UK Prime Minister speaks at TED oxford 2009

This week is starting off in the most unexpected yet memorable way. Flux has been fortunate enough to be part of the amazing TED conference. For those of you who don’t know it, TED means Technology, Entertainment, Design. And what the brand stands for is bringing together a diverse group of the most interesting people from all walks of life, big and small, to come together, be inspired, dialogue and celebrate the simple idea that being together in one place for a number of days breeds new possibilities. This was my first time attending the conference in person with the lucky venue being Oxford (yes the one with the famous, venerable university). From the outset, the production quality of the event is stellar beyond words. But nothing prepared me for what everyone keeps talking about who have attended the conference before–the moments that make the light bulb go off in your head, the moments that make you laugh, the moments that make you question and the moments that overall leave you wanting more.

Today was definitely such a day. It started out relatively well with varying degrees of interesting talks from Alain de Botton, Stefan Sagmeister, Stephen Fry and a musical performance from euphonium instrumentalist Matthew White covering the theme of “What we Know”. However, nothing prepared me for the sudden appearance of UK’s very own Prime Minister Gordon Brown (yes THE Gordon Brown) as the last surprise speaker of the group. Brown started off showing photographs of tragically affected individuals in various countries and how technology has spurred the globe into change and how we need to continue to fine tune the global ethic into doing more for those around us that need our help.

Following Brown’s talk, TED’s curator Chris Anderson torpedoed into a discourse that probed the prime minister’s idea, criticized the loopholes and made him answer lingering questions of how one can actually make real the things he was preaching, “the substance of things unseen” being the theme of this year’s event. Anderson further questioned with an example putting Brown on the spot. “If you were on a beach in Indonesia and a Tsunami was coming and you only had time to save one British person on the beach versus an Indonesian family of five slightly farther away, who would you save?” Brown rebounded rather wittingly with the politically correct response of “I would use modern communication”. Yes he agreed, it is his responsibility to look out for Britain and its citizens as other countries’ governments are supposed to do their own but the bottom line was, there is work to be done in the world on many levels and we all need to be a part of making that happen.

The mind blowing work of Willard Wigan

Session 2, “Seeing is believing” also had its slew of compelling speakers but the one who moved me to the core was micro-sculptor Willard Wigan. I have to say when I first read that he was a micro sculptor of minute dimensions (sculptures the size of a pin head) my first reaction was “bogus”. What is that? How is this even an art? After not only seeing him speak and seeing the artwork he has created, made up of fibers, hair and even gold, I seriously teared up regretting everything I thought earlier. Seeing definitely is believing with this man. And all of us TEDsters (as we are all referred to in this mini bubble of life for the next week) even have the opportunity of seeing his truly magnificent microscopic creations (yes under a microscope) here at the conference.

Finally, there is truth to the saying that it’s the ones you least expect who often end up surprising you and no more was this true today with aphorist/juggler James Geary. What is an aphorism you say? Aphorism is defined as a terse saying embodying a general truth, or astute observation. As if it wasn’t enough that Geary is filled to the brim with what seems to be the funniest and best aphorisms I’ve heard in a while, he managed to recite his five laws of aphorisms as he juggled 3 balls in the air and did tricks. Yes…at the same time. What are Geary’s Five Laws of the Aphorism?

1. It Must Be Brief.
2. It Must Be Personal.
3. It Must Be Definitive.
4. It Must Be Philosophical.
5. It Must Have A Twist.

If you are still trying to figure out what an aphorism is exactly, I will leave you with one that Geary spotted on a teen’s shirt on the subway and it stayed with me. “A weekend wasted is not a wasted weekend.”

More on TED tomorrow.