[Script Info] Title: [Events] Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text Dialogue: 0,0:00:01.00,0:00:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is your conference, Dialogue: 0,0:00:03.00,0:00:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I think you have a right to know a little bit right now, in this transition period, Dialogue: 0,0:00:09.00,0:00:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about this guy who's going to be looking after it for you for a bit. Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.00,0:00:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, I'm just going to grab a chair here. Dialogue: 0,0:00:23.00,0:00:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Two years ago at TED, I think -- Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.00,0:00:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've come to this conclusion -- Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.00,0:00:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think I may have been suffering from a strange delusion. Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.00,0:00:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think that I may have believed unconsciously, Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.00,0:00:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then, that I was kind of a business hero. Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.00,0:00:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I had this company that I'd spent 15 years building. It's called Future; Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.00,0:00:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was a magazine publishing company. Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.00,0:00:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It had recently gone public Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.00,0:01:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the market said that it was apparently worth two billion dollars, Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.00,0:01:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a number I didn't really understand. Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.00,0:01:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A magazine I'd recently launched called Business 2.0 Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.00,0:01:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was fatter than a telephone directory, Dialogue: 0,0:01:11.00,0:01:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,busy pumping hot air into the bubble. Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.00,0:01:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter) Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.00,0:01:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I was the 40 percent owner of a dotcom Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.00,0:01:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that was about to go public and no doubt be worth billions more. Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.00,0:01:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And all this had come from nothing. Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.00,0:01:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Fifteen years earlier, I was a science journalist who people just laughed at Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.00,0:01:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when I said, "I really would like to start my own computer magazine." Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.00,0:01:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And 15 years later, there are 100 of them Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.00,0:01:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and 2,000 people on staff and it was just such heady times. Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.00,0:01:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The date was February 2000. Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.00,0:01:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I thought the little graph of my business life Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.00,0:01:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that kind of looked a bit like Moore's Law -- Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.00,0:01:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,ever upward and to the right -- it was going to go on forever. Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.00,0:02:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, it had to. Right? I was in for quite a surprise. Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.00,0:02:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The dotcom, ironically called Snowball, Dialogue: 0,0:02:10.00,0:02:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was the very last consumer web company to go public Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.00,0:02:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the next month before NASDAQ exploded, and I entered 18 months of business hell. Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.00,0:02:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I watched everything that I'd built crumbling, Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.00,0:02:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it looked like all this stuff was going to die Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.00,0:02:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and 15 years work would have come for nothing. Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.00,0:02:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it was gut wrenching. Dialogue: 0,0:02:37.00,0:02:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It took eight years of blood, sweat and tears to reach 350 employees, Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.00,0:02:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,something which I was very proud of in the business. Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.00,0:02:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,February 2001 -- in one day we laid off 350 people, Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.00,0:02:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and before the bloodshed was finished, 1,000 people had lost their jobs Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.00,0:03:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from my companies. I felt sick. Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.00,0:03:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I watched my own net worth falling Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.00,0:03:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by about a million dollars a day, every day, for 18 months. Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.00,0:03:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And worse than that, far worse than that, Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.00,0:03:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my sense of self-worth was kind of evaporating. Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.00,0:03:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was going around with this big sign on my forehead: "LOSER." Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.00,0:03:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter) Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.00,0:03:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I think what disgusts me more than anything, looking back, Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.00,0:03:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is how the hell did I let my personal happiness Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.00,0:03:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,get so tied up with this business thing? Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.00,0:03:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, in the end, we were able to save Future and Snowball, Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.00,0:03:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I was, at that point, ready to move on. Dialogue: 0,0:03:47.00,0:03:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And to cut a long story short, here's where I came to. Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.00,0:03:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the reason I'm telling this story is that I believe, from many conversations, Dialogue: 0,0:03:57.00,0:04:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that a lot of people in this room have been through a similar kind of rollercoaster -- Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.00,0:04:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,emotional rollercoaster -- in the last couple years. Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.00,0:04:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This has been a big, big transition time, Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.00,0:04:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I believe that this conference can play a big part for all of us Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.00,0:04:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in taking us forward to the next stage to whatever's next. Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.00,0:04:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The theme next year is re-birth. Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.00,0:04:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was at the same TED two years ago Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.00,0:04:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when Richard and I reached an agreement on the future of TED. Dialogue: 0,0:04:29.00,0:04:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And at about the same time, and I think partly because of that, Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.00,0:04:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I started doing something that I'd forgotten about in my business focus: Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.00,0:04:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I started to read again. Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.00,0:04:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I discovered that while I'd been busy playing business games, Dialogue: 0,0:04:46.00,0:04:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there'd been this incredible revolution in so many areas of interest: Dialogue: 0,0:04:51.00,0:04:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,cosmology to psychology to evolutionary psychology to anthropology Dialogue: 0,0:04:57.00,0:04:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to ... all this stuff had changed. Dialogue: 0,0:04:59.00,0:05:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the way in which you could think about us as a species Dialogue: 0,0:05:04.00,0:05:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and us as a planet had just changed so much, and it was incredibly exciting. Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.00,0:05:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And what was really most exciting -- Dialogue: 0,0:05:10.00,0:05:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I think Richard Wurman discovered this at least 20 years before I did -- Dialogue: 0,0:05:15.00,0:05:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was that all this stuff is connected. Dialogue: 0,0:05:19.00,0:05:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's connected; it all hooks into each other. Dialogue: 0,0:05:22.00,0:05:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We talk about this a lot, Dialogue: 0,0:05:24.00,0:05:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I thought about trying to give an example of this. So, just one example: Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.00,0:05:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Madame de Gaulle, the wife of the French president, Dialogue: 0,0:05:34.00,0:05:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was famously asked once, "What do you most desire?" Dialogue: 0,0:05:37.00,0:05:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And she answered, "A penis." Dialogue: 0,0:05:41.00,0:05:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And when you think about it, it's very true: Dialogue: 0,0:05:44.00,0:05:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what we all most desire is a penis -- Dialogue: 0,0:05:47.00,0:05:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or "happiness" as we say in English. Dialogue: 0,0:05:50.00,0:05:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter) Dialogue: 0,0:06:00.00,0:06:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And something ... good luck with that one in the Japanese translation room. Dialogue: 0,0:06:08.00,0:06:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter) Dialogue: 0,0:06:10.00,0:06:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause) Dialogue: 0,0:06:15.00,0:06:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But something as basic as happiness, Dialogue: 0,0:06:19.00,0:06:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which 20 years ago would have been just something for discussion Dialogue: 0,0:06:22.00,0:06:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the church or mosque or synagogue, Dialogue: 0,0:06:25.00,0:06:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,today it turns out that there's dozens of TED-like questions Dialogue: 0,0:06:29.00,0:06:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that you can ask about it, which are really interesting. Dialogue: 0,0:06:32.00,0:06:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can ask about what causes it biochemically: Dialogue: 0,0:06:35.00,0:06:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,neuroscience, serotonin, all that stuff. Dialogue: 0,0:06:37.00,0:06:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can ask what are the psychological causes of it: Dialogue: 0,0:06:41.00,0:06:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,nature? Nurture? Current circumstance? Dialogue: 0,0:06:44.00,0:06:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Turns out that the research done on that is absolutely mind-blowing. Dialogue: 0,0:06:47.00,0:06:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can view it as a computing problem, an artificial intelligence problem: Dialogue: 0,0:06:52.00,0:06:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,do you need to incorporate Dialogue: 0,0:06:54.00,0:06:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,some sort of analog of happiness into a computer brain to make it work properly? Dialogue: 0,0:06:59.00,0:07:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can view it in sort of geopolitical terms Dialogue: 0,0:07:03.00,0:07:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and say, why is it that a billion people on this planet Dialogue: 0,0:07:07.00,0:07:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are so desperately needy that they have no possibility of happiness, Dialogue: 0,0:07:13.00,0:07:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and whereas almost all the rest of them, Dialogue: 0,0:07:15.00,0:07:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,regardless of how much money they have -- whether it's two dollars a day or whatever -- Dialogue: 0,0:07:19.00,0:07:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are almost equally happy on average? Dialogue: 0,0:07:24.00,0:07:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or you can view it as an evolutionary psychology kind of thing: Dialogue: 0,0:07:29.00,0:07:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,did our genes invent this as a kind of trick Dialogue: 0,0:07:33.00,0:07:37.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to get us to behave in certain ways? The ant's brain, parasitized, Dialogue: 0,0:07:37.00,0:07:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to make us behave in certain ways so that our genes would propagate? Dialogue: 0,0:07:40.00,0:07:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Are we the victims of a mass delusion? Dialogue: 0,0:07:42.00,0:07:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so on, and so on. Dialogue: 0,0:07:44.00,0:07:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To understand even something as important to us as happiness, Dialogue: 0,0:07:48.00,0:07:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you kind of have to branch off in all these different directions, Dialogue: 0,0:07:51.00,0:07:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and there's nowhere that I've discovered -- other than TED -- Dialogue: 0,0:07:57.00,0:08:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where you can ask that many questions in that many different directions. Dialogue: 0,0:08:02.00,0:08:05.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so, it's the profound thing that Richard talks about: Dialogue: 0,0:08:05.00,0:08:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to understand anything, you just need to understand the little bits; Dialogue: 0,0:08:09.00,0:08:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a little bit about everything that surrounds it. Dialogue: 0,0:08:11.00,0:08:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so, gradually over these three days, Dialogue: 0,0:08:13.00,0:08:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you start off kind of trying to figure out, Dialogue: 0,0:08:15.00,0:08:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Why am I listening to all this irrelevant stuff?" Dialogue: 0,0:08:18.00,0:08:20.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And at the end of the four days, Dialogue: 0,0:08:20.00,0:08:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,your brain is humming and you feel energized, alive and excited, Dialogue: 0,0:08:25.00,0:08:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it's because all these different bits have been put together. Dialogue: 0,0:08:28.00,0:08:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's the total brain experience, we're going to ... Dialogue: 0,0:08:30.00,0:08:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's the mental equivalent of the full body massage. Dialogue: 0,0:08:32.00,0:08:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter) Dialogue: 0,0:08:33.00,0:08:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Every mental organ addressed. It really is. Dialogue: 0,0:08:38.00,0:08:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Enough of the theory, Chris. Tell us what you're actually going to do, all right? Dialogue: 0,0:08:42.00,0:08:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, I will. Here's the vision for TED. Dialogue: 0,0:08:45.00,0:08:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Number one: do nothing. This thing ain't broke, so I ain't gonna fix it. Dialogue: 0,0:08:53.00,0:08:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Jeff Bezos kindly remarked to me, Dialogue: 0,0:08:56.00,0:08:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Chris, TED is a really great conference. Dialogue: 0,0:08:59.00,0:09:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You're going to have to fuck up really badly to make it bad." Dialogue: 0,0:09:02.00,0:09:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter) Dialogue: 0,0:09:06.00,0:09:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, I gave myself the job title of TED Custodian for a reason, Dialogue: 0,0:09:15.00,0:09:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I will promise you right here and now Dialogue: 0,0:09:17.00,0:09:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the core values that make TED special are not going to be interfered with. Dialogue: 0,0:09:21.00,0:09:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Truth, curiosity, diversity, no selling, no corporate bullshit, Dialogue: 0,0:09:32.00,0:09:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,no bandwagoning, no platforms. Dialogue: 0,0:09:37.00,0:09:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Just the pursuit of interest, wherever it lies, Dialogue: 0,0:09:42.00,0:09:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,across all the disciplines that are represented here. Dialogue: 0,0:09:43.00,0:09:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's not going to be changed at all. Dialogue: 0,0:09:49.00,0:09:51.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Number two: I am going to put together Dialogue: 0,0:09:51.00,0:09:54.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an incredible line up of speakers for next year. Dialogue: 0,0:09:54.00,0:09:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The time scale on which TED operates is just fantastic Dialogue: 0,0:09:57.00,0:10:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,after coming out of a magazine business with monthly deadlines. Dialogue: 0,0:10:01.00,0:10:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's a year to do this, and already -- Dialogue: 0,0:10:03.00,0:10:05.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I hope to show you a bit later -- Dialogue: 0,0:10:05.00,0:10:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there's 25 or so terrific speakers signed up for next year. Dialogue: 0,0:10:10.00,0:10:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I'm getting fantastic help from the community; Dialogue: 0,0:10:13.00,0:10:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this is just such a great community. And combined, our contacts Dialogue: 0,0:10:16.00,0:10:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,reach pretty much everyone who's interesting in the country, if not the planet. Dialogue: 0,0:10:22.00,0:10:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's true. Dialogue: 0,0:10:24.00,0:10:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Number three: I do want to, if I can, find a way Dialogue: 0,0:10:31.00,0:10:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of extending the TED experience throughout the year a little bit. Dialogue: 0,0:10:34.00,0:10:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And one key way that we're going to do this is to introduce this book club. Dialogue: 0,0:10:39.00,0:10:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Books kind of saved me in the last couple years, Dialogue: 0,0:10:45.00,0:10:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that's a gift that I would like to pass on. Dialogue: 0,0:10:48.00,0:10:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, when you sign up for TED2003, every six weeks you'll get a care package Dialogue: 0,0:10:53.00,0:10:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with a book or two and a reason why they're linked to TED. Dialogue: 0,0:10:56.00,0:10:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They may well be by a TED speaker, Dialogue: 0,0:10:58.00,0:11:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so we can get the conversation going during the year Dialogue: 0,0:11:01.00,0:11:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and come back next year having had the same intellectual, emotional journey. Dialogue: 0,0:11:07.00,0:11:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think it will be great. Dialogue: 0,0:11:10.00,0:11:14.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then, fourthly: I want to mention the Sapling Foundation, Dialogue: 0,0:11:14.00,0:11:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is the new owner of TED. Dialogue: 0,0:11:17.00,0:11:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What Sapling's ownership means is that all of the proceeds of TED Dialogue: 0,0:11:19.00,0:11:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,will go towards the causes that Sapling stands for. Dialogue: 0,0:11:26.00,0:11:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And more important, I think, the ideas that are exhibited and realized here Dialogue: 0,0:11:34.00,0:11:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are ideas that the foundation can use, because there's fantastic synergy. Dialogue: 0,0:11:39.00,0:11:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Already, just in the last few days, Dialogue: 0,0:11:41.00,0:11:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we've had so many people talking about stuff that they care about, Dialogue: 0,0:11:44.00,0:11:46.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they're passionate about, that can make a difference in the world, Dialogue: 0,0:11:46.00,0:11:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the idea of getting this group of people together -- Dialogue: 0,0:11:50.00,0:11:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,some of the causes that we believe in, Dialogue: 0,0:11:52.00,0:11:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the money that this conference can raise and the ideas -- Dialogue: 0,0:11:55.00,0:12:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I really believe that that combination will, over time, make a difference. Dialogue: 0,0:12:00.00,0:12:01.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm incredibly excited about that. Dialogue: 0,0:12:02.00,0:12:10.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, I don't think, overall, that I've been as excited by anything ever in my life. Dialogue: 0,0:12:10.00,0:12:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm in this for the long run, Dialogue: 0,0:12:13.00,0:12:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I would be greatly honored and excited Dialogue: 0,0:12:17.00,0:12:19.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if you'll come on this journey with me.