"Stumbling towards intimacy": An improvised TED Talk
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0:00 - 0:02[This is an improvised talk (and intro)
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0:02 - 0:04based on a suggested topic
from the audience. -
0:04 - 0:07The speaker doesn't know
the content of the slides.] -
0:08 - 0:10Moderator: Our next speaker --
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0:10 - 0:13(Laughter)
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0:15 - 0:16is an --
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0:19 - 0:20incredibly --
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0:23 - 0:25(Laughter)
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0:25 - 0:28Is an incredibly experienced linguist
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0:28 - 0:31working at a lab at MIT
with a small group of researchers, -
0:32 - 0:34and through studying our language
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0:34 - 0:36and the way that we communicate
with other people, -
0:36 - 0:40he has stumbled upon
the secret of human intimacy. -
0:40 - 0:43Here to give us his perspective,
please welcome to the stage, -
0:43 - 0:44Anthony Veneziale.
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0:44 - 0:47(Applause)
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0:53 - 0:57(Laughter)
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0:59 - 1:03Anthony Veneziale: You might think
I know what you're going through. -
1:03 - 1:05You might be looking at me
here on the red dot, -
1:05 - 1:09or you might be looking
at me on the screen. -
1:09 - 1:13There's a one sixth of a second delay.
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1:13 - 1:16Did I catch myself? I did.
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1:16 - 1:19I could see myself before I turned,
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1:19 - 1:23and that small delay
creates a little bit of a divide. -
1:23 - 1:26(Laughter)
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1:28 - 1:32And a divide is exactly what happens
with human language, -
1:32 - 1:36and the processing of that language.
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1:36 - 1:40I of course am working
out of a small lab at MIT. -
1:40 - 1:43(Laughter)
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1:43 - 1:46And we are scraping
for every insight that we can get. -
1:46 - 1:47(Laughter)
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1:47 - 1:52This is not often associated
with a computational challenge, -
1:52 - 1:57but in this case,
we found that persistence of vision -
1:57 - 1:59and auditory intake
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1:59 - 2:03actually have more in common
than we ever realized, -
2:03 - 2:06and we can see it in this first slide.
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2:06 - 2:10(Laughter)
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2:10 - 2:14(Applause)
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2:14 - 2:18Immediately your processing goes to,
"Is that a hard-boiled egg?" -
2:18 - 2:20(Laughter)
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2:20 - 2:24"Is that perhaps the structural
integrity of the egg -
2:24 - 2:27being able to sustain
the weight of what seems to be a rock? -
2:27 - 2:30Aha, is it in fact a real rock?"
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2:31 - 2:37We go to questions
when we see visual information. -
2:37 - 2:40But when we hear information,
this is what happens. -
2:41 - 2:45(Laughter)
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2:45 - 2:49The floodgates in our mind
open much like the streets of Shanghai. -
2:49 - 2:54(Applause)
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2:54 - 2:56So many pieces of information to process,
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2:56 - 3:00so many ideas, concepts, feelings
and, of course, vulnerabilities -
3:00 - 3:02that we don't often wish to share.
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3:02 - 3:04And so we hide,
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3:04 - 3:08and we hide behind what we like to call
the floodgate of intimacy. -
3:08 - 3:11(Laughter)
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3:11 - 3:14And what might that floodgate be holding?
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3:14 - 3:17What is the dike upon which it is built?
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3:17 - 3:19Well, first off --
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3:19 - 3:24(Laughter)
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3:24 - 3:28we found that it's different
for six different genotypes. -
3:28 - 3:32(Applause)
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3:38 - 3:41And, of course, we can start
categorizing these genotypes -
3:41 - 3:45into a neuronormative experience
and a neurodiverse experience. -
3:45 - 3:47(Laughter)
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3:47 - 3:49On the right-hand side of the screen,
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3:49 - 3:52you're seeing spikes
for the neurodiverse thinking. -
3:52 - 3:55Now, there are generally
only two emotional states -
3:55 - 4:00that a neurodiverse brain can tabulate
and keep count of at any given time, -
4:00 - 4:06thereby eliminating the possibility
for them to be emotionally, sometimes, -
4:06 - 4:09attuned to the present situation.
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4:09 - 4:12But on the left-hand side,
you can see the neuronormative brain, -
4:12 - 4:15which can often handle
about five different pieces -
4:15 - 4:19of emotional cognitive information
at any given time. -
4:19 - 4:22These are the slight variances
that you are seeing -
4:22 - 4:24in the 75, 90 and 60 percentile,
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4:24 - 4:26and then of course
that dramatic difference -
4:26 - 4:28of the 25, 40 and 35 percentile.
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4:28 - 4:29(Laughter)
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4:29 - 4:32But of course, what is the neural network
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4:32 - 4:37that is helping to bridge and build
these different discrepancies? -
4:38 - 4:41(Laughter)
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4:47 - 4:48Fear.
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4:48 - 4:50(Laughter)
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4:50 - 4:53(Applause)
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4:56 - 4:59And as we all know,
fear resides in the amygdala, -
4:59 - 5:01and it is a very natural response,
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5:01 - 5:06and it is very closely linked
with visual perception. -
5:06 - 5:09It is not as closely linked
with verbal perception, -
5:09 - 5:12so our fear receptors
often will be going off -
5:12 - 5:18in advance of any of our cognitive usage
around verbal and words -
5:18 - 5:20and cues of language.
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5:20 - 5:23So as we see these fear moments,
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5:23 - 5:26we of course are taken aback.
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5:26 - 5:29We stumble in a certain direction,
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5:30 - 5:33generally away from the intimacy.
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5:33 - 5:35(Laughter)
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5:35 - 5:39Now of course, there's a difference
between the male perception -
5:39 - 5:40and the female perception
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5:40 - 5:44and of trans and those who are in between,
all of those as well, -
5:44 - 5:46and outside of the gender spectrum.
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5:46 - 5:50(Laughter)
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5:50 - 5:53But fear is the central
underlying underpinning -
5:53 - 5:56of all of our response systems.
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5:56 - 5:59Fight-or-flight is one of the earliest,
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5:59 - 6:03some say reptilian,
response to our environment. -
6:03 - 6:09How can we disengage or unhook ourselves
from the horns of the amygdala? -
6:09 - 6:11(Laughter)
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6:11 - 6:14Well, I'd like to tell you
the secret right now. -
6:14 - 6:17(Applause)
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6:22 - 6:24This is all making
much, much too much sense. -
6:24 - 6:26(Laughter)
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6:28 - 6:31The secret lies
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6:31 - 6:35in turning our backs to one another,
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6:35 - 6:38and I know that that sounds
absolutely like the opposite -
6:38 - 6:40of what you were expecting,
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6:40 - 6:45but when in a relationship
you turn your back to your partner -
6:45 - 6:47and place your back upon their back --
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6:47 - 6:50(Laughter)
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6:50 - 6:52you eliminate visual cues.
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6:52 - 6:53(Laughter)
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6:53 - 6:56(Applause)
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6:58 - 7:01You are more readily available
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7:01 - 7:05to failing first,
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7:05 - 7:07and failing first --
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7:08 - 7:10(Laughter)
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7:10 - 7:15far outweighs the lengths we go to
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7:15 - 7:18to appeal to others,
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7:18 - 7:20to our partners and to ourselves.
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7:20 - 7:23We spend billions and billions of dollars
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7:23 - 7:26on clothing, on makeup,
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7:26 - 7:29on the latest trend of glasses,
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7:31 - 7:34but what we don't spend money and time on
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7:34 - 7:36is connecting with each other
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7:36 - 7:39in a way that is truthful
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7:39 - 7:40and honest
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7:40 - 7:43and stripped of those visual receptors.
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7:43 - 7:46(Applause)
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7:49 - 7:51(Laughter)
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7:51 - 7:53It sounds hard, doesn't it?
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7:53 - 7:57(Laughter)
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8:02 - 8:04But we want to be aggressive about this.
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8:05 - 8:08We don't want to just sit on the couch.
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8:09 - 8:11As a historian said earlier today,
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8:11 - 8:16it's important to get up
and circumvent sometimes that couch. -
8:16 - 8:18And how can we do it?
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8:18 - 8:20Well yes, ice is a big part of it.
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8:23 - 8:26Insights, compassion and empathy:
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8:26 - 8:28I, C, E.
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8:28 - 8:31(Applause)
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8:40 - 8:43And when we start using this ice method,
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8:44 - 8:48well, the possibilities become
much bigger than us. -
8:50 - 8:53In fact, they become smaller than you.
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8:55 - 8:57On a molecular level,
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8:57 - 9:00I believe that that insight
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9:00 - 9:02is the unifying theme
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9:02 - 9:05for every talk you have seen so far at TED
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9:05 - 9:08and will continue as we of course embark
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9:08 - 9:13on this journey here on this tiny planet,
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9:14 - 9:17on the ledge, on the precipice,
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9:17 - 9:20as we are seeing, yes,
death is inevitable. -
9:20 - 9:23(Laughter)
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9:23 - 9:25Will it meet all of us at the same time,
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9:25 - 9:28I think, is the variable we are inquiring.
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9:28 - 9:30(Laughter)
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9:34 - 9:37I think that timeline gets a bit longer
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9:37 - 9:39when we use ice
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9:39 - 9:42and when we rest our backs
upon one another -
9:43 - 9:45and build together,
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9:45 - 9:47leaving behind the fear
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9:47 - 9:49and working towards --
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9:50 - 9:53(Laughter)
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10:02 - 10:04they'll edit this part out --
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10:04 - 10:06(Laughter)
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10:08 - 10:13a ripened experience of love,
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10:13 - 10:14compassion,
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10:14 - 10:16intimacy based on a truth
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10:16 - 10:20that you are sharing from your mind's eye
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10:20 - 10:24and the heart that we all can touch,
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10:24 - 10:26tactilely feel,
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10:26 - 10:31have maybe potentially a mushy experience
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10:31 - 10:34that we don't just throw out
because it is browned, -
10:35 - 10:41but let us slice in half
the experience we have gathered, -
10:42 - 10:44let us seed what the heart, the core,
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10:44 - 10:47the seed of that idea in each of us is,
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10:47 - 10:49and let us share it back to back.
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10:49 - 10:51Thank you very much.
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10:51 - 10:55(Applause)
- Title:
- "Stumbling towards intimacy": An improvised TED Talk
- Speaker:
- Anthony Veneziale
- Description:
-
In a hilarious, completely improvised talk, improv master Anthony Veneziale takes to the TED stage for a truly one-of-a-kind performance. Armed with an audience-suggested topic ("stumbling towards intimacy") and a deck of slides he's never seen before, Veneziale crafts a meditation on the intersection of love, language and ... avocados?
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 11:11
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for "Stumbling towards intimacy": An improvised TED Talk | ||
Oliver Friedman approved English subtitles for "Stumbling towards intimacy": An improvised TED Talk | ||
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for "Stumbling towards intimacy": An improvised TED Talk | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz accepted English subtitles for "Stumbling towards intimacy": An improvised TED Talk | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for "Stumbling towards intimacy": An improvised TED Talk | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for "Stumbling towards intimacy": An improvised TED Talk | ||
Joseph Geni edited English subtitles for "Stumbling towards intimacy": An improvised TED Talk | ||
Joseph Geni edited English subtitles for "Stumbling towards intimacy": An improvised TED Talk |