Bola Sociology Design

TED Prize 2009

06 de February de 2009

TED, meaning technology, entertainment and design, has started in 1984 and today it is considered one of the most definitive and important event on its areas of expertise.

Nowadays it works more like a global community, offering its talks online to whoever wants to watch it, through their website and its YouTube channel. In the conference, questions that range from conscient consumption, psicology, tecnology and life in general are discussed, searching for a deeper understanding of the world, one that is capable of creating a better future for all of us.

One of the most interesting developments is the TED prize, where three winners are selected anually, get a funding of U$ 100,000 and help to realize their projects.  During the last days of the conference, they present their proposals for the audience, and anyone can collaborate and work with their favorite winner through the website.

This is the reason why younger generations are starting to see the TED Prize as some sort of improved Nobel Awards, since it reflects better human kind’s aspirations for that year. Some of previous winners of the TED Prize are projects like Pangea Day, the Open Architecture Network and the Encyclopedia of Life.

Running parallelly to TED, there is an alternative event called BIL. Already in its second year, BIL is an event that has more anarchist roots, that aims to be self administered, where anyone can come in and expose their ideas for free, with no theme restrictions.  Diferently from what someone might think, BIL and TED manage to live together in a respectful and harmonic way. Maybe BIL’s attendees will become winners of the TED Prize in the future.

Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra, the product of the work of one of TED Prize 2009 Winners

The winners of the TED prize 2009 are:

Sylvia Earle

“We’ve got to somehow stabilize our connection to nature so that in 50 years from now, 500 years, 5,000 years from now there will still be a wild system and respect for what it takes to sustain us.”

An oceonographer, explorer, author and lecturer that has been called “hero of the planet” by the Times, she has researched our oceans for over four decades and was captain of the first all women team that has lived in the depths of the ocean. Sylvia has led more than 50 expeditions that involved more than 6.000 hours underwater. A dedicated protector of the oceans and creatures that live in them, her voice transmits the urgency to awaken the world about its ignorance related to the role that the oceans have in our lives and the importance to keep them healthy.

Sylvia’s award winning wish is to “To bring knowledge of our oceans to a wide audience and galvanize support in favor of marine protected areas”

Jill Tarter

“‘Are we alone?’ Humans have been asking [this question] forever. The probability of success is difficult to estimate but if we never search the chance of success is zero.”

Jill Tarter is an astronomer and director of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.) She has dedicated her career to search for signals of living beings in other planets and practically all aspects of this field of research have been affected by her work.

One of her main commitments is to support the education of the next generations of scientists and citizens, being actively involved in the development of the curriculum for children. One of her projects, called Voyages Through Time, created an integrated science curriculum for high school with six modules: Cosmic Evolution, Planetary Evolution, Origin of Life, Evolution of Life, Hominid Evolution and Evolution of Technology.

José Abreu

“Music has to be recognized as an…agent of social development in the highest sense, because it transmits the highest values - solidarity, harmony, mutual compassion. And it has the ability to unite an entire community and to express sublime feelings.”  

The abyss between the rich and the poor in Venezuela is one of the biggest in the world. Dr. José Antonio Abreu is a retired economist and a classically trained musician. In 1975 he founded El Sistema (The System,) a program based in the belief that all venezuelan children could benefit from learning classical music. After thirty years, El Sistema is a nationwide organization,  that has about 102 youth orchestras, 55 children orchestras, 270 music centers and about 250.000 young musicians.

There is a simple concept behind José’s work: to him, an orchestra is basically a place where children become united, learn how to listen and to respect each other and a way to keep them away from two chronic problems in Venezuela:  crime and the use of drugs. Several students of the program have developed international careers as musicians, like Gustavo Dudamel, a young conductor that is about to become musical director for the Los Angeles Philarmonic and the double bass player Edicson Ruiz, that at 17 has become the youngest musician to join the Berlim Philarmonic.