Its a TED tradition: when the stage lights go up at the beginning of a talk, the little gadgets go awayiPhones, iPads, and Blackberries all have to be powered down, even by the tech big wigs who were in attendance, including Amazons Jeff Bezos, Linked Ins Reed Hoffman, and Googles Marissa Mayer. Fully listen without technological distraction. Though it sounds simple, it was the most radical message being spread at TED 2023.

　　A surprising number of this years wide variety of speakers seemed to be joining one another in a resounding chorus, a call really, for a renaissance in technological discernment. Technology is powerful, the thinking went, but it actually disempowers us when we use it addictively and indiscriminately. And further, what really matters is the ways in which our technological advancements allow us to connect more deeply and widely with real human beings.

　　The leader of the pack was definitely MIT professor and author of Alone Together, Sherry Turkle. She described the bleak reality many of us live in, by which we stare into our screensbig and smallwhile our sensual, visceral lives pass us by. Our very emotional cores, she explains, are being altered by our inability to disconnect from the digital world. But its not too late, according to Turkle: We grew up with digital technology so we see it as all grown up. Its not. In other words, we still have time to develop our capacity to be discerning when it comes to those glowing screens.

　　While one would expect thought leaders like Turkle to focus on technology, it was interesting to see the theme pop up in unexpected moments as well. Joshua Foer, who wrote Moonwalking with Einstein, spoke about the ways in which our memories have been eroded by sheer neglect in the age of Google searches and instantaneous results. As he trained for the U.S. Memory Championship, he learned about the ancient idea of building a memory castle by which the average human mind can expand its capacity to remember a flabbergasting number of names, faces, or digits. But the real takeaway wasnt about freakish recall, it was about everyday meaning. Foer asked, How much are we willing to lose by not leading a memorable life? Be a person who remembers to remember.

　　Designer Chip Kidd spoke animatedly about the power of a well-designed book to relay a visual message about the story inside: A book cover is a distillation: It is a haiku, if you will, of the story. Reminiscing about the incredible smell of old books, he teased the audience, I am all for the iPad, but trust me: smelling it will get you nowhere.

　　Legal defender Bryan Stevenson warned that all the technological advances in the world dont add up to justice: No technology or design will allow us to being fully human until we also pay attention to suffering. And Atul Gawande, beloved doctor and journalist, reminded the audience of the power of the simple intervention when speaking about the ways in which the use of a basic checklist has transformed public health: We have trained, hired and rewarded people to be cowboys. But its pit crews we need.

　　These big thinkers, and many more over the course of last week, reminded us that, though they spoke at a conference renowned for its technological prowess, our tools are only virtuous when coupled with the Platonic ideal of the examined life. Our identities, relationships, and good work, may be fed, nurtured, and amplified by the gadgets at our fingertips, but they most vividly come to life in the precious, white spaces that punctuate our otherwise overscheduled, overconnected lives.

　　【重點單詞及短語】

　　big wig 【俚】大人物;大亨;要人

　　distraction n. 注意力分散;分心

　　radical adj. 激進的;徹底的

　　disempower v. 剝奪權力;力量剝奪;使失去影響力

　　indiscriminately adv. 不加選擇地;任意地

　　stare into 凝視

　　pass by 經過;逝去

　　discerning adj. 有辨識能力的;眼光敏銳的

　　pop up 突然出現

　　instantaneous adj. 瞬間的;即時的

　　flabbergasting adj. 令人大吃一驚的

　　animatedly adv. 精力旺盛地;活生生地

　　relay v. 轉播;轉發

　　distillation n. 精華;蒸餾

　　haiku n. 俳句(日本一種無韻節的三行詩)

　　reminisce v. 追憶;回憶

　　tease v. 取笑;戲弄

　　add up to 意味著

　　intervention n. 介入;調停;妨礙

　　pit crew 后勤維修人員

　　virtuous adj. 有效力的;正直的;有道德的

　　couple with 與結合;伴隨

　　Platonic adj. 柏拉圖哲學的;不切實際的;理想的

　　amplify v. 擴大;放大;詳述

　　Question time:

　　1. Whats the TED tradition according to the authors introduction?

　　2. Why tech big wigs on TED suggest us to turn off technology?

　　Its a TED tradition: when the stage lights go up at the beginning of a talk, the little gadgets go awayiPhones, iPads, and Blackberries all have to be powered down, even by the tech big wigs who were in attendance, including Amazons Jeff Bezos, Linked Ins Reed Hoffman, and Googles Marissa Mayer. Fully listen without technological distraction. Though it sounds simple, it was the most radical message being spread at TED 2023.

　　A surprising number of this years wide variety of speakers seemed to be joining one another in a resounding chorus, a call really, for a renaissance in technological discernment. Technology is powerful, the thinking went, but it actually disempowers us when we use it addictively and indiscriminately. And further, what really matters is the ways in which our technological advancements allow us to connect more deeply and widely with real human beings.

　　The leader of the pack was definitely MIT professor and author of Alone Together, Sherry Turkle. She described the bleak reality many of us live in, by which we stare into our screensbig and smallwhile our sensual, visceral lives pass us by. Our very emotional cores, she explains, are being altered by our inability to disconnect from the digital world. But its not too late, according to Turkle: We grew up with digital technology so we see it as all grown up. Its not. In other words, we still have time to develop our capacity to be discerning when it comes to those glowing screens.

　　While one would expect thought leaders like Turkle to focus on technology, it was interesting to see the theme pop up in unexpected moments as well. Joshua Foer, who wrote Moonwalking with Einstein, spoke about the ways in which our memories have been eroded by sheer neglect in the age of Google searches and instantaneous results. As he trained for the U.S. Memory Championship, he learned about the ancient idea of building a memory castle by which the average human mind can expand its capacity to remember a flabbergasting number of names, faces, or digits. But the real takeaway wasnt about freakish recall, it was about everyday meaning. Foer asked, How much are we willing to lose by not leading a memorable life? Be a person who remembers to remember.

　　Designer Chip Kidd spoke animatedly about the power of a well-designed book to relay a visual message about the story inside: A book cover is a distillation: It is a haiku, if you will, of the story. Reminiscing about the incredible smell of old books, he teased the audience, I am all for the iPad, but trust me: smelling it will get you nowhere.

　　Legal defender Bryan Stevenson warned that all the technological advances in the world dont add up to justice: No technology or design will allow us to being fully human until we also pay attention to suffering. And Atul Gawande, beloved doctor and journalist, reminded the audience of the power of the simple intervention when speaking about the ways in which the use of a basic checklist has transformed public health: We have trained, hired and rewarded people to be cowboys. But its pit crews we need.

　　These big thinkers, and many more over the course of last week, reminded us that, though they spoke at a conference renowned for its technological prowess, our tools are only virtuous when coupled with the Platonic ideal of the examined life. Our identities, relationships, and good work, may be fed, nurtured, and amplified by the gadgets at our fingertips, but they most vividly come to life in the precious, white spaces that punctuate our otherwise overscheduled, overconnected lives.

　　【重點單詞及短語】

　　big wig 【俚】大人物;大亨;要人

　　distraction n. 注意力分散;分心

　　radical adj. 激進的;徹底的

　　disempower v. 剝奪權力;力量剝奪;使失去影響力

　　indiscriminately adv. 不加選擇地;任意地

　　stare into 凝視

　　pass by 經過;逝去

　　discerning adj. 有辨識能力的;眼光敏銳的

　　pop up 突然出現

　　instantaneous adj. 瞬間的;即時的

　　flabbergasting adj. 令人大吃一驚的

　　animatedly adv. 精力旺盛地;活生生地

　　relay v. 轉播;轉發

　　distillation n. 精華;蒸餾

　　haiku n. 俳句(日本一種無韻節的三行詩)

　　reminisce v. 追憶;回憶

　　tease v. 取笑;戲弄

　　add up to 意味著

　　intervention n. 介入;調停;妨礙

　　pit crew 后勤維修人員

　　virtuous adj. 有效力的;正直的;有道德的

　　couple with 與結合;伴隨

　　Platonic adj. 柏拉圖哲學的;不切實際的;理想的

　　amplify v. 擴大;放大;詳述

　　Question time:

　　1. Whats the TED tradition according to the authors introduction?

　　2. Why tech big wigs on TED suggest us to turn off technology?