0:00:01.397,0:00:04.006
First of all, thank you[br]for your attention.

0:00:04.881,0:00:08.087
There's nothing quite like[br]being in a room full of people like this,

0:00:08.111,0:00:11.141
where all of you are giving[br]your attention to me.

0:00:11.165,0:00:15.087
It's a powerful feeling, to get attention.

0:00:16.204,0:00:21.367
I'm an actor, so I'm a bit[br]of an expert on, well, nothing, really.

0:00:21.391,0:00:22.542
(Laughter)

0:00:22.566,0:00:25.030
But I do know what it feels like[br]to get attention --

0:00:25.054,0:00:26.349
I've been lucky in my life

0:00:26.373,0:00:28.783
to get a lot more[br]than my fair share of attention.

0:00:28.807,0:00:30.506
And I'm grateful for that,

0:00:30.530,0:00:33.045
because like I said,[br]it's a powerful feeling.

0:00:34.950,0:00:37.240
But there's another powerful feeling

0:00:37.264,0:00:40.629
that I've also been lucky[br]to experience a lot as an actor.

0:00:40.653,0:00:43.010
And it's funny, it's sort of[br]the opposite feeling,

0:00:43.034,0:00:45.525
because it doesn't come[br]from getting attention.

0:00:45.549,0:00:47.616
It comes from paying attention.

0:00:48.831,0:00:50.601
When I'm acting,

0:00:50.625,0:00:55.021
I get so focused that I'm only[br]paying attention to one thing.

0:00:55.045,0:00:58.355
Like when I'm on set[br]and we're about to shoot

0:00:58.379,0:01:01.029
and the first AD calls out "Rolling!"

0:01:01.053,0:01:03.434
And then I hear "speed," "marker," "set,"

0:01:03.458,0:01:06.029
and then the director calls "Action!"

0:01:06.053,0:01:08.057
I've heard that sequence so many times,

0:01:08.081,0:01:11.711
like, it's become this Pavlovian[br]magic spell for me.

0:01:11.735,0:01:15.353
"Rolling," "speed," "marker,"[br]"set" and "action."

0:01:15.377,0:01:18.131
Something happens to me,[br]I can't even help it.

0:01:18.465,0:01:20.152
My attention ...

0:01:21.389,0:01:22.548
narrows.

0:01:22.572,0:01:24.540
And everything else in the world,

0:01:24.564,0:01:30.337
anything else that might be bothering me[br]or might grab my attention,

0:01:30.361,0:01:34.697
it all goes away, and I'm just ... there.

0:01:36.347,0:01:40.554
And that feeling, that is what I love,

0:01:40.578,0:01:41.925
that, to me, is creativity.

0:01:41.949,0:01:45.434
And that's the biggest reason[br]I'm so grateful that I get to be an actor.

0:01:46.276,0:01:49.512
So, there's these two powerful feelings.

0:01:49.843,0:01:53.487
There's getting attention[br]and paying attention.

0:01:54.137,0:01:55.915
Of course, in the last decade or so,

0:01:55.939,0:01:58.156
new technology has allowed[br]more and more people

0:01:58.180,0:02:01.870
to have this powerful feeling[br]of getting attention.

0:02:02.228,0:02:04.712
For any kind of creative[br]expression, not just acting.

0:02:04.736,0:02:08.326
It could be writing or photography[br]or drawing, music -- everything.

0:02:08.350,0:02:11.850
The channels of distribution[br]have been democratized,

0:02:11.874,0:02:13.474
and that's a good thing.

0:02:15.430,0:02:18.191
But I do think there's[br]an unintended consequence

0:02:18.215,0:02:23.326
for anybody on the planet[br]with an urge to be creative --

0:02:23.350,0:02:26.682
myself included,[br]because I'm not immune to this.

0:02:27.284,0:02:30.323
I think that our creativity

0:02:30.347,0:02:34.418
is becoming more and more[br]of a means to an end --

0:02:35.371,0:02:38.487
and that end is to get attention.

0:02:39.561,0:02:41.292
And so I feel compelled to speak up

0:02:41.316,0:02:44.045
because in my experience,

0:02:44.069,0:02:47.466
the more I go after that powerful[br]feeling of paying attention,

0:02:47.490,0:02:48.878
the happier I am.

0:02:49.688,0:02:54.728
But the more I go after[br]the powerful feeling of getting attention,

0:02:54.752,0:02:56.019
the unhappier I am.

0:02:56.331,0:02:57.489
(One person claps)

0:02:57.513,0:02:59.606
And -- thanks.

0:02:59.630,0:03:01.580
(Laughter)

0:03:01.604,0:03:06.233
(Applause)

0:03:06.257,0:03:09.236
So this is something[br]that goes way back for me.

0:03:09.260,0:03:14.268
I think the first time I can remember[br]using my acting to get attention,

0:03:14.292,0:03:16.624
I was eight years old at summer camp.

0:03:16.950,0:03:19.625
And I'd been going on auditions[br]for about a year by then,

0:03:19.649,0:03:21.950
and I'd been lucky to get some small parts

0:03:21.974,0:03:23.768
in TV shows and commercials,

0:03:23.792,0:03:28.639
and I bragged about it a lot,[br]that summer at camp.

0:03:28.663,0:03:30.918
And at first, it worked.

0:03:30.942,0:03:33.649
The other kids gave me[br]a bunch of extra attention,

0:03:33.673,0:03:36.147
because I had been on "Family Ties."

0:03:36.506,0:03:38.433
That's a picture of me on "Family Ties."

0:03:38.457,0:03:39.480
(Laughter)

0:03:39.504,0:03:40.966
Then, the tide turned --

0:03:40.990,0:03:43.061
I think I took it too far[br]with the bragging.

0:03:43.085,0:03:46.573
And then, the other kids[br]started to make fun of me.

0:03:47.676,0:03:52.493
I remember there was this one girl[br]I had a crush on, Rocky.

0:03:52.517,0:03:54.612
Her name was Rachel, she went by Rocky.

0:03:55.045,0:03:57.687
And she was beautiful, and she could sing,

0:03:57.711,0:04:00.974
and I was smitten with her,[br]and I was standing there, bragging.

0:04:01.720,0:04:04.323
And she turned to me[br]and she called me a show-off.

0:04:04.641,0:04:06.574
Which I 100 percent deserved.

0:04:07.149,0:04:09.482
But you know, it still really hurt.

0:04:10.056,0:04:12.167
And ever since that summer,

0:04:12.191,0:04:16.769
I've had a certain hesitance[br]to seek attention for my acting.

0:04:17.517,0:04:19.281
Sometimes, people would ask me,

0:04:19.305,0:04:21.559
"Wait a minute,[br]if you don't like the attention,

0:04:21.583,0:04:22.876
then why are you an actor?"

0:04:22.900,0:04:24.073
And I'd be like,

0:04:24.097,0:04:27.272
"Because that's not what acting's about,[br]man, it's about the art."

0:04:27.296,0:04:28.982
And they'd be like, "OK, OK, dude."

0:04:29.006,0:04:31.014
(Laughter)

0:04:31.038,0:04:32.771
And then Twitter came out.

0:04:33.125,0:04:35.800
And I got totally hooked on it,[br]just like everybody else,

0:04:35.824,0:04:37.768
which made me into a complete hypocrite.

0:04:37.792,0:04:38.967
Because at that point,

0:04:38.991,0:04:41.570
I was absolutely using my acting[br]to get attention.

0:04:41.594,0:04:44.942
I mean, what, did I think[br]I was just getting all these followers

0:04:44.966,0:04:47.215
because of my brilliant tweets?

0:04:47.625,0:04:49.680
I actually did think that -- I was like --

0:04:49.704,0:04:50.712
(Laughter)

0:04:50.736,0:04:53.481
"They don't just like me[br]because they saw me in 'Batman,'

0:04:53.505,0:04:56.275
they like what I have to say,[br]I've got a way with words."

0:04:56.299,0:04:57.958
(Laughter)

0:04:57.982,0:04:59.283
And then in no time at all,

0:04:59.307,0:05:03.536
it started having an impact[br]on my dearly beloved creative process.

0:05:04.504,0:05:05.677
It still does.

0:05:05.701,0:05:07.233
I try not to let it.

0:05:07.257,0:05:10.843
But you know, I'd be sitting there,[br]like, reading a script.

0:05:11.306,0:05:13.122
And instead of thinking,

0:05:13.146,0:05:15.622
"How can I personally identify[br]with this character?"

0:05:15.646,0:05:18.567
Or "How is the audience[br]going to relate to this story?"

0:05:18.591,0:05:21.860
I'm like, "What are people going to say[br]about this movie on Twitter?"

0:05:21.884,0:05:23.152
And "What will I say back

0:05:23.176,0:05:26.117
that will be good and snarky enough[br]to get a lot of retweets,

0:05:26.141,0:05:27.303
but not too harsh,

0:05:27.327,0:05:30.723
because people love to get offended,[br]and I don't want to get canceled?"

0:05:30.747,0:05:32.756
These are the thoughts that enter my mind

0:05:32.780,0:05:35.842
when I'm supposed to be reading a script,[br]trying to be an artist.

0:05:35.866,0:05:37.284
And I'm not here to tell you

0:05:37.308,0:05:39.677
that technology[br]is the enemy of creativity.

0:05:39.701,0:05:40.868
I don't think that.

0:05:40.892,0:05:42.256
I think tech is just a tool.

0:05:42.280,0:05:46.204
It has the potential to foster[br]unprecedented human creativity.

0:05:46.228,0:05:49.843
Like, I even started[br]an online community called HITRECORD,

0:05:49.867,0:05:51.387
where people all over the world

0:05:51.411,0:05:53.565
collaborate on all kinds[br]of creative projects,

0:05:53.589,0:05:58.801
so I don't think that social media[br]or smartphones or any technology

0:05:58.825,0:06:00.711
is problematic in and of itself.

0:06:02.620,0:06:03.770
But ...

0:06:04.705,0:06:07.386
if we're going to talk[br]about the perils of creativity

0:06:07.410,0:06:09.727
becoming a means to get attention,

0:06:09.751,0:06:14.092
then we have to talk about[br]the attention-driven business model

0:06:14.116,0:06:16.229
of today's big social media[br]companies, right?

0:06:16.253,0:06:19.324
(Applause)

0:06:19.348,0:06:21.593
This will be familiar territory[br]for some of you,

0:06:21.617,0:06:23.602
but it's a really relevant question here:

0:06:23.626,0:06:25.220
How does a social media platform

0:06:25.244,0:06:27.844
like, for example, Instagram, make money?

0:06:28.649,0:06:30.739
It's not selling[br]a photo-sharing service --

0:06:30.763,0:06:31.936
that part's free.

0:06:31.960,0:06:33.135
So what is it selling?

0:06:33.159,0:06:34.317
It's selling attention.

0:06:34.341,0:06:36.965
It's selling the attention[br]of its users to advertisers.

0:06:36.989,0:06:38.942
And there's a lot of discussion right now

0:06:38.966,0:06:42.682
about how much attention we're all giving[br]to things like Instagram,

0:06:42.706,0:06:43.950
but my question is:

0:06:43.974,0:06:46.628
How is Instagram getting[br]so much attention?

0:06:47.934,0:06:49.201
We get it for them.

0:06:50.141,0:06:53.077
Anytime somebody posts on Instagram,

0:06:53.101,0:06:55.919
they get a certain amount of attention[br]from their followers,

0:06:55.943,0:06:58.807
whether they have a few followers[br]or a few million followers.

0:06:58.831,0:07:01.903
And the more attention you're able to get,

0:07:01.927,0:07:04.716
the more attention[br]Instagram is able to sell.

0:07:04.740,0:07:07.041
So it's in Instagram's interest

0:07:07.065,0:07:09.553
for you to get as much[br]attention as possible.

0:07:10.256,0:07:13.658
And so it trains you[br]to want that attention,

0:07:13.682,0:07:17.202
to crave it, to feel stressed out[br]when you're not getting enough of it.

0:07:18.457,0:07:21.981
Instagram gets its users addicted

0:07:22.005,0:07:24.718
to the powerful feeling[br]of getting attention.

0:07:26.053,0:07:29.475
And I know we all joke, like,[br]"Oh my God, I'm so addicted to my phone,"

0:07:29.499,0:07:31.268
but this is a real addiction.

0:07:31.292,0:07:32.759
There's a whole science to it.

0:07:32.783,0:07:35.481
If you're curious, I recommend[br]the work of Jaron Lanier,

0:07:35.505,0:07:38.013
Tristan Harris, Nir Eyal.

0:07:38.513,0:07:40.185
But here's what I can tell you.

0:07:40.712,0:07:43.442
Being addicted to getting attention

0:07:43.466,0:07:46.004
is just like being addicted[br]to anything else.

0:07:46.028,0:07:47.228
It's never enough.

0:07:47.845,0:07:49.584
You start out and you're thinking,

0:07:49.608,0:07:53.681
"If only I had 1,000 followers,[br]that would feel amazing."

0:07:53.705,0:07:57.085
But then you're like, "Well,[br]once I get to 10,000 followers,"

0:07:57.109,0:07:59.396
and, "Once I get to 100 --

0:07:59.420,0:08:04.500
Once I get to a million followers,[br]then I'll feel amazing."

0:08:06.389,0:08:09.412
So I have 4.2 million[br]followers on Twitter --

0:08:09.436,0:08:11.341
it's never made me feel amazing.

0:08:11.365,0:08:13.977
I'm not going to tell you[br]how many I have on Instagram,

0:08:14.001,0:08:17.290
because I feel genuine shame[br]about how low the number is,

0:08:17.314,0:08:20.282
because I joined Instagram[br]after "Batman" came out.

0:08:20.306,0:08:23.774
(Laughter)

0:08:23.798,0:08:25.040
And I search other actors,

0:08:25.064,0:08:27.323
and I see that their number[br]is higher than mine,

0:08:27.347,0:08:30.109
and it makes me feel[br]terrible about myself.

0:08:30.450,0:08:32.601
Because the follower count

0:08:32.625,0:08:35.022
makes everybody feel terrible[br]about themselves.

0:08:35.046,0:08:38.164
That feeling of inadequacy[br]is what drives you to post,

0:08:38.188,0:08:39.712
so you can get more attention,

0:08:39.736,0:08:42.861
and then that attention that you get[br]is what these companies sell,

0:08:42.885,0:08:44.713
that's how they make their money.

0:08:46.067,0:08:49.678
So there is no amount[br]of attention you can get

0:08:49.702,0:08:51.978
where you feel like you've arrived,

0:08:52.002,0:08:54.820
and you're like, "Ah, I'm good now."

0:08:55.992,0:08:59.714
And of course, there are a lot of actors[br]who are more famous than I am,

0:08:59.738,0:09:01.229
have more followers than I do,

0:09:01.253,0:09:03.601
but I bet you they would tell you[br]the same thing.

0:09:03.625,0:09:08.553
If your creativity is driven[br]by a desire to get attention,

0:09:08.577,0:09:11.228
you're never going to be[br]creatively fulfilled.

0:09:13.123,0:09:15.655
But I do have some good news.

0:09:16.457,0:09:19.464
There is this other powerful feeling.

0:09:20.290,0:09:22.450
Something else you can do[br]with your attention

0:09:22.474,0:09:25.433
besides letting a giant tech company[br]control it and sell it.

0:09:26.347,0:09:28.307
This is that feeling I was talking about,

0:09:28.331,0:09:29.718
why I love acting so much --

0:09:29.742,0:09:33.632
it's being able to pay attention[br]to just one thing.

0:09:35.331,0:09:38.036
Turns out there's actually[br]some science behind this too.

0:09:38.369,0:09:40.171
Psychologists and neuroscientists --

0:09:40.195,0:09:42.615
they study a phenomenon they call flow,

0:09:42.639,0:09:45.044
which is this thing that happens[br]in the human brain

0:09:45.068,0:09:47.226
when someone pays attention[br]to just one thing,

0:09:47.250,0:09:48.760
like something creative,

0:09:48.784,0:09:52.196
and manages not to get distracted[br]by anything else.

0:09:52.958,0:09:56.891
And some say the more regularly[br]you do this, the happier you'll be.

0:09:58.498,0:10:01.530
Now I'm not a psychologist[br]or a neuroscientist.

0:10:01.554,0:10:04.687
But I can tell you,[br]for me, that is very true.

0:10:05.498,0:10:07.569
It's not always easy, it's hard.

0:10:07.593,0:10:10.291
To really pay attention[br]like this takes practice,

0:10:10.315,0:10:11.879
everybody does it their own way.

0:10:11.903,0:10:13.796
But if there's one thing I can share

0:10:13.820,0:10:18.272
that I think helps me focus[br]and really pay attention, it's this:

0:10:18.958,0:10:23.660
I try not to see other creative[br]people as my competitors.

0:10:24.121,0:10:26.200
I try to find collaborators.

0:10:26.224,0:10:28.803
Like, if I'm acting in a scene,

0:10:28.827,0:10:31.970
if I start seeing the other actors[br]as my competitors, and I'm like,

0:10:31.994,0:10:34.463
"God, they're going to get[br]more attention than I am,

0:10:34.487,0:10:37.944
people are going to be talking[br]about their performance more than mine" --

0:10:37.968,0:10:39.136
I've lost my focus.

0:10:39.160,0:10:41.450
And I'm probably[br]going to suck in that scene.

0:10:41.474,0:10:45.379
But when I see the other actors[br]as collaborators,

0:10:45.403,0:10:49.153
then it becomes almost easy to focus,

0:10:49.177,0:10:51.640
because I'm just paying attention to them.

0:10:52.641,0:10:54.939
And I don't have to think[br]about what I'm doing --

0:10:54.963,0:10:56.406
I react to what they're doing,

0:10:56.430,0:10:57.846
they react to what I'm doing,

0:10:57.870,0:11:00.498
and we can kind of[br]keep each other in it together.

0:11:00.522,0:11:03.166
But I don't want you to think[br]it's only actors on a set

0:11:03.190,0:11:04.802
that can collaborate in this way.

0:11:04.826,0:11:07.232
I could be in whatever[br]kind of creative situation.

0:11:07.256,0:11:09.954
It could be professional,[br]could be just for fun.

0:11:10.636,0:11:14.501
I could be collaborating with people[br]I'm not even in the same room with.

0:11:14.525,0:11:16.997
In fact, some of my favorite[br]things I've ever made,

0:11:17.021,0:11:19.292
I made with people[br]that I never physically met.

0:11:19.316,0:11:20.482
And by the way,

0:11:20.506,0:11:23.463
this, to me, is the beauty[br]of the internet.

0:11:23.487,0:11:26.641
If we could just stop[br]competing for attention,

0:11:26.665,0:11:30.224
then the internet becomes[br]a great place to find collaborators.

0:11:31.411,0:11:36.037
And once I'm collaborating[br]with other people,

0:11:36.061,0:11:38.629
whether they're on set,[br]or online, wherever,

0:11:39.553,0:11:42.902
that makes it so much easier[br]for me to find that flow,

0:11:42.926,0:11:45.299
because we're all just paying attention

0:11:45.323,0:11:48.080
to the one thing[br]that we're making together.

0:11:48.104,0:11:51.783
And I fell like I'm part[br]of something larger than myself,

0:11:51.807,0:11:54.076
and we all sort of shield each other

0:11:54.100,0:11:57.442
from anything else that might[br]otherwise grab our attention,

0:11:57.466,0:12:01.940
and we can all just be there.

0:12:03.763,0:12:06.030
At least that's what works for me.

0:12:07.486,0:12:08.771
Sometimes.

0:12:08.795,0:12:10.522
Sometimes -- it doesn't always work.

0:12:10.546,0:12:13.664
Sometimes, I still totally get[br]wrapped up in that addictive cycle

0:12:13.688,0:12:15.094
of wanting to get attention.

0:12:15.118,0:12:17.021
I mean, like, even right now,

0:12:17.045,0:12:21.050
can I honestly say there's not[br]some part of me here who's like,

0:12:21.074,0:12:23.923
"Hey, everybody, look at me,[br]I'm giving a TED Talk!"

0:12:23.947,0:12:25.193
(Laughter)

0:12:25.217,0:12:28.132
There is -- there's, you know, some part.

0:12:28.629,0:12:30.446
But I can also honestly say

0:12:30.470,0:12:33.895
that this whole creative process[br]of writing and giving this talk,

0:12:33.919,0:12:36.533
it's been a huge opportunity[br]for me to focus

0:12:36.557,0:12:39.643
and really pay attention to something[br]I care a lot about.

0:12:40.802,0:12:46.397
So regardless of how much attention[br]I do or don't get as a result,

0:12:46.421,0:12:47.688
I'm happy I did it.

0:12:48.236,0:12:52.096
And I'm grateful to all of you[br]for letting me.

0:12:52.593,0:12:54.611
So thank you, that's it,

0:12:54.635,0:12:56.897
you can give your attention[br]to someone else now.

0:12:56.921,0:12:58.071
Thanks again.

0:12:58.095,0:13:01.976
(Applause)