TED Fellows breakfast photo
Post breakfast, before we all get depressed that TED is coming to an end. Its been fantastic. Add adjectives in the comments because i am running out.
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Perils of Intense Intellectual Stimulation
Everyone knows intelligence is sexy. Which, I guess, makes intellectual stimulation of the kind TED offers in Long Beach this week the ultimate in arousal. Now, as I get ready to drive from Studio City to Long Beach, I am a little worried about my brain. You see, in the normal course of everyday life, my brain is likely to get aroused by an amazing idea or story once a month, if I’m lucky. Some months can come and go with it getting no mind action at all.
But, this is TED and I’m not sure my brain can tolerate being subjected to a sustained and intense level of intelligent stimulation over four days. And in a theatre full of equally aroused thinkers and doers. What will they be thinking? What might they end up doing? Is Long Beach about to become the planet’s intellectual erogenous zone?
Could one of those brainy neuroscientists please bring his live action MRI scanners and monitor the activity of the signals from the room? Merge the data, make it into a Google Earth kind of display, play it live on YouTube, beam it into space to make contact with intelligent life out there…Oh, I don’t know. I think I’m losing the plot even before getting there.
See, what did I tell you? My brain is out of practice.
Maybe TED should come with a health warning like you see at the end of those late night commercials: “If arousal lasts longer than 4 hours call your doctor”.
Taghi Amirani
TED Fellow 2009
http://www.ted.com/index.php/profiles/view/id/81645
TED's Secret Matchmaking Algorithm (SMA)
Ah, the unexpected joys of jetlag. Still on London time, I’m wide awake at the crack of dawn in LA. So, logging on to blog – my newly discovered hobby - hoping it will send me back to sleep again, a little anxious it might do the same to the reader.
Let me tell you about this game I started playing in London in the lead up to TED2009. As a Fellow, among the many amazing things TED has been doing for us is to give us a Secret Matchmaking Algorithm (SMA) on our profile page on TED.com. Now, I don’t know if this is something every attendee gets or if it’s just for us newbies to help break us into what I can only describe as a supreme global mindfest. If everyone gets it, please forgive me for telling you something you already know. If not, this is what happens.
In filling in your profile you are given a long list of attributes where you are allowed to tick up to 10 that you feel best describe you as a fully rounded 3-D human being. These range from straight job descriptions such as writer, project manager, scientist, architect, doctor…to more personal or esoteric attributes like global soul, Jewish, foodie, connecter, change agent, brainstormer. Based on these the SMA picks the top 10 people it thinks you must meet with links to their profiles, passions and contact details. Let me just say my top 10 are really cool and I’m a little overawed by what they’ve done and who they are. After the initial gasp, I have even taken TED’s advice and emailed a sheepish hello to some of them.
But here’s the fun part. If you go back to your profile and change your attributes, your top 10 changes. So, tick “single” and suddenly you end up with some very smart and beautiful people on your list. Click “foodie” and you know you’re going to get some delicious TEDsters to meet and eat with. “Philanthropist” and you may hook up with someone who shares some of your passion and obsession, with whom you might form a fruitful partnership on a project. The game is endless fun. In the Browse Attendees section, TED gives you a lovely tag cloud gently bouncing around the page, like a room full of people mingling. Speed dating for overachievers.
Drifting through this cloud my mind took a flight of fancy. I made up some of my own attributes and began to wonder. What if I could tick these 10 attributes: Muslim, Jewish, Israeli, Palestinian, Change Agent, Connecter, Brainstormer, American, Project Manager and Global Soul. What would the matchmaker do then? Who will it choose that it thinks should meet and sit down together? Where would that lead? Now, that’s a game worth playing. It's a dream, but one worth keeping.
Try it. Soon you’ll be really into SMA.
Taghi Amirani
TED2009 Fellow
Now sleepy
Back in the USA
Yesterday, January 29th, I landed at JFK on a flight from London. I had a 4 hour wait before my JetBlue connection to Long Beach, so decided to step out of the terminal building and get some air. It was a bright cold crisp morning. Clear blue skies of the kind that lift your spirit. So clear you could practically reach out and touch the Manhattan skyline on the horizon. I was last in America in October 2008 in the dark closing days of Bush. Now back to find the Bush fires of hate have been put out at last and there's a new America emerging with Obama at the helm.
Why, even the immigration officer was kind and courteous. And for the first time in eight years I, as an Iranian passenger arriving on these soils, did not feel intimidated and nervous answering questions about the purpose of my visit. No more Secondary Inspection in a creepy grey room where you would go through what could sometimes be described as ritual humiliation, because you were born in the Middle East or because you are a bit brown or beige. A process that would take hours as you sit with other fellow "suspects" during which your sad lonely suitcase would be the only one left screeching for help on the baggage carousel.
But not this time. Even though I had allowed some 4 hours for the inevitable delay before my next flight, I was out reunited with my suitcase in 20 minutes. The immigration officer, a black man, and I exchanged some nice words. He didn't know what TED was, so I explained Technology, Entertainment... "I'm a teccky!", he said with a smile. "Then you'd love some of the talks on TED.com," I said. Energised and relieved by this encounter, I found I couldn't contain myself. Before you could say "misunderestimated" I found myself saying to my new friend "I can't tell you how good it is to be back in your country with your new president in charge!". With that he stamped my passport and handed it back saying "Enjoy your stay".
So there was me outside the terminal taking deep breaths of the new refreshing air in America. And you know, even the airport air, filled with car traffic and aviation fuel smelled sweet. The rancid smell of Bush had evaporated. And I thought to myself Obama as Messiah, yes. But Obama as air freshener? Who would have thought?!
As if that wasn't enough welcome, at the JetBlue check-in desk, the happy girl not only put me on an earlier flight to Long Beach, but at the gate the happy boy upgraded me to a premium seat without my asking. Now that's what I call a great start to my TED2009 trip! God bless America and its customer service.
Taghi Amirani
