The Magic of Truth, Lies and Technology.

I sometimes hear people express the fear that technology will make us less creative, or that technological evolutions might destroy art.

I don't agree. I believe technology is just a tool, whereas creativity is an attitude, a talent and a honed skill.

The following five-minute video is a great example of how technology can give rise to new forms of art.

At TEDGlobal 2011, the Swiss magician and illusionist Marco Tempest created an aesthetic, touching and thought-provoking reflection on truth, lies and the power of art:

"Art is a deception that creates real emotion
A lie that creates a truth
And when you give yourself over to that deception
It becomes magic."

 Marco Tempest, TEDGlobal 2011

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A Kinder Philosophy of Success.

Dreams of success and the fear of failure seem inevitable components of the writing life - or life in general.

Because it is something so many of us are dealing with, I wanted to share a video of a talk by the famous writer and philosopher Alain de Botton.

At TED Global in 2009, he examined how modern society thinks about success and failure and asked interesting and thought-provoking questions about what drives us in our everyday lives.

To quote but a few of my favourite passages:

'I don't think we are particularly materialistic. I think we live in a society which has simply pegged certain emotional rewards to the acquisition of material goods. It's not the material goods we want. It's the rewards we want.'

'Here's an insight that I've had about success. You can't be successful at everything. We hear a lot of talk about work-life balance. Nonsense. You can't have it all. You can't. So any vision of success has to admit what it's losing out on, where the element of loss is.'

'So what I want to argue for, is not that we should give up on our ideas of success. But we should make sure that they are our own. We should focus in on our ideas. And make sure that we own them, that we are truly the authors of our own ambitions. Because it's bad enough, not getting what you want. But it's even worse to have an idea of what it is you want, and find out at the end of a journey, that it isn't, in fact, what you wanted all along.'

'But at the end of the day we should always remember that whoever is facing us, whatever has happened in their lives, there will be a strong element of the haphazard.'

 - Alain de Botton, TEDGlobal 2009 

Here's the complete 17-minute talk:

or watch the video (with interactive transcript) at TED.com.

What's your definition of success?


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Photo 'Zarko Drincic - Master Key' by Zarko Drincic, available under a creative commons license. © 2005, Zarko Drincic.

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How to Start a Movement.

Yesterday, after my lecture on social psychology for game designers, one of my students pointed out this TED talk.

It's a short video (3 minutes) and I found it interesting, inspirational and entertaining. All good reasons to share it here.

The speaker is musician and entrepreneur Derek Sivers.

Enjoy. :-)

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Innovating to Zero.

© 2009, Andrea Kirkby

With the recent earthquake in Japan and the subsequent problems in their nuclear power plants, nuclear energy and its alternatives - or lack thereof - are all over the news.

Our energy consumption is a complicated issue, one that provokes discussion, well-meaning but often badly informed opinions, hope and despair.

Many of us feel like we have lost control of our energy production. The feeling is justified. After all, we are no longer dealing with human energy, with our own ability to act, live and produce. A long time ago, we have chosen to use other, more concentrated fuel sources, in order to achieve more, faster and bigger results.

That decision has its advantages: look at how far we've come, look at our lifestyles and the possibilities we have to travel and look beyond our local communities, be it for food, news or entertainment.

But there are downsides too: we have to go through extreme measures to find or extract that energy, many of which might end up killing us. And as the population continues to grow, our energy demands might soon exceed the supply.

Related to this topic, I wanted to share a TED talk with you, given by Bill Gates in February 2010, in which he deals with energy, CO2, responsibility, a global vision on energy, and possible solutions for the future.

In this 28 minute video, 'Innovating to Zero', Bill Gates sketches a clear and orderly overview of our current energy situation, with its problems and possibilities. He doesn't paint a rosy picture, but shows there is hope. A lot of smart people are investing in and looking for alternative energy sources and solutions to existing problems.

Still, let us not forget it's not just their responsibility. It's ours too. The least we can do is be informed; that's where ideas and possible solutions can be born from.

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Photo 'Nuclear' by Andrea Kirkby, available under a creative commons license. © 2009, Andrea Kirkby. 

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Sound Health in 8 Steps and 15 Minutes.

Sound affects our lives, all the time. It is a constant stimulus, whether we are aware of it or not. As such, it has an effect on our brain and on our mental health, both positive and negative.

I wanted to share two videos by Julian Treasure, who is - besides a man with a great name - a sound adviser by trade. He is also an author and blogs at Sound Business.

The first video is a 7 minute talk about the effects of sound on our health.

If you are hooked by now and have another 6 minutes to spare, I can also recommend this presentation:

Now, go find a place with lots of WWB. It's good for you!

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Dark Elves, Confessionals and Games for Change.

It's time to come clean: I have a secret life. Apart from writing and hanging out in weird places with people who like to dress up, I also have a regular job.

Fortunately it's a really cool one. By day I get to teach about computer games to future game developers. That might not seem like an obvious career choice for a writer-at-heart, but it was for me. I've always been fascinated by technology, and especially by computer games. My favourite ones are fantasy and science fiction roleplaying games. It's a genre that's strongly driven by story, so there's your connection.

Dark Elf enchanter in Everquest® whose virtual body
I may or may not have inhabited in the past.

In my job, I try to make people aware of the 'other side' of games.
There are definitely social issues around computer games that I'm not trying to deny. But there is also the huge potential that we're currently not tapping into. In games, people acquire skills, knowledge, friends, confidence and so much more. Games are learning tools. Players challenge themselves over and over again, spending time and energy doing the impossible, to overcome the problems that are thrown in their general direction.

Unfortunately, most of what is learnt in games is currently only used, valued and respected in those virtual worlds. We need to find ways to bring the different realms closer together and - who knows - they might even merge.
Most of all: we should be brave enough to ask ourselves not just what so-called real world knowledge or skills we can bring to games, but also what our material world can learn from its virtual siblings.

This morning I was watching a TED video, and the omnipresent and omniscient Right Column suggested I would also like Jane McGonigal's presentation 'Gaming can make a better world'. I believed I would. I've seen her talk a couple of times at the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco and she's managed to entertain and inspire me every time.

Jane is a game researcher and game designer at the Institute for the Future in California, and the brain behind the Top Secret Dance Off. Here's her talk:

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One person's nightmare, another one's dream: physics books for change...

What a hopeful story, what a fabulous guy, and: what a difference access to information can make in a person's life.
It's ironic, really, how what causes nightmares to some (hello, physics books!), can make someone else's dreams come true.

This 6 minute video shows the important role of libraries. (Combined with willpower, a creative mind and a problem-solving attitude.)

I wonder how many great people: scientists, writers, doctors, advocates of change, started their journeys in the local library. My guess would be: most!

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Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education | Video on TED.com

I love this guy, and I love his "Hole-in-the-Wall" project.

Sugata Mitra is an educational scientist. This is a presentation he's given at TEDGlobal earlier this year, about his experiments in remote villages in India, where kids teach themselves lots of different subjects without the presence of a teacher, just by having access to a computer and the internet.

17 minutes of inspirational fun!
Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education - Video on TED.com

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In the beginning there was ... Eve.

It had been a while since I'd been touched to the core of my heart and soul.

I'm lying. I recently got married and that was pretty intense. And we had a wonderful honeymoon. But even throughout events as special and unique and magical as those, my inner cynic still reared its ice-cold head. I'm sure that's healthy, and it was okay – it didn't ruin anything.

But that's not what I want to write about right now. Maybe later.

I was referring to a video I found a few weeks ago. It was one of the TED talks. (http://www.ted.com/) If you're not familiar with them, they're really worth checking out. The TED website is one of the most inspiring places on the Web, and it's easy to get lost there for days.

This talk was by Eve Ensler, the woman who created the Vagina Monologues. Her entire presentation was very inspirational, but I could watch most of it with the touched-but-still-semi-detached interest that seems to come naturally when I'm just browsing and run into something that stands out. Until about 16 minutes into the presentation, where she stood up and started reading a part from her newest book, called "I am an emotional creature."

The initial vicarious embarassment at seeing a woman I have a lot of respect for throw open the doors to her heart, lasted but a few seconds. What she said, and how she said it, hit home. It takes a remarkable woman to do what she does, with such power and conviction.

Later that night, I had one of my best friends over and showed her the video. We both cried, again. However, it was the kind of crying that we probably don't get to do often enough. The kind that makes you feel stronger, the kind that feeds and inspires.

It was the kick in the butt I needed to get this blog started. It all started with Eve. Quod erat demonstrandum.

If you have 20 minutes to spare, here's Eve's talk:

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/eve_ensler_embrace_your_inner_girl.html

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