0:00:00.000,0:00:07.633


0:00:07.633,0:00:19.799
[music]

0:00:19.800,0:00:21.766
Do you hear what I hear?

0:00:21.766,0:00:25.999
[slow cello music]

0:00:26.000,0:00:28.966
Do you hear what I hear?

0:00:28.966,0:00:31.299
It's a universal question.

0:00:31.300,0:00:34.200
And it's also an ancient question.

0:00:34.200,0:00:36.200
And...

0:00:36.200,0:00:40.400
it's an exceedingly contemporary question.

0:00:40.400,0:00:43.166
It asks so much of us, [br]doesn't it?

0:00:43.166,0:00:48.432
Are you feeling what I'm feeling? [br]Am I alone in what I hear?

0:00:48.433,0:00:50.699
Let's listen to the question.

0:00:50.700,0:00:55.400
And let's listen to the way that technology [br]is constantly changing the answer.

0:00:55.400,0:00:57.500


0:00:57.500,0:01:01.066
As humans, we listen in groups, [br]and we always have.

0:01:01.066,0:01:02.732


0:01:02.733,0:01:05.733
We used to dwell in caves [br]and sit around the fire.

0:01:05.733,0:01:10.366
And likely we listened to a sort of--ooh!-- [br][light cello music]

0:01:10.366,0:01:12.999
grunting nightly newscast of the events of the day.

0:01:13.000,0:01:18.433
You know, big thunder.[br]Many antelope.

0:01:18.433,0:01:21.999
Guy next door has new rock. [br][audience laughs]

0:01:22.000,0:01:24.000
[cello music continues]

0:01:24.000,0:01:29.000
We listen to each other's hopes and our dreams [br]and our experiences and our aspirations.

0:01:29.000,0:01:34.100
And our stories, real or imagined, [br]with storytelling time.

0:01:34.100,0:01:37.533
'Cause listening is sharing.[br]We shared these things.

0:01:37.533,0:01:39.266
[Cello music stops]

0:01:39.266,0:01:43.632
It went on for a very long time, right? [br]Eons.

0:01:43.633,0:01:45.466
But then we grew complex.

0:01:45.466,0:01:47.199


0:01:47.200,0:01:50.000
Our stories grew very complex.

0:01:50.000,0:01:53.966
Time passed [br]and technology arrived.

0:01:53.966,0:01:56.432
The cave got nicer.

0:01:56.433,0:01:59.633
[Cello music starts again][br]We got some indoor plumbing.

0:01:59.633,0:02:02.699
And we began to sit around [br]and listen to a thing called radio.

0:02:02.700,0:02:04.300


0:02:04.300,0:02:08.699
We listened to the news of the world [br]and the songs of the day

0:02:08.699,0:02:12.000
and we listened [br]to the speeches of Winston Churchill.

0:02:12.000,0:02:14.566
[cello music continues]

0:02:14.566,0:02:20.899
And we kept on listening, [br]with technology amplifying and broadcasting it all.

0:02:20.900,0:02:28.733
We listened together to teachers,[br]preachers, fascists, and popes.

0:02:28.733,0:02:31.633
We listened to operas [br]and rock stars.

0:02:31.633,0:02:35.199
We listened to people try to sell us soap [br]and cigarettes.

0:02:35.200,0:02:39.033
[silence]

0:02:39.033,0:02:43.899
The fact is, we used to listen [br]to events as events.

0:02:43.900,0:02:47.133
You know? The speech, the concert. [br]You had to be there.

0:02:47.133,0:02:51.199
But then we found [br]that we could record and play back.

0:02:51.200,0:02:53.433
And that's technology.

0:02:53.433,0:02:56.499
And we found [br]that sound could be openly accessible.

0:02:56.500,0:02:59.400
We could get it anywhere, anytime. [br]Alone or apart.

0:02:59.400,0:03:01.000


0:03:01.000,0:03:05.200
And the radio became the home stereo.

0:03:05.200,0:03:09.366
And listening got a little less big group-y [br]and a little more parlor, right?

0:03:09.366,0:03:13.632
We found that we could actually purchase [br]a song or a sound.

0:03:13.633,0:03:16.633
Have you heard what I've heard? No? [br]Well, come on over.

0:03:16.633,0:03:17.699
I'll play it for you.

0:03:17.700,0:03:20.466


0:03:20.466,0:03:24.399
Now, of course we don't always listen in groups.[br]No, no.

0:03:24.400,0:03:27.866
Often, frequently, we listen privately.

0:03:27.866,0:03:29.699
Private listening. It's a primal thing

0:03:29.700,0:03:31.166


0:03:31.166,0:03:34.199
Sound. Is. Primal.

0:03:34.200,0:03:39.466
It exists...in a pre-language realm. All right?

0:03:39.466,0:03:44.066
And unlike movies and television and computers, [br]which are always two dimensional,

0:03:44.066,0:03:46.499
sound is always three-dimensional. [br][High pitched music starts]

0:03:46.500,0:03:49.133
It's around us; it's within us.

0:03:49.133,0:03:55.599
That phrase "in the beginning was the Word" [br]can be understood as in the beginning was sound.

0:03:55.600,0:03:57.766
The sound of the word.

0:03:57.766,0:04:00.499
Sound was the first thing ever.

0:04:00.500,0:04:02.266
And this begins for us

0:04:02.266,0:04:07.099
in a dark, warm,[br]very comfortable place

0:04:07.100,0:04:08.366
known as the womb.

0:04:08.366,0:04:10.532
[Music continues]

0:04:10.533,0:04:15.099
Inside the womb, we begin to hear [br]far before we begin to see.

0:04:15.100,0:04:19.766
And the first thing that we ever hear [br]is this steady, four-four pounding

0:04:19.766,0:04:22.466
known as mother's heartbeat.

0:04:22.466,0:04:28.932
It's the first and most important sound of our lives. [br]And it stays with us.

0:04:28.933,0:04:34.499
Have you ever wondered why later in life,[br]we go to dark, warm, dance clubs?

0:04:34.500,0:04:39.100
On a liquid diet and we kinda bop around [br]to that same four-four pounding beat?

0:04:39.100,0:04:40.266
[Audience laughs]

0:04:40.266,0:04:45.632
Yeah. That's technology recreating the best place [br]in the whole world, the womb.

0:04:45.633,0:04:46.866
[Audience laughs]

0:04:46.866,0:04:52.166
We get together and we gather to listen to it. [br]It's fantastic.

0:04:52.166,0:04:53.866
[sighs]

0:04:53.866,0:04:57.532
Now later, outside of the womb,

0:04:57.533,0:05:00.366
we discover [br]that sound is truly wonderful.

0:05:00.366,0:05:00.999
awh ...

0:05:01.000,0:05:03.533
It defines us. [br]It amazes us.

0:05:03.533,0:05:04.966


0:05:04.966,0:05:08.066
It touches us so deeply.

0:05:08.066,0:05:10.999
Do you remember, as a child,

0:05:11.000,0:05:17.866
laying in the backseat of the car[br]on a rainy night on the way home,

0:05:17.866,0:05:22.266
falling asleep to your parents' voices, [br]very low talking,

0:05:22.266,0:05:24.399
windshield wipers keeping time, [br]and you're listening

0:05:24.400,0:05:26.600


0:05:26.600,0:05:27.766
to the passing cars

0:05:27.766,0:05:29.466


0:05:29.466,0:05:33.466
and the sound of tires [br]on the wet pavement.

0:05:33.466,0:05:36.099


0:05:36.100,0:05:39.066
[imitates engine noise [br]and sound of splashing water]

0:05:39.066,0:05:41.466


0:05:41.466,0:05:45.232
You remember the first time [br]you discovered zippers?

0:05:45.233,0:05:51.466
[imitates zipper sound]

0:05:51.466,0:05:55.066
Wow! [br][audience laughs]

0:05:55.066,0:05:57.566
We wanted to share that. [br]"Mommy, listen to this!"

0:05:57.566,0:05:59.099
[imitates zipper sound]

0:05:59.100,0:06:00.633
[audience laughs]

0:06:00.633,0:06:05.266
The truth is that private listening [br]always leads to that need to share.

0:06:05.266,0:06:07.999
And it's at that age [br]that we begin to ask ourselves,

0:06:08.000,0:06:11.766
"Do you hear what I hear?"

0:06:11.766,0:06:16.799
The song, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" [br]was written in the late sixties,

0:06:16.800,0:06:20.400
about the time of the Cuban missile crisis. [br]Um, about the same time,

0:06:20.400,0:06:22.166


0:06:22.166,0:06:27.066
headphone technology was leaving the battlefield [br]where it had been for decades.

0:06:27.066,0:06:28.999
And it was beginning [br]to enter the home.

0:06:29.000,0:06:31.033


0:06:31.033,0:06:33.566
Headphones

0:06:33.566,0:06:36.132
made listening more private, more personal.

0:06:36.133,0:06:42.466
They cut us off from one another in exchange [br]for a more powerful private listening experience.

0:06:42.466,0:06:44.166


0:06:44.166,0:06:48.066
Just a decade later, [br]the Walkman arrived,

0:06:48.066,0:06:53.666
which is a portable listening device, right? [br]And it untethered us from the home stereo.

0:06:53.666,0:06:59.432
And we were free to walk around the planet, [br]you know, listening privately.

0:06:59.433,0:07:03.099
Carrying, slugging [br]these backpacks full of cassettes. Remember?

0:07:03.100,0:07:04.966
[Audience laughs]

0:07:04.966,0:07:09.532
Sound attached itself to us, [br]and we began to carry it around.

0:07:09.533,0:07:15.299
And somehow private listening [br]became more fashionable than group listening.

0:07:15.300,0:07:18.366
Recall this? [br]Well, headphones, they were amazing.

0:07:18.366,0:07:22.966
Total aural immersion. [br]And yet, total loneliness.

0:07:22.966,0:07:27.199
The sound was great, [br]but it was hard to share.

0:07:27.200,0:07:33.000
We tried to counter that loneliness [br]with something called the mix tape.

0:07:33.000,0:07:38.900
[audience laughs]

0:07:38.900,0:07:44.533
It was this love letter sound object [br]made up of the sounds and songs

0:07:44.533,0:07:46.933
that we would offer to others.

0:07:46.933,0:07:49.766
"Here, listen to this. [br]Hear what I hear.

0:07:49.766,0:07:52.266
Feel what I feel [br]when I listen to this."

0:07:52.266,0:07:54.866


0:07:54.866,0:07:59.799
But you know, technology. Our finger's constantly [br]on the fast-forward button, right?

0:07:59.800,0:08:03.766
That Walkman quickly became the CD player, [br]the MP3 player, the iPod, the iPhone, Anyphone.

0:08:03.766,0:08:06.899


0:08:06.900,0:08:09.833


0:08:09.833,0:08:14.199
The backpack full of cassettes [br]collapsed itself into the technology.

0:08:14.200,0:08:17.266
And the device got smaller, smaller,

0:08:17.266,0:08:21.099
lighter, nearly invisible.

0:08:21.100,0:08:25.333
That little button called shuffle

0:08:25.333,0:08:28.566
killed the mix tape.

0:08:28.566,0:08:33.366
Remember the little segues we used to make, to make it just the perfect song to song?

0:08:33.366,0:08:35.198


0:08:35.200,0:08:38.133
That vanished, [br]and the randomness of streaming arrived.

0:08:38.133,0:08:40.198


0:08:40.200,0:08:44.333
Robots called algorithms [br]began to "know us."

0:08:44.333,0:08:46.533


0:08:46.533,0:08:49.066
And not only would they play the songs [br]we wanted to hear,

0:08:49.066,0:08:54.899
but they would suggest other songs [br]that we might want to hear, or even purchase.

0:08:54.900,0:08:58.633


0:08:58.633,0:09:00.633
And the cave where we used to listen

0:09:00.633,0:09:06.566
was suddenly becoming [br]this isolated private space.

0:09:06.566,0:09:09.366
And maybe the sound wasn't so good, after all.

0:09:09.366,0:09:14.432
It's kind of thin and tinny [br]and compressed and plastic.

0:09:14.433,0:09:20.133
It's the fast food of sonic culture [br]and it's not very nutrient.

0:09:20.133,0:09:24.666
All right? [br]Private listening has engulfed us.

0:09:24.666,0:09:27.632
As if the world was too noisy

0:09:27.633,0:09:33.533
And now we carry this little iWomb around [br]to keep us sonically safe.

0:09:33.533,0:09:35.833


0:09:35.833,0:09:38.933
All right, I know [br]that the Internet and telephone technology

0:09:38.933,0:09:42.666
probably have us more connected [br]than we ever have been before.

0:09:42.666,0:09:46.832
You know, I don't argue that. [br]But in our listening, we're so alone.

0:09:46.833,0:09:50.933
So private. [br]So isolated.

0:09:50.933,0:09:52.333
Sad.

0:09:52.333,0:09:53.833


0:09:53.833,0:09:57.066
And it's getting pretty dark. Right?

0:09:57.066,0:09:59.766
Where are we going with this?

0:09:59.766,0:10:05.066
Zombie hordes of earbud slaves. [br][audience laughs]

0:10:05.066,0:10:08.499
We're wandering randomly and disconnected.

0:10:08.500,0:10:11.300
It’s an Orwellian nightmare.

0:10:11.300,0:10:13.300
Dude!

0:10:13.300,0:10:18.066
It's the end of humanity, it's--[br]surely, it's the end of days.

0:10:18.066,0:10:20.632
Well, maybe. [br]But maybe not.

0:10:20.633,0:10:22.433


0:10:22.433,0:10:25.633
Technology did not get us into this mess.

0:10:25.633,0:10:28.533
We did. [br]Our neurotic culture did.

0:10:28.533,0:10:33.033
And cultures evolve, we hope. [br]And so does the technology.

0:10:33.033,0:10:35.599
Right?

0:10:35.600,0:10:38.633
Maybe it’s not so scary.

0:10:38.633,0:10:39.799
Listen.

0:10:39.800,0:10:41.633


0:10:41.633,0:10:46.433
Sonic culture is beginning to join [br]with the global network.

0:10:46.433,0:10:50.333
And group listening and private listening [br]are beginning to merge again.

0:10:50.333,0:10:54.733
That tinny and tiny earbud [br]is passing away

0:10:54.733,0:11:00.799
in favor of these new, like, fashionably hip [br]and really cool and great-sounding headphones.

0:11:00.800,0:11:02.533
You've seen 'em.

0:11:02.533,0:11:04.633
And their days are numbered, as well.

0:11:04.633,0:11:08.466
We have new technology, [br]something known as Bone Conduction.

0:11:08.466,0:11:11.366
I love saying "bone conduction.

0:11:11.366,0:11:17.099
And what it does is it stimulates [br]the, uh, auditory canals using soundwaves.

0:11:17.100,0:11:19.233
And what this does is frees us from headphones.

0:11:19.233,0:11:21.899
We're listening here instead of here.

0:11:21.900,0:11:27.266
And that allows us, for the first time ever, [br]to listen normally to our friends at the restaurant,

0:11:27.266,0:11:29.499
and if we want to, listen to some playback [br]at the same time.

0:11:29.500,0:11:33.266


0:11:33.266,0:11:38.032
Uh, it was only a few months ago, [br]the first man implanted little sonic magnets

0:11:38.033,0:11:40.533
into a fleshy part of his ear here.

0:11:40.533,0:11:42.999
He doesn't need any headphones at all. [br]iPhone.

0:11:43.000,0:11:45.066


0:11:45.066,0:11:48.399
There's a new kind of broadcasting [br]known as “bluecasting.”

0:11:48.400,0:11:49.666


0:11:49.666,0:11:53.532
And this is the use of bluetooth technology [br]to broadcast locally.

0:11:53.533,0:11:56.866
If you can imagine going to a library [br]or a restaurant or a cafe

0:11:56.866,0:12:00.199
or a...classroom or a museum [br]or even a dance club.

0:12:00.200,0:12:01.766


0:12:01.766,0:12:06.599
And you can choose to hear music [br]if you want to, bopping around, rocking out.

0:12:06.600,0:12:08.800
Or if you don't want to, click. [br]It is off.

0:12:08.800,0:12:13.433
And it's not bothering you. Imagine a dance floor full of people and no sound.

0:12:13.433,0:12:16.633
[audience laughs] [br]Right?

0:12:16.633,0:12:20.299
It's in development. [br]There are prototypes.

0:12:20.300,0:12:25.700
And what is the podcast [br]if not a virtual mixtape, right?

0:12:25.700,0:12:30.200
It's a playlist, and it's our hopes [br]and our dreams and what I'm thinking today.

0:12:30.200,0:12:32.933
Here, download...

0:12:32.933,0:12:34.266
this.

0:12:34.266,0:12:36.266
Hear what I hear.

0:12:36.266,0:12:38.699


0:12:38.700,0:12:42.466
There's even this thing called the, uh, the TED [br]talk,

0:12:42.466,0:12:44.532


0:12:44.533,0:12:49.699
where people gather in caves [br]and listen to this sort of grunting of ideas.

0:12:49.700,0:12:51.800


0:12:51.800,0:12:56.200
It's very popular. [br][audience laughs]

0:12:56.200,0:13:01.500
Live music is back; it's everywhere. [br]Uh, right now, our--

0:13:01.500,0:13:03.733
there are more vendors [br]than there ever were before.

0:13:03.733,0:13:09.866
Um, we're listening [br]as if decades of recorded plastic playback

0:13:09.866,0:13:15.932
has left us really hungry [br]for live, real, actual sounds. All right?

0:13:15.933,0:13:17.566
We're back in the concert hall. [br]It doesn't matter.

0:13:17.566,0:13:20.966
Classical, rock and roll, [br]bluegrass, electronica.

0:13:20.966,0:13:24.432
You know, yak mating music. [br]We're back in there, listening for it.

0:13:24.433,0:13:27.066


0:13:27.066,0:13:32.032
It's very beautiful. [br]Now, myself, I look at youth culture.

0:13:32.033,0:13:35.166
I look at the millenials. [br]And they're down.

0:13:35.166,0:13:38.499
They are listening again in groups. [br]They're sharing sound.

0:13:38.500,0:13:39.966
They call it file sharing.

0:13:39.966,0:13:41.432


0:13:41.433,0:13:45.666
But they're also doing these things, [br]it's a group listening, turntable party.

0:13:45.666,0:13:49.832
And noise bands. [br]And online gaming,

0:13:49.833,0:13:51.099
where they can talk to each other [br][electronic music starts]

0:13:51.100,0:13:53.733
while they blow the zombies away. Right?

0:13:53.733,0:13:57.933
And they're forming little subcultures [br]of group listening, like this.

0:13:57.933,0:14:03.099
It's called “Decibel Drag Racing." [br]And they jack up their cars.

0:14:03.100,0:14:05.900
And they compete [br]to see how loud each other can be.

0:14:05.900,0:14:08.333
That's group listening, all right?

0:14:08.333,0:14:10.666
It's not very good for the ears,

0:14:10.666,0:14:12.999
[music becomes louder and continues]

0:14:13.000,0:14:16.733
but my god, what enthusiasm!

0:14:16.733,0:14:22.733
[audience laughs]

0:14:22.733,0:14:26.166
Guys, it’s not about the technology at all, [br]and it never was.

0:14:26.166,0:14:29.866
It’s our need to share our sounds [br]and our stories.

0:14:29.866,0:14:31.899


0:14:31.900,0:14:36.200
And the technology just supports that, right?

0:14:36.200,0:14:39.633
You know, we want to share our stuff.

0:14:39.633,0:14:41.066


0:14:41.066,0:14:46.232
And I believe, personally, I believe [br]that our, the future of sonic culture

0:14:46.233,0:14:49.299
is actually quite bright. [br]Or to join the millennials, you know,

0:14:49.300,0:14:51.800
[Cello music starts][br]it's awesome, it's sweet, it's sick.

0:14:51.800,0:14:54.333
[Cello music continues

0:14:54.333,0:14:57.266
And I think that eventually, [br]we're all gonna hear each other.

0:14:57.266,0:14:59.632
I want to hear what you hear, [br]and you want to hear what I hear,

0:14:59.633,0:15:02.766
and together we can celebrate the sounds [br]of our lives.

0:15:02.766,0:15:03.566
[music continues]

0:15:03.566,0:15:06.599
So listen up, listen well.

0:15:06.600,0:15:08.066
Thank you.

0:15:08.066,0:15:26.099
[applause]