Present Shock -- When Everything Happend Now: Douglas Rushkoff at TEDxNYED

Summary

The speaker reflects on the evolution of TED talks and digital technology. Originally, TED talks were unprepared and focused on live, human connection, but have since become more polished and distribution-driven. The speaker reminisces about the early internet's asynchronous nature, where thoughtful communication flourished. They critique how modern technology has shifted from participation to consumption and argue for reclaiming a 'read-write' world where people engage as creators, not just consumers. They advocate for peer-to-peer learning, especially with coding, and emphasize the importance of real-life connections alongside digital interactions.

Takeaways

• 😀 TED's original rules emphasized live, unprepared talks to foster authentic connections between the speaker and the audience.
• 🤔 The evolution of TED has shifted towards polished, rehearsed presentations, often involving attempts to go viral with videos and PowerPoint slides.
• 🕰️ The early internet allowed people to reclaim time and engage thoughtfully through asynchronous communication, which was lost in today's always-on culture.
• 📶 Early online spaces enabled more reflective and intelligent conversations, where people had time to craft thoughtful responses.
• 💡 The digital world should have remained a space for live, real-time interaction, but it became more about consumption than participation.
• 🛠️ Technology has shifted from tools of creation and empowerment to mechanisms of constant engagement and consumption.
• 🎓 Modern education is disrupted by technology, favoring passive content consumption over participatory, peer-to-peer learning.
• 🌐 The internet should facilitate a culture of learning, where people share knowledge as peers, not just download content for personal advancement.
• 🔧 Coding is best taught online, and it represents more than just engineering – it's a liberal art, helping people think critically about digital platforms.
• 📱 The goal of digital culture should be to balance real-world interactions with online tools, using both to enhance human connection and creativity.

Q & A

What were the original rules for TED talks as learned from Richard Saul Wurman?

The original rules for TED talks, as learned from Richard Saul Wurman in 1993 or 1994, were that speakers were not allowed to prepare, and they could not sell anything from the stage. They had 11 minutes to get up and share their ideas with the audience.

How does the speaker contrast TED talks from the past with the current format?

The speaker notes that TED talks have shifted from spontaneous, unprepared presentations to more polished, practiced talks, often focused on selling ideas or products. There is now a bias towards distributing these talks via video, with the hope that they will go viral.

What does the speaker say about the live connection between people in a real space?

The speaker emphasizes the importance of live connections between people in real spaces, which Richard Saul Wurman recognized as valuable and unique in the digital age. This connection is now being overshadowed by the focus on digital distribution.

How does the speaker view the evolution of the internet in relation to its original promise?

The speaker believes that the internet was originally seen as a tool to reclaim personal time and avoid the constraints of traditional work. However, over time, it has become an 'always-on' technology that keeps people constantly connected and responding, losing the asynchronous advantage it once provided.

What is the speaker’s critique of the current use of social media platforms like Facebook?

The speaker criticizes social media platforms for creating a consumer-based relationship with technology. People, like 'Johnny,' might believe platforms like Facebook are there to help them make friends, but in reality, the platforms are designed to monetize users' social interactions and data.

How does the speaker relate the concept of 'read-only' vs. 'read-write' files to the world?

The speaker reflects on their first experience with saving files on a computer and how it changed their perspective on the world. They realized that many systems (like law, money, and society) are treated as 'read-only'—fixed and unchangeable—when they could be 'read-write,' meaning open to change and interaction.

What does the speaker mean by the 'read-write universe'?

The 'read-write universe' refers to the idea that the world is not fixed and can be modified or programmed, just like files on a computer. It is a metaphor for viewing systems, structures, and society as things that can be changed or reprogrammed by people.

How does the speaker see the role of technology in education?

The speaker argues that while the internet could be a tool for participatory and peer-to-peer learning, it is often used to reinforce traditional, top-down education models. Online learning platforms frequently emphasize downloading pre-recorded lectures from famous professors rather than fostering interactive, real-time learning environments.

What are the three types of education the speaker believes coding should inspire?

The speaker believes coding should inspire three types of education: 1) Coding as engineering, teaching the technical skill of programming, 2) Coding as a liberal art, teaching critical thinking about digital environments, and 3) Programming as culture, which involves understanding the cultural and societal implications of digital technology.

What does the speaker suggest is being lost in digital education?

The speaker suggests that the live interaction and engagement between teachers and students are being lost in digital education. Professors are increasingly relying on scripted performances and losing the ability to respond to their audience in real time, reducing the richness of the learning experience.

Outlines

00:00

🎤 The Evolution of TED Talks

The speaker reflects on the original rules of TED Talks as introduced by Richard Saul Wurman in the 1990s, emphasizing authenticity and spontaneity. The speaker contrasts this with the current practice, where talks are often polished presentations aimed at widespread distribution. The essence of early TED was to celebrate live, real-time interaction rather than rehearsed performances or promotion of projects.

05:00

💻 The Digital Revolution: From Asynchronous to Always On

The speaker reminisces about the early days of the internet in the late 80s and 90s, where it was seen as a tool for reclaiming personal time and breaking away from traditional work structures. Online communication, facilitated by modems and bulletin boards, encouraged deep, thoughtful interaction. However, the speaker laments that digital technology has now become an 'always-on' culture, diminishing the reflective nature of early online engagement.

10:01

🌍 Read-Only vs. Read-Write Universe

The speaker reflects on the shift from passive consumption to active participation in the digital world. They recount a personal revelation about 'read-only' vs. 'read-write' files, drawing a parallel to how systems and institutions (like the law or the city grid) are often seen as immutable when, in fact, they can be altered. The speaker highlights the potential power of embracing a read-write mentality in a world increasingly programmed by human decisions.

📱 Technology: From Participation to Consumption

The speaker critiques the modern relationship with technology, focusing on how platforms like Facebook have shifted from being tools for human connection to instruments for data collection and monetization. The shift from active participation to passive consumption is explored, especially in the context of education. The speaker worries that digital education is reinforcing old hierarchies rather than fostering true engagement and peer-to-peer learning.

🏫 The Future of Education: Peer-to-Peer Learning

The speaker advocates for a new model of digital education, one that fosters peer-to-peer cultures of learning instead of reinforcing traditional top-down structures. They suggest that education should move beyond content consumption and instead build platforms for active exchange and collaboration, where learners become teachers. The speaker also highlights the importance of teaching coding, both as a technical skill and as a way to critically engage with digital environments.

🌐 Coding as Culture: Embracing the Read-Write Universe

The speaker concludes by emphasizing the cultural significance of coding and the internet. They argue that people should transition from being passive consumers to active creators in a peer-to-peer, read-write world. The speaker stresses the importance of using technology to foster real-world connections and values live interaction, while leaving the online space for asynchronous collaboration. They encourage a balance between virtual and real-life engagement in building a more participatory digital culture.

Keywords

💡Live Connection

The 'live connection' refers to the unique, real-time interaction between individuals in a physical space, which the original TED concept emphasized. This idea contrasts with the digital age's tendency toward pre-recorded and curated presentations, stressing the value of spontaneous human engagement and presence, as seen in early TED talks where presenters were not allowed to prepare.

💡Asynchronous Communication

Asynchronous communication is a method where individuals engage at different times, such as in early online discussions where participants would read, reflect, and respond later. The speaker highlights how the internet once allowed thoughtful interactions, contrasting with today's always-on, real-time demands.

💡Read-Only vs. Read-Write

'Read-only' refers to content that can be viewed but not altered, whereas 'read-write' implies a dynamic system where users can modify and interact with information. The speaker applies this metaphor to everything from law to technology, arguing that the world could be more interactive and participatory if it were viewed as 'read-write' instead of 'read-only.'

💡Digital Consumption

Digital consumption refers to the way modern technologies have shifted users' roles from active participants to passive consumers. The speaker critiques this evolution, noting that instead of using the internet to reclaim personal time and creativity, it has become a tool for monetization and consumerism.

💡Monetization of Social Graphs

Monetization of social graphs involves using big data to predict and capitalize on users' social interactions, like Facebook tracking how people connect to sell targeted advertising. The speaker critiques how platforms like Facebook focus more on profit from user data than on fostering genuine human connections.

💡Peer-to-Peer Learning

Peer-to-peer learning is an educational model where individuals learn from each other rather than from traditional top-down instruction. The speaker advocates for this model in digital education, suggesting that platforms should facilitate cultures of learning, similar to communities like Etsy, where users exchange knowledge and skills freely.

💡Constructivist Education

Constructivist education emphasizes active learning, where students build knowledge through experience and collaboration. The speaker contrasts this with the passive consumption model of online education, advocating for interactive learning environments that encourage engagement and co-creation of knowledge.

💡Code as a Liberal Art

The concept of 'code as a liberal art' suggests that understanding coding is not just about technical skills, but also about thinking critically about the digital platforms we use. The speaker emphasizes the importance of analyzing the biases, economics, and impact of coding environments on society, treating code as a tool for cultural and critical analysis.

💡Programmed Environments

Programmed environments refer to spaces, both physical and digital, that are designed with specific intentions and logic. The speaker reflects on how cities, buildings, and digital platforms are all programmed, shaped by human design choices, and how recognizing this can empower individuals to challenge and reshape these environments.

💡Real-Time Interaction

Real-time interaction refers to the spontaneous, unscripted communication that occurs in live settings. The speaker stresses that the immediacy and unpredictability of real-time exchanges are increasingly rare in a digital world where pre-recorded and scripted content dominate, highlighting the loss of genuine human connection.

Highlights

The original TED rules from the 1990s emphasized no preparation and no selling from the stage, focusing on live, spontaneous sharing.

TED has shifted over time to become more about prepared, practiced talks often aimed at distributing content to a wider audience.

The value of live, real-time connections between people was a key insight by TED's founder Richard Saul Wurman in the digital age.

Early internet culture was seen as a way to reclaim time from traditional work structures, offering flexibility and creativity.

The internet initially encouraged asynchronous engagement, allowing users to think deeply before contributing to discussions.

The speaker highlights how online communication made people sound smarter than they often did in real life due to the time allowed for reflection.

There’s a critical shift from viewing technology as participatory and creative to seeing it as a consumption-driven tool.

Digital platforms like Facebook are often misinterpreted as tools for social connection, while their true purpose is to monetize user data.

The internet has evolved from an open-source, read-write environment into a more locked-down, consumer-driven ecosystem.

The speaker views the disruption of education by digital platforms as problematic when it reinforces passive consumption of content instead of participatory learning.

Successful educational platforms should create peer-to-peer cultures of learning rather than focusing solely on distributing lectures from elite professors.

There’s a call for digital education to focus on coding not just as a technical skill but as a form of critical thinking and cultural engagement.

Code should be taught not only as engineering but also as a liberal art, encouraging critical thinking about the impact of digital environments.

Programming can inspire cultural participation, moving people from passive consumers to creators in a peer-to-peer society.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of real-world, face-to-face connections, which are becoming rare in the digital age.

Transcripts

so the original rules for Ted as I

learned them from Richard Saul Wurman

back in gosh 1993 or 94 was that you

were not allowed to prepare you weren't

allowed to sell from the stage right you

basically had 11 minutes you got up and

you shared and it's interesting where

Ted's gone since then right I mean now

it's so much of it is I have this object

you know and once we get our funding it

will save the world and children in

India will eat and here's my PowerPoint

to show you how that's gonna happen and

you know and this this sort of practiced

this practice thing that's that's really

biased towards distribution right the

idea is I'm going to do this talk here

and then hopefully my video will be the

one that spreads but what what Richard

understood was that at the dawn of the

digital age that the live connection

between people in a space could become a

very valuable special unique thing right

and that bringing people into real time

in a real space together could finally

be appreciated for what it is because we

have this internet we have this digital

technology to do this other thing right

when the net first came around and for

me anyway in the late 80s early 90s the

thing that most of us thought was that

this was going to be a way that I could

reclaim my time from the man right we

were part of that that slacker era right

where we thought now we can stay at home

work on our underwear in our own time

and sell things directly to other people

if we want to and then not have to be in

that punch the clock Society anymore not

have to work all the time and I'd have

to sell our time and be sort of on yet

what have we done with these

technologies right as we've taken them

and turned them into always on

technology strap them onto our onto our

bodies and and keep ourselves responding

to them all the time right so we've

taken the asynchronous bias of digital

technology

and kind of forgotten about that and

used it the opposite way because the

beauty of the net in those early days

was how smart everybody sounded when you

when you engaged online well you used to

use modems it was a whole other world

that most have you probably never even

been exposed to right you would you

would log on to your computer you'd plug

it into the phone line you would log on

to a computer that was elsewhere on the

network you would download the

conversation that was in progress and

then you would engage in your own time

you would read this long bulletin board

conversation with all these smart people

and then you would think for hours or

even overnight how am I going to

contribute what am I going to say you

know and then you craft this perfect

paragraph or two over time and then you

upload it again you'd log back in and

upload it and see how people responded

to what you said the strange thing about

the net was you sounded smarter online

than you did in real life I mean imagine

that the internet was a place where you

sounded more intelligent than you do in

real life

and that was what Richard didn't want to

have happen here he wanted people to

have to oh no you're not going to get

that digital advantage you're not gonna

all get to sound like Christopher

Hitchens or William F Buckley or

something you're gonna have to get up

there and just do this thing in real

time which is tricky right it's the

thing that we that we tend not to not to

want to pay attention to anymore it's

the thing that we're that we're losing

touch with in a sense right when I first

engaged with the internet not only was

it a place where we could now program

our time it was a place where we could

program and the in the back in the day

with computers were as easy to program

as they were to use the first time I

ever used a computer it was in a seventh

grade computer lab where we basically

used basic and the first time I had to

save a file it asked me are you saving

this as a read-only file or a readwrite

file I was like what do they mean by

that that was a real

only filed something that people can

look at or is it a readwrite file

something that other people can look at

and change and edit oh my gosh it was a

profound moment for me because then I

looked at television and I said oh my

gosh

you mean these are all being saved as

read-only files but they could have been

readwrite files I start looking at

everything that way I looked at the law

of that way I looked at the Torah that

way I looked at money that wait a minute

these are read-only files but they're

only read-only files cuz they were saved

that way actually we live in a readwrite

universe it's a readwrite world it could

be if it wasn't locked down as read-only

so there was this there was this sense

of of not just wonder but power you know

I walked out into the New York City

streets and saw the grid pattern there

and for the first time understood that

the grid pattern of New York City

streets that's not just City right

that's New York City that was designed

by specific people it's a grid pattern

not through some nature didn't just

evolve it didn't come out of the ground

that way where people decided that's a

program and the whole world started to

look like programs not in a bad way it

was just embedded embedded with logic

you know the way this building is

structured we'll hear about from an

architect today the way this building is

structured in the way the hallways are

there's certain ideas about about

society about how things should be

everything started to look like a

program and everything looked up for

grabs everything looked open-source in

one way or another but as digital

technology evolved it seemed to be much

much less about that you know just as

Ted was less about the live moment about

programming this live interaction

between people the net seemed less of an

invitation to participate and more of an

invitation to consume you know when you

you average kid today you know you look

at Facebook and you think oh this is

look at this place Facebook is here to

help me make friends isn't that great

you know this is what this is for

right the distance between the user and

the program is so great we don't even

know what the programs were using her

for I talked to little Johnny and he

thinks the Facebook's there to help him

make friends you go to Facebook what do

you think they're talking about there

how are we going to help little Johnny

make more friends deeper lasting human

relationships know they're there they're

thinking how are we going to monetize

Johnny's social graph

right how are we going to use big data

to predict what Johnny's gonna do and

then sell Johnny's future to himself

before he knows he's there himself not

evil or pernicious it's just what it is

right so our relationship to technology

became one of a consumer relationship to

this technology rather than one of of

craftspeople of participants we stopped

looking at how can we use technology to

create an exchange value with one

another and more about how can I if I am

gonna learn technology how am I going to

learn it in order to get a job in order

to sell my time to some company and then

come home and buy other stuff from some

other company right it's not about

seeing some kind of a Burning Man Etsy

like peer-to-peer real-time

transactional universe with alternative

currencies which of course is completely

possible with the authentication on a

cell phone but rather how am I going to

be a better consumer and a better worker

which brings me to education and when I

look at the way the net is currently

being used to disrupt education it seems

to be disrupting it from the perspective

of a consumer to the content provider so

I look at all these great

disintermediating technologies through

which people can now download the

courses of great professors you know

when education and we've just gotten to

the place in education where we were

realizing Oh education needs to be a bit

more constructivist and participatory

and the professor is not the provider of

information he's actually someone who

can bring out a conversation and create

engagement just when we're getting there

in the real classroom we take the

internet the great equalizer the great

peer-to-peer platform and we say oh this

is a way to reify that

kind of hero worship oh there's that

great professor who's gotten a hundred

thousand downloads on his lecture that's

the way you can learn you don't need to

go to some school and whatever and pay

that money and give them your time and

follow the path that they've prescribed

just because they've developed that

discipline over 500 years isn't any

reason you should look at it as anything

but an abuse of your you know god-given

agency to pick your own course and do

your own thing no come to the new ala

carte universe of the Internet

University and download that great thing

and meanwhile if you look at the

articles and blogs that the professor's

are writing they have to prepare there's

their speeches where they're scripted

right they've got to go into absolutely

scripted mode and teleprompter every

move everything they do right they lose

all of the live interaction they don't

have nodding heads they don't form

rapport with another person and in the

real world they can't see the people's

pupils are dilating or constricting it's

one performance it's lockdown or to me

that's not the opportunity of digital

education but the opportunity of digital

education is building platforms through

which people can create cultures of

learning peer to peer cultures of

learning it's different from going to a

classroom with a professor which should

be preserved which should be something

it's a different thing it's about a

peer-to-peer culture of learning that's

no longer about money it's no longer

about downloading some piece of

information you know the the most

successful companies I see and

organizations I see in this space are

ones that are creating platforms right

they look more like Etsy than they do

like MIT right they're platforms where

people can now exchange data and be

teachers to one another not worrying

about oh am I getting credit and money

for this no we're part of a culture of

learning moving forward the other thing

I find very encouraging online is the

teaching of computers online but if

there's one thing to teach with

computers its computers that's a great

thing I don't want to be learning my

Aristotle on it on an online discussion

board but I would I would like learning

my programming there it's a great place

it's a site-specific

place to teach code but there's really

three kinds of Education that coding

should be and should inspire right the

first is coding as engineering right

learn the language here's the course in

Python here's a course in Java and

here's how to do it nice interact teach

coding as engineering the skill of

coding right the second thing is code as

a liberal art which is maybe more

important for most people these days how

do I think critically about coding

environments how do I think critically

about Facebook about Twitter how does

this interface make me feel what is it

biased for what is it doing what are the

economics behind it what are the

embedded agendas how could they be

tweaked how could this be used

effectively the same way we look at

literature the same way we look at

architecture the same way we look at art

we should be able to look at our

platforms that are programmed

environments and finally and maybe most

importantly is programming as culture

the internet as culture what does it

mean to move from a passive industrial

age employee consumer role to one of a

creator in a peer-to-peer society what

does it mean to live in a readwrite

universe what does it mean to have

virtual representation and real-life

representation how do I use these right

not one or the other but how do I use

both of them as I move forward right for

me it's become about exploiting every

opportunity I have with real people in

the real world to connect on this level

that's becoming increasingly rare right

and then leaving the online space

leaving the digital space for what it is

right and that's hard to do right it's

hard to maintain eye-contact when we're

in a space that's designed for you know

video replication right but it can be

done it can be when you do it boy you

know you reconnect to something else

okay that's enough from me thanks a lot

and take care have a good day