(Circus music) [Ted N' Ed's Carnival] [John Lloyd's Inventory of the Invisible] [Adapted from a TEDTalk given by John Lloyd in 2009] June Cohen: Our next speaker has spent his whole career eliciting that sense of wonder. Please welcome John Lloyd. (Applause) [Hall of Mirrors] The question is, "What is invisible?" There's more of it than you think, actually. Everything, I would say -- everything that matters -- Except every thing, and except matter. We can see matter but we can't see what's the matter. We can see the stars and the planets but we can't see what holds them apart, or what draws them together. With matter as with people, we see only the skin of things, we can't see into the engine room, we can't see what makes people tick, at least not without difficulty, and the closer we look at anything, the more it disappears. In fact, if you look really closely at stuff, if you look at the basic substructure of matter, there isn't anything there. Electrons disappear in a kind of fuzz, and there is only energy. One of the interesting things about invisibility is, the things that we can's see, we also can't understand. Gravity is one thing that we can't see, and which we don't understand. It's the least understood of all the four fundamental forces, and the weakest, and nobody really knows what it is or why it's there. For what it's worth, Sir Isaac Newton, the greatest scientist who ever lived, he thought Jesus came to Earth specifically to operate the levers of gravity. That's what he thought he was there for. So, bright guy, could be wrong on that one, I don't know. (Laughter) Consciousness. I see all your faces; I've no idea what any of you are thinking. Isn't that amazing? Isn't it incredible that we can't read each other's minds, when we can touch each other, taste each other, perhaps, if we get close enough, but we can't read each other's minds. I find that quite astonishing. In the Sufi faith, this great Middle Eastern religion which some claim is the root of all religions, Sufi masters are all telepaths, so they say, but their main exercise of telepathy is to send out powerful signals to the rest of us that it doesn't exist. So that's why we don't think it exists; the Sufi masters working on us. In the question of consciousness and artificial intelligence, artificial intelligence has really, like the study of consciousness, gotten nowhere, we have no idea how consciousness works. Not only have they not created artificial intelligence, they haven't yet created artificial stupidity. (Laughter) The laws of physics: invisible, eternal, omnipresent, all powerful. Remind you of anyone? Interesting. I'm, as you can guess, not a materialist, I'm an immaterialist. And I've found a very useful new word -- ignostic. Okay? I'm an ignostic. [God?] I refuse to be drawn on the question on whether God exists until somebody properly defines the terms. Another thing we can't see is the human genome. And this is increasingly peculiar, because about 20 years ago when they started delving into the genome, they thought it would probably contain around 100 thousand genes. Every year since, it's been revised downwards. We now think there are likely to be just over 20 thousand genes in the human genome. This is extraordinary, because rice -- get this -- rice is known to have 38 thousand genes. Potatoes have 48 chromosomes, two more than people, and the same as a gorilla. (Laughter) You can't see these things, but they are very strange. The stars by day, I always think that's fascinating. The universe disappears. The more light there is, the less you can see. Time. Nobody can see time. I don't know if you know this. There's a big movement in modern physics to decide that time doesn't really exist, because it's too inconvenient for the figures. It's much easier if it's not really there. You can't see the future, obviously, and you can't see the past, except in your memory. One of the interesting things about the past is you particularly can't see -- my son asked me this the other day, "Dad, can you remember what I was like when I was two? And I said, "Yes." He said, "Why can't I?" Isn't that extraordinary? You cannot remember what happened to you earlier than the age of two or three. Which is great news for psychoanalysts, because otherwise they'd be out of a job. Because that's where all the stuff happens (Laughter) that makes you who you are. Another thing you can't see is the grid on which we hang. This is fascinating. You probably know, some of you, that cells are continually renewed. Skin flakes off, hairs grow, nails, that kind of stuff -- but every cell in your body is replaced at some point. Taste buds, every ten days or so. Livers and internal organs take a bit longer. Spine takes several years. But at the end of seven years, not one cell in your body remains from what was there seven years ago. The question is: who then are we? What are we? What is this thing that we hang on? That is actually us? Atoms, can't see them. Nobody ever will. They're smaller than the wavelength of light. Gas, can't see that. Interesting, somebody mentioned 1600 recently. Gas was invented in 1600 by a Dutch chemist called van Helmont. It's said to be the most successful ever invention of a word by a known individual. Quite good. He also invented a word called "blas," meaning astral radiation. Didn't catch on, unfortunately. (Laughter) But well done, him. Light -- you can't see light. When it's dark, in a vacuum, if a person shines a beam of light straight across your eyes, you won't see it. Slightly technical, some physicists will disagree with this. But it's odd that you can't see the beam of light, you can only see what it hits. Electricity, can't see that. Don't let anyone tell you they understand electricity, they don't. Nobody knows what it is. (Laughter) You probably think the electrons in an electric wire move instantaneously down a wire, don't you, at the speed of light, when you turn the light on, they don't. Electrons bumble down the wire, about the speed of spreading honey, they say. Galaxies -- hundred billion of them, estimated in the universe. Hundred billion. How many can we see? Five. Five, out of a hundred billion galaxies, with the naked eye. And one of them is quite difficult to see, unless you've got very good eyesight. Radio waves. There's another thing. Heinrich Hertz, when he discovered radio waves, in 1887, he called them radio waves because they radiated. Somebody said to him, "What's the point of these, Heinrich? What's the point of these radio waves that you've found?" And he said, "Well, I've no idea, but I guess somebody will find a use for them someday. The biggest thing that's invisible to us is what we don't know. It is incredible how little we know. Thomas Edison once said, "We don't know one percent of one millionth about anything." And I've come to the conclusion -- because you ask this other question: "What's another thing we can't see?" The point, most of us. What's the point? The point -- what I've got it down to is there are only two questions really worth asking. "Why are we here?", and "What should we do about it while we are?" To help you, I've got two things to leave you with, from two great philosophers, perhaps two of the greatest philosopher thinkers of the 20th century. One a mathematician and engineer, and the other a poet. The first is Ludwig Wittgenstein, who said, "I don't know why we are here, but I am pretty sure it's not in order to enjoy ourselves." (Laughter) He was a cheerful bastard, wasn't he? (Laughter) And secondly, and lastly, W.H. Auden, one of my favorite poets, who said, "We are here on Earth to help others. What the others are here for, I've no idea." (Laughter) (Applause) (Circus music) [Get your souvenir photo here!] [Continue your journey into the unknown!] (Circus music)
(Glasba) [Karneval Teda in Eda; odprt vsak dan - ves dan; Yew Chube Common - Vhod z Googlove avtoceste] [John Lloydov inventar nevidnega] [Prilagojeno po TED govoru Johna Lloyda leta 2009] Naš naslednji govorec se že vso kariero ukvarja z vzbujanjem radovednosti. Prosim, pozdravite Johna Lloyda. (Aplavz) Vprašanje je: kaj je nevidno? Vsega skupaj je več, kot si mislite, v bistvu. Vse, bi rekel -- vse, kar je osnovno -- Razen vsega in razen snovi. Mi lahko vidimo snov, ampak ne moremo videti, kaj je snov. Lahko vidimo zvezde in planete, ampak ne vidimo, kaj jih ločuje ali kaj jih drži skupaj. Tako pri stvareh kot pri ljudeh, vidimo le površino, ne vidimo v kolesje stroja, ne vidimo tiktakanja v ljudeh, vsaj ne brez težav, in bliže kot pogledamo karkoli, vse bolj izgine. V bistvu, če zelo blizu pogledaš stvari, če pogledaš osnovno podstrukturo snovi, tam ni ničesar. Elektroni izginejo v nekakšni meglici in tam je samo energija. Ena od zanimivih stvari glede nevidnosti je, da so nam nevidne stvari tudi nerazumljive. Gravitacija je ena od teh stvari, ki je ne vidimo in ki je ne razumemo. Je najmanj razumljena od štirih temeljnih sil in najbolj šibka, in nihče zares ne ve, kaj je ali zakaj sploh je. Naj omenim; Sir Isaac Newton, največji znanstvenik, ki je kdajkoli živel, je mislil, da je Jezus prišel na Zemljo, da bi upravljal vzvode gravitacije. Mislil je, da je zato prišel sem. Torej, brihten možiček, bi se lahko o tem motil? Kaj pa vem. (Smeh) Zavest. Vidim vse vaše obraze; nimam pojma, kaj kdorkoli med vami misli. Ni to presunljivo? Kaj ni neverjetno, da eden drugemu ne moremo brati misli, če se lahko dotaknemo, okusimo, mogoče, če pridemo dovolj blizu, ampak ne moremo si brati misli. To se mi zdi kar osupljivo. V veri Sufi, tej veliki religiji Bližnjega vzhoda, za katero pravijo, da je korenika vsake vere, so Sufi mojstri telepati, tako pravijo, telepatijo v glavnem uporabljajo za to, da nam pošiljajo močne signale, da ne obstaja. Zato mislimo, da ne obstaja; Sufi mojstri, ki se ukvarjajo z nami. Kar zadeva vprašanje zavesti in umetne inteligence, umetna inteligenca je, tako kot študija zavesti, prišla nikamor, niti svita se nam ne, kako zavest deluje. Ne samo, da niso ustvarili umetne inteligence, niso naredili niti še umetne neumnosti. Zakoni fizike: nevidni, večni, povsod prisotni, vsemogočni. Vas na koga spominja? Zanimivo. Jaz, kot lahko uganete, nisem materialist, sem imaterialist. In našel sem novo zelo uporabno besedo -- ignostik. V redu? Jaz sem ignostik, zavračam, da me kdo vpraša, če Bog obstaja, dokler nekdo ustrezno ne definira pojmov. Še ena stvar, ki je ne vidimo, je človeški genom. In to je naraščajoče neprijetno, ker pred približno 20 leti, ko so začeli kopati v genom, so mislili, da bo verjetno vseboval okoli 100 tisoč genov. Od takrat je bilo vsako leto število znižano. Zdaj mislimo, da je verjetno le nekaj čez 20 tisoč genov v človeškem genomu. To je izredno, ker riž -- poslušajte -- znano je, da ima riž 38 tisoč genov. Krompir -- krompir ima 48 kromosomov. Dva več kot človek in enako kot gorila. Teh stvari ne vidiš, ampak so zelo čudne. Zvezde čez dan, to se mi je vedno zdelo fascinantno. Vesolje izgine. Več kot je luči, manj lahko vidiš. Čas. Nihče ne vidi časa. Ne vem, če veste, moderna fizika -- obstaja gibanje v moderni fiziki, ki predlaga, da čas v resnici ne obstaja, ker je preveč neprimeren za številke. Lažje je, če ga v resnici ni. Ne moreš videti prihodnosti, očitno, in ne moreš videti preteklosti, razen v lastnem spominu. Ena od zanimivih stvari pri preteklosti je, da ne moreš videti-- moj sin me je vprašal, rekel je: "Oče, se me spomniš, ko sem imel dve leti?" In rekel sem "Ja." In on je rekel: "Zakaj pa se jaz ne?" Ni to izredno? Ne moreš se spomniti, kaj se ti je zgodilo, preden si dopolnil drugo ali tretjo leto. Kar je dobra novica za psihoanalitike, ker drugače ne bi imeli dela. Ker takrat se zgodi vse, kar te naredi, kar si. Še nekaj, ne vidiš verige, s katere visiš. To je fascinantno. Nekateri med vami verjetno veste, da se celice neprestano obnavljajo. Koža odpada, lasje rastejo, nohti, vse to -- ampak vsaka celica vašega telesa se zamenja. Brbončice na jeziku, vsakih 10 dni. Jetra in notranji organi potrebujejo nekoliko več časa. Hrbtenica vzame nekaj let. Ampak po sedmih letih, niti ena celica vašega telesa ne ostane tam, kjer je bila pred sedmimi leti. Vprašanje je: kdo potemtakem smo? Kaj smo? Kaj je ta stvar, s katere visimo, ki je pravzaprav mi? Atomi, ne vidim jih. Nihče jih nikoli ne bo. So manjši kot valovna dolžina svetlobe. Plin ("gas"), tega ne morem videti, nekdo je omenil 1600 nazadnje. Plin ("gas") je 1600 izumil nemški kemik imenovan Van Helmont. Govori se, da gre za najbolj uspešno iznajdbo besede, s strani znanega posameznika. Precej dobro. Izumil je tudi besedo 'blas', ki pomeni zvezdno sevanje. Ni se prijelo, na žalost. Ampak, dobro zanj. Svetloba -- ne moreš videti svetlobe. Ko je tema, v vakuumu, če nekdo posveti žarek svetlobe naravnost mimo tvojih oči, ga ne boš videl. Malce tehnično, nekateri fiziki se s tem ne bodo strinjali. Ampak je čudno, da ne moreš videti svetlobnega žarka. vidiš lahko samo, kar zadane. Elektrika, tega ne vidiš. Ne dovolite, da vam kdo reče, da razume elektriko, je ne. Nihče ne ve, kaj je. Verjetno mislite, da se elektroni v električnem kablu nemudoma premikajo po kablu, kajne, s svetlobno hitrostjo, ko prižgeš luč. Ni res. Elektroni se vlečejo po kablu približno tako, kot se cedi med, pravijo. Galaksije -- ocenjujemo, da jih je v vesolju približno sto milijard. Sto milijard. Koliko jih lahko vidimo? Pet. Pet izmed stotih milijard galaksij, z golim očesom. In nekatere so težko vidne, razen če imaš zelo dober vid. Radijski valovi. Heinrich Hertz, ko je odkril radijske valove, leta 1887, jim je rekel radijski valovi, ker so valovali. Nekdo mu je rekel, kaj je poanta teh, Heinrich? Kaj je poanta teh radijskih valov, ki si jih odkril? In on je odgovoril: "Ne vem, ampak se bo že kdo domislil, kaj z njimi. Največja stvar, ki je ne vidimo, je to, kar ne vemo. Neverjetno je, kako malo vemo. Thomas Edison je enkrat rekel, da ne vemo niti enega odstotka milijoninke o čemerkoli. In jaz sem prišel do zaključka -- ker se vprašaš še eno vprašanje: česa še ne vidimo? Večina nas ne vidi smisla. Kaj je smisel? Smisel -- vse skupaj sem skrčil na dve vprašanji, ki si ju je vredno zastaviti. Zakaj smo tukaj in kaj naj počnemo, medtem ko smo? Da vam pomagam; imam dve stvari, s katerima vas bom pustil, dva velika filozofa, verjetno dva največja filozofska misleca dvajsetega stoletja. Eden od njiju je matematik in inženir in drugi je pesnik. Prvi je Ludwig Wittgenstein, ki je rekel: Ne vem, zakaj smo tukaj, ampak sem skoraj prepričan, da ne zato, da bi uživali. Kar vesel pankrt, kajne? (Smeh) Kot drugi in zadnji, W. H. Auden, eden od mojih najljubših pesnikov, ki je rekel: Mi smo na Zemlji, da pomagamo drugim. Zakaj so tu drugi, pa nimam pojma. [Ustvari si fotografijo za spomin! Nadaljuj potovanje v neznano!]