Nathan Myhrvold's TED talk: A life of fascinations
Here's a video of Nathan Myhrvold's absolutely terrific March 2007 presentation at TED.
Nathan Myhrvold talks about a few of his latest fascinations -- animal photography, archeology, BBQ and generally being an eccentric genius multimillionaire. Listen for wild stories from the (somewhat raunchy) edge of the animal world.Link
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Wonderful presentation. What an interesting life.
Bravo. Thanks for sharing.
this dude totally sounds like the bearded half of the professor bros.
I found his presentation annoyingly dilettantish, like a kid in school who tries too hard to fit in. Experts in all the fields he's enthusiastic about must find him difficult to cope with as a person.
o you're so right okkoto, and he's pretty endearing tho at the same time starcadia.
Is it just me or does it seem like the bland and boring speakers of TED just like to hear themselves talk and make powerpoint presentations? What's that thing been running on? 20 years now? What have they actually contributed to society except hot air - isn't it just rich dweebs who get thousands to stand up and talk about how smart and great they are? And people pay thousands to hear a talk about them climbing a mountain? It was probably cool 20 years ago before the internet but now? Aren't rhey basically just the Davos group except they wear Birkenstocks? Look, if rich guys want to get together to pat themselves on the back, great but do we need to fawn upon them?
Funnily enough, just because you don't find something interesting, that doesn't make it boring. It seems like projection on your part.
jbelkin, do you actually bother reading up on any of these people? They all have made significant contributions indeed. That's the reason they're even invited there, matter of fact.
And obviously you and I are watching different TED presentations, because the ones I've seen have been quite brilliant and inspiring.
An for his day job, he is a patent troll. http://d6.allthingsd.com/20080528/video-nathan-myrhvold-highlight-reel
I am kind of upset they you guys are featuring him.
I knew very little about Myhrvold before this presentation, but I found his TED talk to be distasteful, almost offensive. Here's how I feel:
It wasn't didactic or useful in any sense. Even if his end goal was to convey his passion for disparate areas of science and technology it came off as more as a presentation of My Fabulous Life. Especially that remark complaining about not being able to fit a SECOND full-size tyrannosaurus fossil in his living room(?) I found it condescending, not inspiring (or funny, which was probably his intention).
If I had the money and resources of a Nathan Myhrvold, I would probably spend my time traveling around the world and exploring my passions too. And hopefully I would be grateful enough to show what I've learned with the goal of inspiring others. I might sound like I'm hating on a self-made man because I resent his success, but that's how I feel.