[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.62,0:00:02.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I love my food.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:02.38,0:00:05.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I love information.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.18,0:00:08.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My children usually tell me
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.50,0:00:11.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that one of those passions is a little more apparent than the other.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.96,0:00:14.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.04,0:00:16.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But what I want to do in the next eight minutes or so
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.29,0:00:18.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is to take you through how those passions developed,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.50,0:00:21.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the point in my life when the two passions merged,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.86,0:00:26.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the journey of learning that took place from that point.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.82,0:00:29.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And one idea I want to leave you with today
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.62,0:00:32.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is what would would happen differently in your life
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.23,0:00:36.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if you saw information the way you saw food?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.87,0:00:39.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was born in Calcutta --
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.04,0:00:42.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a family where my father and his father before him
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.88,0:00:44.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were journalists,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.60,0:00:47.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they wrote magazines in the English language.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.62,0:00:49.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That was the family business.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.83,0:00:51.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And as a result of that,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.58,0:00:54.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I grew up with books everywhere around the house.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.54,0:00:57.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I mean books everywhere around the house.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.99,0:01:00.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that's actually a shop in Calcutta,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:00.46,0:01:03.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it's a place where we like our books.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.96,0:01:07.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, I've got 38,000 of them now
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.26,0:01:09.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and no Kindle in sight.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.74,0:01:15.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But growing up as a child with the books around everywhere,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.16,0:01:17.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with people to talk to about those books,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.68,0:01:20.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this wasn't a sort of slightly learned thing.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.75,0:01:24.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By the time I was 18, I had a deep passion for books.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.26,0:01:26.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It wasn't the only passion I had.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.78,0:01:28.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was a South Indian
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.91,0:01:31.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,brought up in Bengal.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.06,0:01:33.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And two of the things about Bengal:
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.54,0:01:36.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they like their savory dishes
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.05,0:01:37.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they like their sweets.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.86,0:01:39.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So by the time I grew up,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.64,0:01:43.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,again, I had a well-established passion for food.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:43.29,0:01:46.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now I was growing up in the late '60s and early '70s,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.45,0:01:49.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and there were a number of other passions I was also interested in,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:49.91,0:01:53.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but these two were the ones that differentiated me.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.22,0:01:54.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.58,0:01:57.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then life was fine, dandy.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.43,0:01:59.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Everything was okay,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.09,0:02:02.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,until I got to about the age of 26,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.97,0:02:06.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I went to a movie called "Short Circuit."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.58,0:02:08.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Oh, some of you have seen it.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.58,0:02:11.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And apparently it's being remade right now
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.96,0:02:13.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it's going to be coming out next year.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.99,0:02:17.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's the story of this experimental robot
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.41,0:02:20.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which got electrocuted and found a life.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:20.36,0:02:24.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And as it ran, this thing was saying, "Give me input. Give me input."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.50,0:02:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I suddenly realized that for a robot
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.00,0:02:30.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,both information as well as food
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.47,0:02:32.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were the same thing.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.67,0:02:35.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Energy came to it in some form or shape,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.29,0:02:37.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,data came to it in some form or shape.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:37.43,0:02:39.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I began to think,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.88,0:02:41.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I wonder what it would be like
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.62,0:02:44.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to start imagining myself
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.07,0:02:48.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as if energy and information were the two things I had as input --
Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.45,0:02:52.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as if food and information were similar in some form or shape.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.51,0:02:55.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I started doing some research then, and this was the 25-year journey,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.90,0:02:57.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and started finding out
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.33,0:03:01.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that actually human beings as primates
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.04,0:03:03.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have far smaller stomachs
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.65,0:03:06.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than should be the size for our body weight
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.88,0:03:09.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and far larger brains.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.82,0:03:13.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And as I went to research that even further,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.11,0:03:16.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I got to a point where I discovered something
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.71,0:03:20.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,called the expensive tissue hypothesis.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.10,0:03:24.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That actually for a given body mass of a primate
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.19,0:03:26.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the metabolic rate was static.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.76,0:03:30.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What changed was the balance of the tissues available.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.51,0:03:34.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And two of the most expensive tissues in our human body
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.13,0:03:37.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are nervous tissue and digestive tissue.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.90,0:03:42.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And what transpired was that people had put forward a hypothesis
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.08,0:03:46.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that was apparently coming up with some fabulous results by about 1995.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.58,0:03:49.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a lady named Leslie Aiello.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.54,0:03:54.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the paper then suggested that you traded one for the other.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.33,0:03:58.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you wanted your brain for a particular body mass to be large,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:58.04,0:04:01.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you had to live with a smaller gut.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.19,0:04:04.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That then set me off completely
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.02,0:04:06.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to say, Okay, these two are connected.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.74,0:04:10.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I looked at the cultivation of information as if it were food
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.93,0:04:13.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and said, So we were hunter-gathers of information.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.75,0:04:18.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We moved from that to becoming farmers and cultivators of information.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.12,0:04:19.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Does that really explain what we're seeing
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.88,0:04:22.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with the intellectual property battles nowadays?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.62,0:04:25.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because those people who were hunter-gatherers in origin
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.96,0:04:29.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,wanted to be free and roam and pick up information as they wanted,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:29.62,0:04:32.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and those that were in the business of farming information
Dialogue: 0,0:04:32.25,0:04:34.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,wanted to build fences around it,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:34.62,0:04:38.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,create ownership and wealth and structure and settlement.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.30,0:04:41.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So there was always going to be a tension within that.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.26,0:04:43.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And everything I saw in the cultivation
Dialogue: 0,0:04:43.32,0:04:45.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,said there were huge fights amongst the foodies
Dialogue: 0,0:04:45.88,0:04:48.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between the cultivators and the hunter-gatherers.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.10,0:04:50.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this is happening here.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:50.42,0:04:53.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I moved to preparation, this same thing was true,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.30,0:04:55.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,expect that there were two schools.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:55.62,0:04:58.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One group of people said you can distill your information,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:58.71,0:05:02.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you can extract value, separate it and serve it up,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.08,0:05:03.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while another group turned around
Dialogue: 0,0:05:03.83,0:05:05.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and said no, no you can ferment it.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:05.56,0:05:08.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You bring it all together and mash it up
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.23,0:05:10.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the value emerges that way.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:10.32,0:05:12.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The same is again true with information.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:12.98,0:05:16.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But consumption was where it started getting really enjoyable.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:16.70,0:05:19.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because what I began to see then
Dialogue: 0,0:05:19.06,0:05:22.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was there were so many different ways people would consume this.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:22.50,0:05:24.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They'd buy it from the shop as raw ingredients.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:24.99,0:05:27.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Do you cook it? Do you have it served to you?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.13,0:05:28.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Do you go to a restaurant?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:28.82,0:05:32.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The same is true every time as I started thinking about information.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:32.59,0:05:35.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The analogies were getting crazy --
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.10,0:05:37.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that information had sell-by dates,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:37.80,0:05:41.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that people had misused information that wasn't dated properly
Dialogue: 0,0:05:41.75,0:05:44.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and could really make an effect on the stock market,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:44.08,0:05:46.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on corporate values, etc.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:46.49,0:05:48.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And by this time I was hooked.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:48.88,0:05:51.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this is about 23 years into this process.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:51.88,0:05:54.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I began to start thinking of myself
Dialogue: 0,0:05:54.17,0:05:57.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as we start having mash-ups of fact and fiction,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:57.64,0:06:01.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,docu-dramas, mockumentaries, whatever you call it.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:01.12,0:06:02.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Are we going to reach the stage
Dialogue: 0,0:06:02.58,0:06:07.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where information has a percentage for fact associated with it?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:07.14,0:06:10.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We start labeling information for the fact percentage?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:10.58,0:06:13.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Are we going to start looking at what happens
Dialogue: 0,0:06:13.21,0:06:16.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when your information source is turned off, as a famine?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:16.79,0:06:19.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which brings me to the final element of this.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:19.35,0:06:22.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Clay Shirky once stated that there is no such animal as information overload,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:22.50,0:06:25.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there is only filter failure.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:25.67,0:06:28.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I put it to you that information,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:28.29,0:06:30.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if viewed from the point of food,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.69,0:06:34.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is never a production issue; you never speak of food overload.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:34.58,0:06:36.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Fundamentally it's a consumption issue.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:36.77,0:06:38.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And we have to start thinking
Dialogue: 0,0:06:38.79,0:06:44.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about how we create diets within ourselves, exercise within ourselves,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:44.17,0:06:46.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to have the faculties to be able to deal with information,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:46.71,0:06:50.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to have the labeling to be able to do it responsibly.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:50.46,0:06:54.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, when I saw "Supersize Me," I starting thinking of saying,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:54.29,0:06:56.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What would happen
Dialogue: 0,0:06:56.25,0:07:00.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if an individual had 31 days nonstop Fox News?
Dialogue: 0,0:07:00.44,0:07:01.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:07:01.81,0:07:04.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Would there be time to be able to work with it?
Dialogue: 0,0:07:04.71,0:07:07.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So you start really understanding
Dialogue: 0,0:07:07.67,0:07:14.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that you can have diseases, toxins, a need to balance your diet,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:14.03,0:07:16.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and once you start looking, and from that point on,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:16.94,0:07:20.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,everything I have done in terms of the consumption of information,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.62,0:07:23.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the production of information, the preparation of information,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:23.96,0:07:27.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've looked at from the viewpoint of food.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:27.49,0:07:29.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It has probably not helped my waistline any
Dialogue: 0,0:07:29.96,0:07:32.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because I like practicing on both sides.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:32.45,0:07:36.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I'd like to leave you with just that question:
Dialogue: 0,0:07:36.17,0:07:39.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you began to think of all the information that you consume
Dialogue: 0,0:07:39.15,0:07:40.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the way you think of food,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:40.73,0:07:42.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what would you do differently?
Dialogue: 0,0:07:42.51,0:07:44.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you very much for your time.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:44.71,0:07:46.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)