TEDxTelAviv - Bruno Giussani - Ideas About Spreading Ideas
Ideas spread through three mechanisms: lowering access barriers through translation, creating spaces for engagement via structured events, and democratizing dissemination through local TEDx licenses. This process proves that community passion is the fundamental driver enabling ideas to travel widely and change the world.
## Theses & Positions
- Sharing ideas is inherently good and has the potential to change the world for the better.
- The spread of ideas requires actively built platforms and mechanisms to help ideas travel far.
- The primary mechanisms for amplifying ideas are:
1. Lowering the barrier to access for global audiences.
2. Creating structured spaces for people to engage with and act upon those ideas.
3. Democratizing the process via localized, independent TEDx events.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **TED:** A global initiative (whose website hosts talks) dedicated to disseminating ideas through conferences and digital platforms.
- **TEDx:** A licensed, local, and independent implementation of the TED model, allowing events to happen in communities beyond the official TED venues.
- **TED Prize Wish:** A formal mechanism where a laureate receives funding ($100,000) and a platform to propose a specific, tangible project for the community to help realize.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Lowering the barrier to access (Translations):**
- TED website initially presented talks only in English.
- Current process allows access to over 70 languages, with some talks subtitled in dozens or even hundreds of languages.
- Subtitles allow viewing even if one cannot listen to the original language speaker (e.g., physicist Brian Cox).
- A full, searchable transcript is available for regions with insufficient bandwidth.
- The entire translation effort relies on a volunteer "TED Community" supplying the labor, with TED providing the structural framework.
- **Creating spaces for engagement (TED Prize):**
- The TED Prize selects individuals based on past achievements and future visions.
- The Prize winner receives $100,000 and the opportunity to give a "Wish," which directs the community toward action.
- Successful implementation relies on community volunteers stepping up to help structure and execute the vision (e.g., setting up schools, drafting charters).
- **Democratizing the ideas (TEDx):**
- The TEDx license is free, requiring only agreement to follow a dozen ground rules to maintain the TED format and approach.
- This mechanism bypasses the need to multiply official TED conferences, allowing local communities to host events.
## Timeline & Sequence
- **15 months ago (Timeline for translations):** TED website was improving, adding translations.
- **Two months ago (Timeline for Jimmy Oliver):** Jimmy Oliver won the TED Prize, which is a relatively new process being detailed.
- **A couple of years ago (Timeline for Neil Turok):** Neil Turok won the prize, leading to the replication of an African school model.
- **Last November (Timeline for Armstrong):** The Charter for Compassion was released.
- **February 2009 (Timeline for Sylvia Earle):** Sylvia Earle visited TED in the US.
- **Two weeks ago (Timeline for the Galapagos conference):** The TED conference at the Galapagos served as a launching point for new campaigns (like Mission Blue).
- **One year and two weeks ago (Timeline for TEDx start):** TEDx began at the speaker's location.
- **Since one year and two weeks ago (Timeline for TEDx growth):** The number of TEDx events has grown from a projected 20-30 to 300+ globally.
## Named Entities
- **Brian Cox:** Physicist who can still have his work accessed via subtitles.
- **Jimmy Oliver:** Winner of the current TED Prize, a British cook, focusing on food quality and combating obesity.
- **Neil Turok:** Physicist from the UK; recipient of a TED Prize Wish to replicate a model school for mathematically gifted African kids.
- **African kids:** Recipients of the model school replication project in multiple African countries.
- **Karen Armstrong:** Religious scholar from Britain; spearheaded the creation of the Charter for Compassion.
- **Three Abrahamic religions:** Major religions whose representatives contributed to the Charter for Compassion.
- **Sylvia Earle:** American oceanographer; desired a campaign to create numerous, large Marine Protected Areas.
- **Mission Blue:** A proposed project gaining momentum following the Galapagos conference.
- **Tusker/Tusker Community:** The volunteer base responsible for translations and supporting projects.
- **Shimon and Maya:** Individuals who demonstrated how to acquire a TEDx license.
- **Kibera:** The biggest slum in Nairobi, Africa, where an event was hosted.
- **Tor Dungu:** Young entrepreneur who organized the TEDx event in Kibera.
- **Masarat Dud:** A 29-year-old single Muslim woman from Rajasthan, India, who initiated a local TEDx event.
- **Rajasthan:** Indian state where Masarat Dud organized her event.
## Numbers & Data
- **Over 70 languages:** Number of languages for which talks are now available on the TED site.
- **220 something talks:** Number of talks available in Hebrew (mentioned as an example).
- **$100,000:** Monetary award given to TED Prize winners.
- **20-30:** Initial expected number of TEDx events in the first year.
- **300:** Number of TEDx events held globally since the start.
- **18 minutes:** The typical length of time a speaker shares an idea.
## Examples & Cases
- **TED Translations:** Showing the ability to watch a talk subtitled in Hebrew, or accessing a full transcript searchable by Bing and Google.
- **Neil Turok's Wish:** Replication of a successful model school for mathematically gifted African kids across a dozen African countries, with two schools already operational.
- **Karen Armstrong's Wish:** Drafting and disseminating the Charter for Compassion, which incorporates input from thousands globally and representatives of the major religions.
- **Sylvia Earle's Wish:** Creating awareness and a campaign to establish numerous, large Marine Protected Areas to combat pollution, overfishing, and acidification.
- **Masarat Dud's Initiative:** Organizing a TEDx event in Rajasthan after initial resistance from the local community council (which was all male).
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **TED Website:** The primary platform for talks, which includes an accessible "Translations" menu.
- **Subtitles:** Technological feature allowing access to content in dozens of languages.
- **Full Transcript:** Fully indexable text version of the talk, searchable via major search engines.
- **TEDx License:** The mechanism that allows local groups to host the event format for free.
- **Google/Bing:** Search engines used to index the content of the full transcripts.
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- The TED Talks were not originally "exacted to the world" because they were only in English.
- The structure of the TED Prize relies heavily on the passion and engagement of the TED Community to make projects happen.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- The core recommendation is that the community must maintain its passion and engagement to keep the mechanisms working.
- The overall principle is: "when you share Community happens."
## Implications & Consequences
- The global scalability of ideas is achieved not by centralized broadcasting, but by decentralized activation through licensed, local events (TEDx).
- The successful spread proves the model can reach unexpected and under-resourced locations, such as Kibera slum or rural Rajasthan.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"how do ideas spread?"*
- *"it's really about building a a platform and a mechanism for this for people to share ideas and for ideas to travel"*
- *"the Talks were there and they were free but they were not exacted to the world because they were all only in English"*
- *"I wish that you help me to create raise awareness and then put in place a campaign to create Marin protected areas numerous enough and big enough to reverse those Trends"*
- *"The license is totally free we are not in it for money we don't get any money out of this"*
- *"it's a spread really much faster and much wider than we uh expected"*
- *"when you share Community happens"*