and evil. Power without oversight is a formula for abuse. Heroism is the antidote to evil. How do we encourage heroic imagination and heroic talents?

Laura Trice an audience member talks about praise, recognition and thank you. Why don't we ask for what we need? Very often this is because we are insecure - we are giving away critical data which people could use against us. So be honest about the praise we need to hear and help the people around you.

Irwin Redlener is a Public Health Doctor talks about the big question - Are we at risk from a nuclear attack? A bigger question is can we permanently eliminate a nuclear attack? in 1985 there were 65,000 nuclear warheads around the world. After 1985 we started to de-commission the warheads and today around a two thirds of these still exist - and two new players Pakistan and North Korea.  During the period 1949 to 1991 the MAD understanding (Mutually Assured Destruction) - response planning i.e. preparing for total annihilation which was delusional. Chapter 2 starts in 1991 when former Soviet Union broke up the scenario now is a single nuclear terror threat. Between 1993 and 2006 the IAEA documented 175 thefts of nuclear material. How accessible is the 'know-how' - there is detailed information on the Internet and books on how to do this - an undergraduate degree in physics would be the level of understanding. Terrorists today don't have a return address! The current level of preparedness in the US is inadequate - only 5 - 7% of containers coming in to the US are inspected. OK it could happen and who would survive?

Audience member Eboo Patel did his three minutes on 'what defines the enemy?' People justify murder in the name of freedom. 40% of Americans have problems with muslims - don;t want to live next to one. Does faith define the enemy - young Muslims are entering a life where they will 'suffer' because of their faith. Eboo started the Interfaith Youth Core to bring people together for the benefit of society.

Samatha Power a Political Scientist and journalist spent a lot of her career reporting on mass atrocity and genocide. In the middle of the Rwandan Genocide on April 21st in the New York Times reported that 200-300,000 people had been killed in the genocide. Why is there so little response out of the US Government - Patricia Schroeder  said that "people are more worried about the endangered ape in Rwanda than they are about the people". Almost out of nowhere there has emerged an anti genocide movement - it has been amazingly successful and has become an 'endangered people' movement.  The movement is student driven and they have encouraged their universities to divest themselves of invest, they have launched a 1.800.genocide number to put you through to your congressman.This unfortunately is only an American movement - European governments, particularly, haven't been too pro-active in this area. So what now?  What do we do going forward? First the relationship with evil - understand the context - be in the room - don't check your principles at the door. Espouse dignity in other people. Have freedom from fear - lets calibrate our reaction to the threat - focus on the legitimate challenges and threats (fear is a bad adviser). Have humility and an awareness of the complexity around us - don't be paralyzed by it.

As an intro to the afternoon session we were asked to come up withSix words on how you lost your virginity - below is a list of some of them:

• Lost something - gained so much more
• Wooh I could do that again!
• Steering wheel poking in my back
• Can we try that again  - please?
• Predatory girl - older man - my terms
• It gets better right?
• Oh - are you on the pill
• Finally - wimp - no - harder - yes - again
• My god its full of stars
• Thunderbird motel - Yuma - velvet paintings - unhinged
• Childhood crush - wedding night worth waiting for
• This is fun look no scars
• Bloody sheets unbelieved unbelievably bad excuse
• Hot boy - small penis - bad luck
• This is what they don't want us to do!
• Still passionately married after 28 years
• Love beat fear
• Every slippery slope hits bottom eventually
• Love cannot live with me or without me
• Gratitude embraced given absorbed open forthed
• Mom in audience still a virgin
• Ocean view deck wow splinters suck.
• But they said only one ball
• I think it was horseback riding.

Session 6 - "How can we change the world?"

This session is being broadcast live over the Internet.

E O Wilson in 2007 wished for the Encyclopedia Of Life  which has now been created through the help of TED attendees. Adobe created a navigation system and software to navigate the 1.8 million entries.

First winner of 2008 TED prize is Dave Eggars who is a writer, publisher and educational activist. He created 826 Valencia in San Francisco which is a tutoring center and publishing house - providing one to one tutoring for local students. The shop was zoned for retail and therefore they decided to sell supplies for the working buccaneer - pirate supplies! When they first opened they had no visitors - someone suggested that there me be a trust gap as they were masquerading as a pirate store! The goal is to have one on one attention - around 40 hours per year for students. No stigma for either the adults or the children who are working side by side. The big problem was that there was only one bathroom! The children ended up getting more time with their families as they were doing their homework in the center. They currently have 1400 volunteers working in centers. in Brooklyn they opened the Superhero Supply Company which follows the same idea as the Pirates Store. In Seattle the Space Travel Supply Company has been opened recently. In Chicago the Spy supply store has followed the same model and many more. Tell your stories about how you are engaging with the local public schools at www.onceuponaschool.org.

The Second TED prize winner is Neil Turok who is a cosmologist and educational activist. He was born is South Africa and his parents were imprisoned for speaking out against the racist regime. He went back to Lossotu at the age of 18 as a volunteer teacher this convinced him that there are a lot of bright kids in Africa - if it is going to get fixed is going to be done by them not by us! He worked with Stephen Hawking on the big bang theory but now is developing a unified theory which takes in multiple dimensions. The question is what if these dimensions collide and this could be source of the big bang.What about Africa? Using a map of the world scaled to represent Africa's situation shows its position in the future. Neil has been involved with the purchase a derelict hotel to start the best mathematics institute in Africa (AIMS). Designed as a 24 hour facility - no teaching but problem solving and discovery. Five students can be educated at AIMS for one student in US or Europe. Fifty three students at AIMS in 2008 including 23 women.Neil's TED Dream is that the next Einstein will be African. The plan is to spread AIMS centers across Africa to build a network if 15.

Third TED prize winner is Karen Armstrong - a religious historian. She has extensively studied other religions and found that belief is only a recent thing - starting in the 17th century. 'Credo' means that 'I engage myself'. religion is about behaving differently and then you begin to believe the truths about religion. Pride of place is given to compassion in every one of the worlds faiths. "That which is hateful to you do not do unto others" is a common theme. Religion teaches nothing but charity. In the world today the religion has been hijacked by terrorists and fundamentalists - people use scriptures as a basis of argument and suppression. Religions insisted that you do not confine your compassion to your own group - honor the stranger - universal outreach. Our modernity has been extremely violent however the majority are not religious but are political in nature. Since 911 her work in Islam has propelled her into the spotlight and she is now lecturing around the world. There is a longing for change everywhere - it is time we moved away from tolerance to understanding. Her wish that you will help with the creation and dissemination of a charter for compassion developed by leaders from the three Abrahamic faiths - to provide guidelines on how to interpret the scripture.