TED-Ed
John Lloyd: An animated tour of the invisible
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Gravity. The stars in day. Thoughts. The human genome. Time. Atoms. So much of what really matters in the world is impossible to see. A stunning animation of John Lloyd's classic TEDTalk from 2009, which will make you question what you actually know. [Directed by Cognitive Media, narration by John Lloyd].
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
(Circus music)
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[Ted N' Ed's Carnival]
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[John Lloyd's Inventory of the Invisible]
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[Adapted from a TEDTalk
given by John Lloyd in 2009]
given by John Lloyd in 2009]
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June Cohen: Our next speaker
has spent his whole career
has spent his whole career
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eliciting that sense of wonder.
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Please welcome John Lloyd.
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(Applause)
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[Hall of Mirrors]
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The question is, "What is invisible?"
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There's more of it
than you think, actually.
than you think, actually.
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Everything, I would say --
everything that matters --
everything that matters --
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Except every thing, and except matter.
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We can see matter
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but we can't see what's the matter.
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We can see the stars and the planets
but we can't see what holds them apart,
but we can't see what holds them apart,
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or what draws them together.
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With matter as with people,
we see only the skin of things,
we see only the skin of things,
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we can't see into the engine room,
we can't see what makes people tick,
we can't see what makes people tick,
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at least not without difficulty,
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and the closer we look at anything,
the more it disappears.
the more it disappears.
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In fact, if you look
really closely at stuff,
really closely at stuff,
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if you look at the basic
substructure of matter,
substructure of matter,
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there isn't anything there.
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Electrons disappear in a kind of fuzz,
and there is only energy.
and there is only energy.
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One of the interesting things
about invisibility is,
about invisibility is,
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the things that we can's see,
we also can't understand.
we also can't understand.
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Gravity is one thing that we can't see,
and which we don't understand.
and which we don't understand.
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It's the least understood
of all the four fundamental forces,
of all the four fundamental forces,
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and the weakest, and nobody really
knows what it is or why it's there.
knows what it is or why it's there.
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For what it's worth, Sir Isaac Newton,
the greatest scientist who ever lived,
the greatest scientist who ever lived,
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he thought Jesus came
to Earth specifically
to Earth specifically
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to operate the levers of gravity.
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That's what he thought he was there for.
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So, bright guy, could be wrong
on that one, I don't know.
on that one, I don't know.
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(Laughter)
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Consciousness. I see all your faces;
I've no idea what any of you are thinking.
I've no idea what any of you are thinking.
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Isn't that amazing?
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Isn't it incredible that we can't read
each other's minds,
each other's minds,
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when we can touch each other,
taste each other,
taste each other,
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perhaps, if we get close enough,
but we can't read each other's minds.
but we can't read each other's minds.
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I find that quite astonishing.
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In the Sufi faith,
this great Middle Eastern religion
this great Middle Eastern religion
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which some claim
is the root of all religions,
is the root of all religions,
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Sufi masters are
all telepaths, so they say,
all telepaths, so they say,
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but their main exercise of telepathy
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is to send out powerful signals
to the rest of us that it doesn't exist.
to the rest of us that it doesn't exist.
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So that's why we don't think it exists;
the Sufi masters working on us.
the Sufi masters working on us.
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In the question of consciousness
and artificial intelligence,
and artificial intelligence,
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artificial intelligence has really,
like the study of consciousness,
like the study of consciousness,
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gotten nowhere, we have no idea
how consciousness works.
how consciousness works.
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Not only have they not created
artificial intelligence,
artificial intelligence,
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they haven't yet created
artificial stupidity.
artificial stupidity.
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(Laughter)
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The laws of physics: invisible,
eternal, omnipresent, all powerful.
eternal, omnipresent, all powerful.
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Remind you of anyone?
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Interesting.
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I'm, as you can guess,
not a materialist, I'm an immaterialist.
not a materialist, I'm an immaterialist.
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And I've found a very useful
new word -- ignostic.
new word -- ignostic.
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Okay? I'm an ignostic.
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[God?]
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I refuse to be drawn on the question
on whether God exists
on whether God exists
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until somebody properly defines the terms.
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Another thing we can't see
is the human genome.
is the human genome.
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And this is increasingly peculiar,
because about 20 years ago
because about 20 years ago
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when they started delving into the genome,
they thought it would probably contain
they thought it would probably contain
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around 100 thousand genes.
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Every year since,
it's been revised downwards.
it's been revised downwards.
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We now think there are likely
to be just over 20 thousand genes
to be just over 20 thousand genes
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in the human genome.
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This is extraordinary,
because rice -- get this --
because rice -- get this --
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rice is known to have 38 thousand genes.
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Potatoes have 48 chromosomes,
two more than people,
two more than people,
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and the same as a gorilla.
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(Laughter)
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You can't see these things,
but they are very strange.
but they are very strange.
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The stars by day, I always
think that's fascinating.
think that's fascinating.
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The universe disappears.
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The more light there is,
the less you can see.
the less you can see.
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Time. Nobody can see time.
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I don't know if you know this.
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There's a big movement in modern physics
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to decide that time doesn't really exist,
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because it's too inconvenient
for the figures.
for the figures.
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It's much easier if it's not really there.
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You can't see the future, obviously,
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and you can't see the past,
except in your memory.
except in your memory.
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One of the interesting
things about the past
things about the past
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is you particularly can't see --
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my son asked me this the other day,
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"Dad, can you remember
what I was like when I was two?
what I was like when I was two?
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And I said, "Yes." He said, "Why can't I?"
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Isn't that extraordinary?
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You cannot remember what happened to you
earlier than the age of two or three.
earlier than the age of two or three.
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Which is great news for psychoanalysts,
because otherwise they'd be out of a job.
because otherwise they'd be out of a job.
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Because that's where all the stuff happens
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(Laughter)
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that makes you who you are.
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Another thing you can't see
is the grid on which we hang.
is the grid on which we hang.
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This is fascinating.
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You probably know, some of you,
that cells are continually renewed.
that cells are continually renewed.
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Skin flakes off, hairs grow,
nails, that kind of stuff --
nails, that kind of stuff --
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but every cell in your body
is replaced at some point.
is replaced at some point.
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Taste buds, every ten days or so.
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Livers and internal organs
take a bit longer.
take a bit longer.
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Spine takes several years.
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But at the end of seven years,
not one cell in your body
not one cell in your body
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remains from what was there
seven years ago.
seven years ago.
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The question is:
who then are we? What are we?
who then are we? What are we?
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What is this thing that we hang on?
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That is actually us?
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Atoms, can't see them. Nobody ever will.
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They're smaller
than the wavelength of light.
than the wavelength of light.
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Gas, can't see that.
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Interesting, somebody
mentioned 1600 recently.
mentioned 1600 recently.
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Gas was invented in 1600
by a Dutch chemist called van Helmont.
by a Dutch chemist called van Helmont.
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It's said to be the most successful ever
invention of a word by a known individual.
invention of a word by a known individual.
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Quite good. He also invented a word
called "blas," meaning astral radiation.
called "blas," meaning astral radiation.
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Didn't catch on, unfortunately.
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(Laughter)
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But well done, him.
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Light -- you can't see light.
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When it's dark, in a vacuum,
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if a person shines a beam of light
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straight across your eyes,
you won't see it.
you won't see it.
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Slightly technical, some physicists
will disagree with this.
will disagree with this.
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But it's odd that you can't see
the beam of light,
the beam of light,
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you can only see what it hits.
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Electricity, can't see that.
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Don't let anyone tell you
they understand electricity, they don't.
they understand electricity, they don't.
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Nobody knows what it is.
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(Laughter)
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You probably think the electrons
in an electric wire move instantaneously
in an electric wire move instantaneously
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down a wire, don't you,
at the speed of light,
at the speed of light,
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when you turn the light on, they don't.
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Electrons bumble down the wire,
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about the speed of spreading
honey, they say.
honey, they say.
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Galaxies -- hundred billion of them,
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estimated in the universe.
Hundred billion.
Hundred billion.
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How many can we see?
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Five. Five, out of a hundred billion
galaxies, with the naked eye.
galaxies, with the naked eye.
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And one of them is quite difficult to see,
unless you've got very good eyesight.
unless you've got very good eyesight.
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Radio waves. There's another thing.
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Heinrich Hertz, when he discovered
radio waves, in 1887,
radio waves, in 1887,
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he called them radio waves
because they radiated.
because they radiated.
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Somebody said to him,
"What's the point of these, Heinrich?
"What's the point of these, Heinrich?
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What's the point of these radio waves
that you've found?"
that you've found?"
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And he said, "Well, I've no idea,
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but I guess somebody will find
a use for them someday.
a use for them someday.
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The biggest thing that's invisible
to us is what we don't know.
to us is what we don't know.
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It is incredible how little we know.
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Thomas Edison once said,
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"We don't know one percent
of one millionth about anything."
of one millionth about anything."
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And I've come to the conclusion --
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because you ask this other question:
"What's another thing we can't see?"
"What's another thing we can't see?"
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The point, most of us. What's the point?
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The point -- what I've got it down to
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is there are only two questions
really worth asking.
really worth asking.
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"Why are we here?",
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and "What should
we do about it while we are?"
we do about it while we are?"
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To help you, I've got two things to leave
you with, from two great philosophers,
you with, from two great philosophers,
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perhaps two of the greatest philosopher
thinkers of the 20th century.
thinkers of the 20th century.
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One a mathematician and engineer,
and the other a poet.
and the other a poet.
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The first is Ludwig Wittgenstein,
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who said, "I don't know why we are here,
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but I am pretty sure it's not
in order to enjoy ourselves."
in order to enjoy ourselves."
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(Laughter)
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He was a cheerful bastard, wasn't he?
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(Laughter)
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And secondly, and lastly,
W.H. Auden, one of my favorite poets,
W.H. Auden, one of my favorite poets,
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who said, "We are here
on Earth to help others.
on Earth to help others.
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What the others
are here for, I've no idea."
are here for, I've no idea."
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(Laughter)
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(Applause)
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(Circus music)
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[Get your souvenir photo here!]
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[Continue your journey into the unknown!]
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(Circus music)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
John Lloyd - ProducerJohn Lloyd helps make some of the cleverest television in the UK.
Why you should listen
John Lloyd seems to have known every brilliant and funny person in Britain, and his collaborations are legendary. He's been a fixture on the BBC for four decades, producing such classic comedies as Blackadder, Spitting Image, the BBC's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and lately QI (short for "Quite Interesting"), hosted by Stephen Fry (read his Reddit AMA about it).
Lloyd has also written more than a dozen funny books -- including The Meaning of Liff, a collaboration with his friend Douglas Adams, which has been in print for 26 years.
John Lloyd | Speaker | TED.com