nicely done Hans!
At first I thought he had lost his marbles (only to replace them with
stones).
Then I had a moment where i thought I was with a con man playing some
version of 3 card monte...
But he pulled it all off in 50 seconds.
I don't think it is good form to kneel down on the floor with a handful
of stones in an elevator.
In (more) careful analysis:
1. His use of raw materials out in the open was key to the metaphorical
implications.
1. The stones, being of raw materials reminded me that humans are
animals.
2. The stones"worn" into shape by natural forces reminded me that
every group (even if artificially lumped by billions) of people
are different but shaped by their history.
2. By carefully laying out the stones as he did I got a visual and via
my mirror neurons, kinaesthetic sense of 7 Billion as divided into
the 4 groups.
3. Shifting the stones "up" the affluence axis was very effective,
adjusting the distribution in several deft steps... I almost had a
physical sense of watching this happen over the next 5-10-20 years.
4. Just as the first/most-affluent billion was represented by a
polished, darker stone set visually (and texturally?) apart from the
others, the final 10th billion stone was a small, oddly shaped one.
I'm not sure what the metaphorical target for those aspects were,
but I doubt it was unintentional.
5. Even though he ran his patter through the whole 50 seconds, he was
"showing" rather than "telling"... his narrative acted nearly as a
legend or verbal annotation and his hands (rarely pointing, but
rather moving stones) were "pointers" linking the "text" to the
"graphics".
6. Perhaps all of us should spend some time learning prestidigitizaiont
and other forms of "show" over "tell" including deliberate misdirection.
I was struck by his grouping. I've been bothered by the 99% thing wtih
Occupy, I think the more important distinction is the 10% (most or all
of us are in that group) vs the 90% (a few of us may know a few in that
group). The ones who aspire to own a better car, a better bicycle, or
yes, a pair of shoes! Unfortunately we are all more compelled to think
hard about situations where we feel identified with the victims rather
than the victimizers (victors?).
Well done Hans... maybe Mick Thompson can spearhead a new version of
Ignite limited to 50 seconds and requiring the use of natural materials
and continuous motion, with or without talking. We don't need the SF_X
building with computers and projectors to do this, it can happen
squatted down in the middle of a parking lot or a small clearing in the
forest. I like it... the overhead is about right anyway.
Excellent, and thank you!
On May 31, 2012, at 10:35 AM, Tom Johnson wrote:
While I usually raise an eyebrow at over-simplification, this one is
a pretty good elevator pitch.
http://infosthetics.com/archives/2012/05/hans_roslings_shortest_talk_ever.html
-tj
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"Over the past few centuries, the book has evolved in tandem with the
human. It has bilateral symmetry, a spine and is like each of us, a
repository of cultural values."
Marina La Palma
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
