Steven Johnson: The playful wonderland behind great inventions
ستيفن جونسون: العجائب المرحة وراء الاختراعات العظيمة.
Steven Berlin Johnson examines the intersection of science, technology and personal experience. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
died in the rolling hills
في التلال الزالجة
of modern day Slovenia.
لسلوفينيا الحديثة.
a mammoth died in southern Germany.
a griffon vulture also died
مات أيضاً نسر صغير
about how these animals met their deaths,
عن كيفية موت هذه الحيوانات،
dispersed across both time and space
تشتتت خلال الزمان والمكان
a bone from each of their skeletons
لكل منها
40,000 years ago.
40,000 سنة مضت.
garments from animal skins
من جلود الحيوانات
that you would invent the flute,
أنك كنت ستخترع الناي،
useless vibrations in air molecules.
منها في جزيئات الهواء.
what our ancestors did.
to be surprisingly common
or feed their children
أو إطعام أطفالهم
but seemingly frivolous inventions
والتي تبدو كاختراعات تافهة
momentous transformations
important invention of modern times:
أهمية في العصور الحديثة:
descend from military technology,
تنحدر من التكنولوجيا العسكرية،
were designed specifically
صُممت خصيصاً
or calculate rocket trajectories.
مسارات الصواريخ.
of the modern computer
to make a sound,
لتصدر صوتاً،
to create the first organ
of triggering sounds
الخاصة باثارة الأصوات
from organs to clavichords to harpsichords
موترة المفاتيح إلي البيان القيثاري
finally hit on the idea
بفكرة
to trigger not sounds but letters.
لكن حروف.
"the writing harpsichord."
"البيان القيثاري الكاتبة."
to even more powerful breakthroughs.
إلي اختراقات أقوي.
designed a device
that plays itself."
was basically a giant music box.
صندوق موسيقي ضخم.
various songs by using instructions
أغاني متنوعة باستخدام تعليمات
on a rotating cylinder.
أسطوانة دوارة.
to play a different song,
أغنية مختلفة،
with a different code on it.
بشفرة مختلفة عليها.
this was a massive leap forward.
قفزةً عملاقةً للأمام.
with this invention.
مع هذا الاختراع.
of war or of conquest,
of watching a machine play music.
تعزف الموسيقي.
for about 700 years.
لحوالي 700 سنة.
of the Parisian elite.
الاسطوانات المشفرة
of what were called automata,
التي سُميت الألية،
an automated flute player
was designing his robot musician,
إنسانه الألي الموسيقي،
to make pleasing sounds,
أصواتً ممتعة،
delightful patterns of color out of cloth?
من الألوان من الملابس؟
to represent musical notes,
حروف موسيقية،
threads with different colors.
for your fabric,
and time-consuming to make,
و تستهلك وقتاً كبيراً لصنعها،
of using paper-punched cards
بطاقات مثقّبة ورقية
much cheaper and more flexible
Victorian inventor Charles Babbage
الفيكتوري (تشارل باباج)
by computer programmers
البطاقات المُثقّبة
the modern computer possible?
الحاسوب الحديث ممكناً حقاً؟
is an important part of the story,
also required other building blocks:
أيضاً قوالب بناء أخرى:
ideas and technologies
التي غيّرت العالم
the mother of invention.
is fundamentally exploratory,
استكشافية على نحو أساسي،
in the world around us.
في العالم من حولنا.
is why so many experiences
من التجارب
delight and amusement
to profound breakthroughs.
for how we teach kids in school
على كيفية تعليمنا للأطفال في المدارس
in our workspaces,
and delight this way
هو قادم بعد ذلك.
sitting there in 1750
the big changes coming to society
الكبيرة القادمة للمجتمع
as anything else at the time.
كأي شئ آخر في ذلك الوقت.
the beginning of a tech revolution
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Steven Johnson - WriterSteven Berlin Johnson examines the intersection of science, technology and personal experience.
Why you should listen
Steven Johnson is a leading light of today's interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to innovation. His writings have influenced everything from cutting-edge ideas in urban planning to the battle against 21st-century terrorism. Johnson was chosen by Prospect magazine as one of the top ten brains of the digital future, and The Wall Street Journal calls him "one of the most persuasive advocates for the role of collaboration in innovation."
Johnson's work on the history of innovation inspired the Emmy-nominated six-part series on PBS, "How We Got To Now with Steven Johnson," which aired in the fall of 2014. The book version of How We Got To Now was a finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. His new book, Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World, revolves around the creative power of play and delight: ideas and innovations that set into motion many momentous changes in science, technology, politics and society.
Johnson is also the author of the bestselling Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation, one of his many books celebrating progress and innovation. Others include The Invention of Air and The Ghost Map. Everything Bad Is Good For You, one of the most discussed books of 2005, argued that the increasing complexity of modern media is training us to think in more complex ways. Emergence and Future Perfect explore the power of bottom-up intelligence in both nature and contemporary society.
An innovator himself, Johnson has co-created three influential sites: the pioneering online magazine FEED, the Webby-Award-winning community site, Plastic.com, and the hyperlocal media site outside.in, which was acquired by AOL in 2011.
Johnson is a regular contributor to WIRED magazine, as well as the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and many other periodicals. He has appeared on many high-profile television programs, including "The Charlie Rose Show," "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer."
Steven Johnson | Speaker | TED.com