Some of the most interesting speakers in the world

I’ve written in the past about how much I have enjoyed the TED conference held annually in Monterey, as well as the associated blog.

Now, you can get a taste of TED without even leaving the house. At TedTalks, a handful of the presentations have been posted, including ones by Al Gore, Larry Brilliant, and Daniel Dennett (who is indirectly responsible for me getting accepted to the Society of Fellows many years back — he happened to be at the table at my interview dinner).

Honestly, though, none of these talks compares to Jennifer Lin’s performance. She was 14 at the time. I was in the room when she played the piano at TED and it was unforgettable. The whole thing is good, but if you get bored, skip to 16 minutes and 40 seconds into the video. That is where Goldie Hawn randomly picks five notes and Jennifer tries to improvise something on the spot based on the notes. If you only follow one link from this blog in your life, going to 16:40 of this link is the one to choose.