| 斯諾登接受了現場主持人的視頻連線。他為自己辯護說，隱私權很重要，因為你永遠不知道你什么時候需要它。他還號召美國的大型網絡公司對用戶的網站訪問進行加密，把它設定為默認設置，以防止包括美國在內的各國政府輕易地獲取美國公民的行為信息。 |
TED大會主持人克里斯•安德森在2014溫哥華TED大會上采訪斯諾登
“TED”是英文“科技、娛樂、設計”（technology, entertainment, design）三個詞的縮寫，除了那三個醒目的紅色大字以外，還真是難以三言兩語把它說清。TED大會最出名的就是那些限時18分鐘的精彩演講，本周二，TED講臺上的許多最出色的演講人也是照著稿子念的。盡管TED大會的講臺可以說是世界上最重要的講臺之一，但大多數知名演講人都是穿著運動鞋上臺的。（女性演講者傾向于穿得更職業、更時尚，男士們根據大會的傳統都不打領帶。）
今年的TED大會于本周在溫哥華港口的一座會展中心召開，這次大會最令我驚訝的是演講的質量參差不齊。據說大會主辦方之前讓演講人們反復排練，以求個個講出喬布斯的范兒，因此我原以為每場演講都會“震”到我。但是再想一想，就覺得我的奢望太不切實際了。另外，評價一場演講到底好不好也是件非常主觀的事。最讓我贊嘆的是整場大會的制作水準。流程的無縫銜接簡直無可挑剔，而且內容本身不拘一格，簡直就像一場內容最緊湊的大學研討會。
布蘭•費倫是一名“科技設計師”，曾經在迪士尼（Disney）擔任“想象工程師”。他的演講就是證明TED的精彩性和多樣性的極好例子。他的演講幾乎沒有任何視覺效果，只是照本宣科地念，但是內容卻非常吸引人。他把互聯網比做混凝土，雖然是一種有價值的建筑材料，但也就不過如此。他認為“自動駕駛汽車”將是未來一些年里人類文明最積極的進步之一，理由也是我聽過的之中最令人信服的——自動駕駛汽車的技術一旦成熟了，不僅能降低污染，緩解交通擁堵，而且由于我們不用再花很多時間堵在路上，我們還能“重獲大量損失的生產力”。但是在這個項目仍然有一些障礙還沒有跨越，比如教會汽車怎樣“喚醒”乘客，讓他們向汽車輸入關于周邊環境的那些最好由人來分析的指令。
我個人認為，當天最精彩的一場演講當屬建筑師馬克•庫什納就近30年的建筑史所作的發言。他說建筑師們經常在創新（他們自己喜歡但大眾討厭）和標志性建筑（他們自己不喜歡但大眾覺得舒服）之間搖擺不定。他說：“標志性建筑既簡單又便宜，我們不是建造某個空間，而是建造某個地方的標志物。”不過庫什納也表示，數字媒體的發展正在改變一切。現在在項目建設的同時，建筑師們就能夠從客戶和大眾那里獲得實時反饋。比如說約紐的火燒島上有一棟樓就是他的公司設計的。從設計完成進入施工階段開始，他們公司就把圖紙放在Facebook和Instagram上。這樣，居民們就知道樓建好后會是什么樣子，而且他們也很喜歡這棟建筑。
第二天的另一個驚喜就是“棱鏡門”的爆料者斯諾登出現在大屏幕上。TED大會的負責人克里斯•安德森借助遠程視頻系統對斯諾登進行了采訪，而斯諾登本人則隱身于俄羅斯某地。斯諾登的演講非常吸引人，也有種啟示錄的味道。他言語間給人的感覺非常理智、聰明，令人信服。他為自己的行為進行了強有力的辯解。他說：“我是誰根本不重要，重要的是那些問題�！彼怪Z登充滿激情地探討的“那些問題”也就是被他的前雇主——美國國家安全局（the National Security Agency）粗暴踐踏的隱私權問題。斯諾登說：“你的權利很重要，因為你永遠不知道你什么時候需要它，它也是美國人的文化特性的一部分�！彼栒倜绹拇笮途W絡公司對用戶的網站訪問進行加密，把它設定為默認設置，以防止包括美國在內的各國政府輕易地獲取美國公民的行為信息。
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| TED, which stands for 'technology, entertainment and design," is almost impossible to characterize beyond that ridiculously broad rubric. Best known for its slick, 18-minute "talks," some of the best speakers on Tuesday read from their typewritten texts. Most of its highly accomplished speakers wear sneakers despite being on one of the world's most important stages. (Female speakers are more likely to dress professionally and stylishly; the men have been cowed by tradition into not wearing neckties.)
My biggest surprise so far at TED, taking place this week at a convention center on the harbor in Vancouver, is the uneven quality of the talks. Knowing the Steve Jobs-like rehearsal regimen TED's producers impose on presenters, I expected to be wowed by every talk. But upon reflection, that just wasn't realistic on my part. Besides, judging a speech is a highly subjective endeavor. What sings every time is the production value of the entire conference. The seamless flow is nothing short of stunning, and the content itself in an eclectic collection of lectures that can best be described as the most intense college seminar you never attended.
Bran Ferren, a "technology designer" who once was a Disney "Imagineer," is a case in point of the TED serendipity and diversity. With almost no visuals, he read a speech that was the opposite of slick -- and totally engaging. He likened the Internet to concrete, a valuable building material but no more than that. He gave perhaps the most compelling explanation I've heard for why what he called "autonomous vehicles" will be one of the most positive developments for civilization for years to come. Self-driving cars, once they are perfected, will reduce pollution, eliminate congestion and "recapture vast amounts of lost productivity," said Ferren, due to all the time humans no longer will be stuck in traffic. There are a few kinks left to be worked out, like teaching cars how to "wake up" their passengers for input about surroundings best left to a human to analyze.
The best talk of the day, in my book, was a rollicking presentation on three decades of architectural history by the architect Marc Kushner. He lucidly explained that architects swing on a predictable pendulum from innovation (which they love but the public often hates) to symbols (which bore them but the public finds comforting). "Symbols are easy and cheap," said Kushner, with architectural disdain. "Instead of making places, we make symbols of places." Good news though: Kushner says digital media is changing everything because architects now have the ability to seek real-time feedback from their clients and the public as their projects are being built. He cited a public building on Fire Island in New York that his firm designed and posted drawings about on Facebook and Instagram as it moved from planning to construction. He said residents already knew what to expect by the time the innovative building was finished. And they liked it.
Edward Snowden was Day 2's surprise highlight. Chris Anderson, TED's "curator," interviewed a robot that moved around the stage with a video screen with Snowden's face broadcast from his undisclosed location in Russia. Listening to Snowden speak at length was riveting and revelatory. He comes across as totally reasonable, sane and convincing. He made a strong case for his motivations, love him or hate him. "Who I am doesn't really matter at all," Snowden said. "What matters are the issues." The issues that Snowden passionately argued are the rights to privacy he says his former contract employer, the National Security Agency, has trampled. "Your rights matter because you never know when you're going to need them," he said. "They are part of our cultural identity" as Americans. Snowden also called on big U.S. Internet companies to encrypt web browsing on their sites as a default setting, which would prevent governments, including the U.S., from gaining easy access to the behavior of U.S. citizens.
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有意思的是，當安德森讓觀眾舉手表決他們覺得斯諾登是英雄還是壞蛋時，大概有10%的人否認斯諾登是英雄，更多人則熱情洋溢地進行聲援。安德森敏銳地發現有很多人（包括我自己在內）根本沒舉過手。安德森說他邀請了美國國安局派一名代表參加大會，但是國安局以后勤問題為由沒有出席。安德森也提出給美國國安局安排一次視頻連線，如果他們表示同意，那么觀看斯諾登和國安局的對質肯定會非常過癮。斯諾登的演講還沒結束我就離場了，他的演講明顯超過了18分鐘。我相信斯諾登為這個國家做了好事，但我還沒想好他是否應該收到懲罰，因為他的行為顯然違反了法律。
當天的另一個亮點來自阿曼達•波登，她是布隆伯格當紐約市長時的紐約城市規劃主管。她講到紐約市有一項規定，要求新建房地產項目離地鐵站出口不能超過步行十分鐘。然后她講述了自己為了執行這個規定，艱苦地完成城市分區工作的過程。她還詳細談到了自己常年與房地產開發商斗智斗勇的故事，包括著名的哈德遜庭院項目的開發商（這個項目去年出現在《財富》雜志的封面上）。這個開發商當時想拆掉、然后重建紐約人心愛的高架公園（High Line Park）的一部分。波登說：“商業利益總是會與公共空間發生沖突。”
TED的兼容并包還不僅僅停留在自動駕駛汽車、建筑學、國家安全和城市規劃上�！都~約時報》（New York Times）填字游戲的設計者、著名魔術師鄺大衛把他的兩項專長結合在一塊兒，給大家帶來了一場主題為“人類生來就為了解謎”的演講，令人目眩神迷。（世界上第一個縱橫字謎是100年前在《紐約世界報》上刊登的，但誰還記得呢？）物理學家米歇爾•拉伯奇帶來了關于核聚變商業化的演講；環�；顒蛹覄⑴彗骰仡櫫酥袊沫h保努力；字體設計師馬修•卡特探討了電腦時代建立新字體背后的技術；紀錄片制片人約魯巴•瑞肯介紹了她為記錄美國同性戀者爭取自身權利的歷史所做的努力。
TED大會的組織者深知偶爾需要調整一下會議的節奏，因為如果每個演講都一樣長，容易讓人產生審美疲勞。所以周二下午，它給了往屆的演講者一次機會，讓他們給往年做過的經典演講再加點料。知名心理學家菲爾•津巴多談到了男性的衰落，同時表示這種趨勢正愈演愈烈。（他說學校由于男教師太少已經變得“女性化”了，而且日本男人對電腦A片非常上癮，甚至不太熱衷真實性愛。）海洋學家大衛•蓋洛說，他對否認氣候變化的人唯一想說的一句話是：“傻X”。
比爾•蓋茨夫婦是最后階段的重頭戲，著名音樂人斯汀也為我們帶來了精彩表演。蓋茨夫婦說的不多，但是展示了他們的孩子們的照片。因為蓋茨夫婦表示，孩子們曾對他們說過，他們希望全世界知道他們也非常關心父母通過蓋茨基金會所做的慈善工作。
真是收獲頗豐的一天。敬請期待周四為您帶來更多現場盛況。（財富中文網）
譯者：樸成奎
| | | In an interesting moment, TED's Anderson asked the audience to raise their hands if they thought Snowden was a hero or a villain. About 10% rejected his heroic status, and a louder, more enthusiastic group supported Snowden. Anderson astutely noted that many people -- myself included -- didn't raise their hands at all. Importantly, Anderson noted that he invited the NSA to send a representative to the conference, and that they claimed logistical challenges. Given that he'd accommodate a video hookup for the NSA as well, it'd be a fascinating contrast if they accepted his invitation. I left the extended interview, which lasted much longer than 18 minutes, convinced that Snowden has done a service to the country. But I am unprepared to say he shouldn't be punished for what obviously are violations of the law.
Another highlight of the day was Amanda Burden, the head of planning for New York under Michael Bloomberg. She explained the painstaking process of zoning in support of a policy to ensure that all new housing development in New York take place within a 10-minute walk of a subway station. She detailed her constant fights with real estate developers, including the builders of the massive Hudson Yards project (featured last year on the cover of Fortune magazine), who wanted to tear down and then re-build a portion of the now treasured High Line park. "Commercial interests will always battle against public spaces," said Burden.
Eclecticism didn't end with self-driving cars, architecture, national security and urban planning. David Kwong, a magician and New York Times crossword puzzle creator dazzled the crowd by combining his two professions while presenting the thesis that "human beings are wired to solve." (The New York World published the first crossword puzzle 100 years ago. Who knew?) Physicist Michel Laberge spoke about commercializing fusion, activist Peggy Liu reviewed environmental efforts in China, typeface designer Matthew Carter discussed the technology behind creating new fonts in the computer age, and documentary filmmaker Yoruba Richen described her efforts to track the histories of civil rights with gay rights in the U.S.
TED also knows how to change the pace of events, understanding that a repetitive cadence of talks of just one length would get boring. So in the afternoon Tuesday it gave past speakers the opportunity to update quickly their popular talks from past TEDs. The famed psychologist Phil Zimbardo explained the demise of "guys" and suggested things are getting worse. (He says schools are "feminized" by too few male teachers and that Japanese men are so hooked on computer porn they don't want to have the traditional kind of sex.) The oceanographer David Gallo said the only word he can think of to describe a climate denier is "dumb ass."
Bill and Melinda Gates were the focal point of the final session, in addition to a charming and enjoyable performance by Sting. The Gateses didn't say much new, though they did show photos of their children, they said, because the kids told them they want the world to know they care deeply about the philanthropic work their parents are doing with the Gates Foundation.
It's a lot for one day. Expect more Thursday.
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