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Clouds.

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Have you ever noticed how much[br]people moan about them?

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They get a bad rap.

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If you think about it,[br]the English language

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has written into it negative[br]associations towards the clouds.

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Someone who's down or depressed,

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they're under a cloud.

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And when there's bad news in store,

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there's a cloud on the horizon.

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I saw an article the other day.

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It was about problems[br]with computer processing

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over the Internet.

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"A cloud over the cloud,"[br]was the headline.

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It seems like they're everyone's default

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doom-and-gloom metaphor.

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But I think they're beautiful, don't you?

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It's just that their beauty is missed

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because they're so omnipresent,

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so, I don't know, commonplace,

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that people don't notice them.

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They don't notice the beauty,[br]but they don't even notice the clouds

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unless they get in the way of the sun.

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And so people think of clouds as

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things that get in the way.

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They think of them as the annoying,[br]frustrating obstructions,

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and then they rush off and do[br]some blue-sky thinking.

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(Laughter)

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But most people, when[br]you stop to ask them,

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will admit to harboring a strange[br]sort of fondness for clouds.

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It's like a nostalgic fondness,

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and they make them think of their youth.

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Who here can't remember thinking, well,

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looking and finding shapes in the clouds

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when they were kids?

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You know, when you were[br]masters of daydreaming?

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Aristophanes, the ancient[br]Greek playwright,

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he described the clouds[br]as the patron godesses

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of idle fellows

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two and a half thousand years ago,

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and you can see what he means.

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It's just that these days,[br]us adults seem reluctant

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to allow ourselves the indulgence

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of just allowing our imaginations

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to drift along in the breeze,[br]and I think that's a pity.

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I think we should perhaps[br]do a bit more of it.

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I think we should be a bit[br]more willing, perhaps,

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to look at the beautiful sight[br]of the sunlight bursting out

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from behind the clouds[br]and go, "Wait a minute,

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that's two cats dancing the salsa!"

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(Laughter) (Applause)

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Or seeing the big, white,[br]puffy one up there

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over the shopping center looks like

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the Abominable Snowman[br]going to rob a bank.

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(Laughter)

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They're like nature's version[br]of those inkblot images,

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you know, that shrinks used[br]to show their patients

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in the '60s,

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and I think if you consider[br]the shapes you see in the clouds,

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you'll save money on psychoanalysis bills.

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Let's say you're in love. All right?

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And you look up and what do you see?

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Right? Or maybe the opposite.

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You've just been dumped by your partner,

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and everywhere you look,[br]it's kissing couples.

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(Laughter)

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Perhaps you're having a moment[br]of existential angst.

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You know, you're thinking[br]about your own mortality.

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And there, on the horizon,[br]it's the Grim Reaper.

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(Laughter)

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Or maybe you see a topless sunbather.

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(Laughter)

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What would that mean?

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What would that mean? I have no idea.

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But one thing I do know is this:

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The bad press that clouds[br]get is totally unfair.

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I think we should stand up for them,

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which is why, a few years ago,

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I started the Cloud Appreciation Society.

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Tens of thousands of members now

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in almost 100 countries around the world.

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And all these photographs[br]that I'm showing,

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they were sent in by members.

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And the society exists[br]to remind people of this:

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Clouds are not something to moan about.

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Far from it. They are, in fact,

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the most diverse, evocative,[br]poetic aspect of nature.

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I think, if you live[br]with your head in the clouds

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every now and then, it helps you[br]keep your feet on the ground.

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And I want to show you[br]why, with the help of

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some of my favorite types of clouds.

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Let's start with this one.[br]It's the cirrus cloud,

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named after the Latin for a lock of hair.

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It's composed entirely of ice crystals

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cascading from the upper[br]reaches of the troposphere,

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and as these ice crystals fall,

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they pass through different[br]layers with different winds

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and they speed up and slow down,

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giving the cloud these[br]brush-stroked appearances,

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these brush-stroke forms[br]known as fall streaks.

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And these winds up there[br]can be very, very fierce.

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They can be 200 miles[br]an hour, 300 miles an hour.

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These clouds are bombing along,

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but from all the way down here,

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they appear to be moving[br]gracefully, slowly,

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like most clouds.

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And so to tune into the clouds[br]is to slow down,

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to calm down.

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It's like a bit of everyday meditation.

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Those are common clouds.

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What about rarer ones,[br]like the lenticularis,

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the UFO-shaped lenticularis cloud?

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These clouds form[br]in the region of mountains.

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When the wind passes, rises[br]to pass over the mountain,

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it can take on a wave-like[br]path in the lee of the peak,

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with these clouds hovering at the crest

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of these invisible standing waves of air,

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these flying saucer-like forms,

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and some of the early[br]black-and-white UFO photos

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are in fact lenticularis clouds.[br]It's true.

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A little rarer are the fallstreak holes.[br]All right?

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This is when a layer is made[br]up of very, very cold

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water droplets, and in one region[br]they start to freeze,

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and this freezing sets off a chain[br]reaction which spreads outwards

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with the ice crystals cascading[br]and falling down below,

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giving the appearance[br]of jellyfish tendrils down below.

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Rarer still, the Kelvin–Helmholtz cloud.

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Not a very snappy name. Needs a rebrand.

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This looks like a series[br]of breaking waves,

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and it's caused by shearing[br]winds -- the wind

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above the cloud layer[br]and below the cloud layer

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differ significantly,[br]and in the middle, in between,

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you get this undulating of the air,

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and if the difference in those[br]speeds is just right,

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the tops of the undulations curl over

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in these beautiful breaking[br]wave-like vortices.

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All right. Those are rarer[br]clouds than the cirrus,

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but they're not that rare.

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If you look up, and you[br]pay attention to the sky,

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you'll see them sooner or later,

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maybe not quite as dramatic[br]as these, but you'll see them.

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And you'll see them around where you live.

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Clouds are the most egalitarian

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of nature's displays,[br]because we all have a good,

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fantastic view of the sky.

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And these clouds, these rarer clouds,

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remind us that the exotic can[br]be found in the everyday.

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Nothing is more nourishing,[br]more stimulating

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to an active, inquiring[br]mind than being surprised,

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being amazed. It's why we're[br]all here at TED, right?

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But you don't need to rush off

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away from the familiar, across the world

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to be surprised.

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You just need to step outside,

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pay attention to what's so[br]commonplace, so everyday,

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so mundane that everybody else misses it.

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One cloud that people[br]rarely miss is this one:

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the cumulonimbus storm cloud.

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It's what's produces thunder[br]and lightning and hail.

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These clouds spread[br]out at the top in this enormous

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anvil fashion stretching 10[br]miles up into the atmosphere.

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They are an expression[br]of the majestic architecture

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of our atmosphere.

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But from down below,[br]they are the embodiment

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of the powerful, elemental force and power

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that drives our atmosphere.

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To be there is to be connected[br]in the driving rain

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and the hail, to feel[br]connected to our atmosphere.

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It's to be reminded that we are creatures

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that inhabit this ocean of air.

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We don't live beneath the sky.[br]We live within it.

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And that connection, that visceral[br]connection to our atmosphere

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feels to me like an antidote.

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It's an antidote to the growing[br]tendency we have

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to feel that we can really[br]ever experience life

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by watching it on a computer[br]screen, you know,

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when we're in a wi-fi zone.

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But the one cloud that best expresses

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why cloudspotting is more[br]valuable today than ever

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is this one, the cumulus cloud.

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Right? It forms on a sunny day.

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If you close your eyes[br]and think of a cloud,

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it's probably one of these[br]that comes to mind.

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All those cloud shapes at the beginning,

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those were cumulus clouds.

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The sharp, crisp outlines[br]of this formation

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make it the best[br]one for finding shapes in.

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And it reminds us

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of the aimless nature of cloudspotting,

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what an aimless activity it is.

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You're not going to change the world

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by lying on your back and gazing[br]up at the sky, are you?

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It's pointless. It's a pointless activity,

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which is precisely why it's so important.

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The digital world[br]conspires to make us feel

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eternally busy, perpetually busy.

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You know, when you're not dealing with

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the traditional pressures[br]of earning a living

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and putting food on the table,[br]raising a family,

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writing thank you letters,

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you have to now contend with

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answering a mountain of unanswered emails,

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updating a Facebook page,

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feeding your Twitter feed.

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And cloudspotting[br]legitimizes doing nothing.

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(Laughter)

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And sometimes we need —

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(Applause)

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Sometimes we need excuses to do nothing.

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We need to be reminded by these

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patron goddesses of idle fellows

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that slowing down

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and being in the present,[br]not thinking about

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what you've got to do[br]and what you should have done,

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but just being here,[br]letting your imagination

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lift from the everyday concerns down here

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and just being in the present,[br]it's good for you,

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and it's good for the way you feel.

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It's good for your ideas.[br]It's good for your creativity.

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It's good for your soul.

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So keep looking up,

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marvel at the ephemeral beauty,

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and always remember to live life[br]with your head in the clouds.

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Thank you very much.

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(Applause)