| 斯諾登接受了現(xiàn)場(chǎng)主持人的視頻連線。他為自己辯護(hù)說(shuō)，隱私權(quán)很重要，因?yàn)槟阌肋h(yuǎn)不知道你什么時(shí)候需要它。他還號(hào)召美國(guó)的大型網(wǎng)絡(luò)公司對(duì)用戶的網(wǎng)站訪問(wèn)進(jìn)行加密，把它設(shè)定為默認(rèn)設(shè)置，以防止包括美國(guó)在內(nèi)的各國(guó)政府輕易地獲取美國(guó)公民的行為信息。 |
TED大會(huì)主持人克里斯•安德森在2014溫哥華TED大會(huì)上采訪斯諾登
“TED”是英文“科技、娛樂(lè)、設(shè)計(jì)”（technology, entertainment, design）三個(gè)詞的縮寫，除了那三個(gè)醒目的紅色大字以外，還真是難以三言兩語(yǔ)把它說(shuō)清。TED大會(huì)最出名的就是那些限時(shí)18分鐘的精彩演講，本周二，TED講臺(tái)上的許多最出色的演講人也是照著稿子念的。盡管TED大會(huì)的講臺(tái)可以說(shuō)是世界上最重要的講臺(tái)之一，但大多數(shù)知名演講人都是穿著運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋上臺(tái)的。（女性演講者傾向于穿得更職業(yè)、更時(shí)尚，男士們根據(jù)大會(huì)的傳統(tǒng)都不打領(lǐng)帶。）
今年的TED大會(huì)于本周在溫哥華港口的一座會(huì)展中心召開(kāi)，這次大會(huì)最令我驚訝的是演講的質(zhì)量參差不齊。據(jù)說(shuō)大會(huì)主辦方之前讓演講人們反復(fù)排練，以求個(gè)個(gè)講出喬布斯的范兒，因此我原以為每場(chǎng)演講都會(huì)“震”到我。但是再想一想，就覺(jué)得我的奢望太不切實(shí)際了。另外，評(píng)價(jià)一場(chǎng)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(chǎng)大會(huì)的制作水準(zhǔn)。流程的無(wú)縫銜接簡(jiǎn)直無(wú)可挑剔，而且內(nèi)容本身不拘一格，簡(jiǎn)直就像一場(chǎng)內(nèi)容最緊湊的大學(xué)研討會(huì)。
布蘭•費(fèi)倫是一名“科技設(shè)計(jì)師”，曾經(jīng)在迪士尼（Disney）擔(dān)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(méi)有任何視覺(jué)效果，只是照本宣科地念，但是內(nèi)容卻非常吸引人。他把互聯(lián)網(wǎng)比做混凝土，雖然是一種有價(jià)值的建筑材料，但也就不過(guò)如此。他認(rèn)為“自動(dòng)駕駛汽車”將是未來(lái)一些年里人類文明最積極的進(jìn)步之一，理由也是我聽(tīng)過(guò)的之中最令人信服的——自動(dòng)駕駛汽車的技術(shù)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(shí)間堵在路上，我們還能“重獲大量損失的生產(chǎn)力”。但是在這個(gè)項(xiàng)目仍然有一些障礙還沒(méi)有跨越，比如教會(huì)汽車怎樣“喚醒”乘客，讓他們向汽車輸入關(guān)于周邊環(huán)境的那些最好由人來(lái)分析的指令。
我個(gè)人認(rèn)為，當(dāng)天最精彩的一場(chǎng)演講當(dāng)屬建筑師馬克•庫(kù)什納就近30年的建筑史所作的發(fā)言。他說(shuō)建筑師們經(jīng)常在創(chuàng)新（他們自己喜歡但大眾討厭）和標(biāo)志性建筑（他們自己不喜歡但大眾覺(jué)得舒服）之間搖擺不定。他說(shuō)：“標(biāo)志性建筑既簡(jiǎn)單又便宜，我們不是建造某個(gè)空間，而是建造某個(gè)地方的標(biāo)志物。”不過(guò)庫(kù)什納也表示，數(shù)字媒體的發(fā)展正在改變一切。現(xiàn)在在項(xiàng)目建設(shè)的同時(shí)，建筑師們就能夠從客戶和大眾那里獲得實(shí)時(shí)反饋。比如說(shuō)約紐的火燒島上有一棟樓就是他的公司設(shè)計(jì)的。從設(shè)計(jì)完成進(jìn)入施工階段開(kāi)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(huì)是什么樣子，而且他們也很喜歡這棟建筑。
第二天的另一個(gè)驚喜就是“棱鏡門”的爆料者斯諾登出現(xiàn)在大屏幕上。TED大會(huì)的負(fù)責(zé)人克里斯•安德森借助遠(yuǎn)程視頻系統(tǒng)對(duì)斯諾登進(jìn)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(yǔ)間給人的感覺(jué)非常理智、聰明，令人信服。他為自己的行為進(jìn)行了強(qiáng)有力的辯解。他說(shuō)：“我是誰(shuí)根本不重要，重要的是那些問(wèn)題。”斯諾登充滿激情地探討的“那些問(wèn)題”也就是被他的前雇主——美國(guó)國(guó)家安全局（the National Security Agency）粗暴踐踏的隱私權(quán)問(wèn)題。斯諾登說(shuō)：“你的權(quán)利很重要，因?yàn)槟阌肋h(yuǎn)不知道你什么時(shí)候需要它，它也是美國(guó)人的文化特性的一部分。”他號(hào)召美國(guó)的大型網(wǎng)絡(luò)公司對(duì)用戶的網(wǎng)站訪問(wèn)進(jìn)行加密，把它設(shè)定為默認(rèn)設(shè)置，以防止包括美國(guó)在內(nèi)的各國(guó)政府輕易地獲取美國(guó)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(dāng)安德森讓觀眾舉手表決他們覺(jué)得斯諾登是英雄還是壞蛋時(shí)，大概有10%的人否認(rèn)斯諾登是英雄，更多人則熱情洋溢地進(jìn)行聲援。安德森敏銳地發(fā)現(xiàn)有很多人（包括我自己在內(nèi)）根本沒(méi)舉過(guò)手。安德森說(shuō)他邀請(qǐng)了美國(guó)國(guó)安局派一名代表參加大會(huì)，但是國(guó)安局以后勤問(wèn)題為由沒(méi)有出席。安德森也提出給美國(guó)國(guó)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(guó)安局的對(duì)質(zhì)肯定會(huì)非常過(guò)癮。斯諾登的演講還沒(méi)結(jié)束我就離場(chǎng)了，他的演講明顯超過(guò)了18分鐘。我相信斯諾登為這個(gè)國(guó)家做了好事，但我還沒(méi)想好他是否應(yīng)該收到懲罰，因?yàn)樗男袨轱@然違反了法律。
當(dāng)天的另一個(gè)亮點(diǎn)來(lái)自阿曼達(dá)•波登，她是布隆伯格當(dāng)紐約市長(zhǎng)時(shí)的紐約城市規(guī)劃主管。她講到紐約市有一項(xiàng)規(guī)定，要求新建房地產(chǎn)項(xiàng)目離地鐵站出口不能超過(guò)步行十分鐘。然后她講述了自己為了執(zhí)行這個(gè)規(guī)定，艱苦地完成城市分區(qū)工作的過(guò)程。她還詳細(xì)談到了自己常年與房地產(chǎn)開(kāi)發(fā)商斗智斗勇的故事，包括著名的哈德遜庭院項(xiàng)目的開(kāi)發(fā)商（這個(gè)項(xiàng)目去年出現(xiàn)在《財(cái)富》雜志的封面上）。這個(gè)開(kāi)發(fā)商當(dāng)時(shí)想拆掉、然后重建紐約人心愛(ài)的高架公園（High Line Park）的一部分。波登說(shuō)：“商業(yè)利益總是會(huì)與公共空間發(fā)生沖突。”
TED的兼容并包還不僅僅停留在自動(dòng)駕駛汽車、建筑學(xué)、國(guó)家安全和城市規(guī)劃上。《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》（New York Times）填字游戲的設(shè)計(jì)者、著名魔術(shù)師鄺大衛(wèi)把他的兩項(xiàng)專長(zhǎng)結(jié)合在一塊兒，給大家?guī)?lái)了一場(chǎng)主題為“人類生來(lái)就為了解謎”的演講，令人目眩神迷。（世界上第一個(gè)縱橫字謎是100年前在《紐約世界報(bào)》上刊登的，但誰(shuí)還記得呢？）物理學(xué)家米歇爾•拉伯奇帶來(lái)了關(guān)于核聚變商業(yè)化的演講；環(huán)保活動(dòng)家劉佩琪回顧了中國(guó)的環(huán)保努力；字體設(shè)計(jì)師馬修•卡特探討了電腦時(shí)代建立新字體背后的技術(shù)；紀(jì)錄片制片人約魯巴•瑞肯介紹了她為記錄美國(guó)同性戀者爭(zhēng)取自身權(quán)利的歷史所做的努力。
TED大會(huì)的組織者深知偶爾需要調(diào)整一下會(huì)議的節(jié)奏，因?yàn)槿绻總�(gè)演講都一樣長(zhǎng)，容易讓人產(chǎn)生審美疲勞。所以周二下午，它給了往屆的演講者一次機(jī)會(huì)，讓他們給往年做過(guò)的經(jīng)典演講再加點(diǎn)料。知名心理學(xué)家菲爾•津巴多談到了男性的衰落，同時(shí)表示這種趨勢(shì)正愈演愈烈。（他說(shuō)學(xué)校由于男教師太少已經(jīng)變得“女性化”了，而且日本男人對(duì)電腦A片非常上癮，甚至不太熱衷真實(shí)性愛(ài)。）海洋學(xué)家大衛(wèi)•蓋洛說(shuō)，他對(duì)否認(rèn)氣候變化的人唯一想說(shuō)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(lè)人斯汀也為我們帶來(lái)了精彩表演。蓋茨夫婦說(shuō)的不多，但是展示了他們的孩子們的照片。因?yàn)樯w茨夫婦表示，孩子們?cè)鴮?duì)他們說(shuō)過(guò)，他們希望全世界知道他們也非常關(guān)心父母通過(guò)蓋茨基金會(huì)所做的慈善工作。
真是收獲頗豐的一天。敬請(qǐng)期待周四為您帶來(lái)更多現(xiàn)場(chǎng)盛況。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）
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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