TEDGlobal 2013
Gavin Pretor-Pinney: Cloudy with a chance of joy
Filmed:
Readability: 3.5
1,296,462 views
You don't need to plan an exotic trip to find creative inspiration. Just look up, says Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society. As he shares charming photos of nature's finest aerial architecture, Pretor-Pinney calls for us all to take a step off the digital treadmill, lie back and admire the beauty in the sky above.
Gavin Pretor-Pinney - Cloudspotter
Cloud Appreciation Society founder Gavin Pretor-Pinney shows how seemingly idle pursuits provide unexpected paths to appreciating overlooked wonders. Full bio
Cloud Appreciation Society founder Gavin Pretor-Pinney shows how seemingly idle pursuits provide unexpected paths to appreciating overlooked wonders. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
Clouds.
0
460
2310
00:14
Have you ever noticed how much people moan about them?
1
2770
2622
00:17
They get a bad rap.
2
5392
2247
00:19
If you think about it, the English language
3
7639
2547
00:22
has written into it negative associations towards the clouds.
4
10186
4293
00:26
Someone who's down or depressed,
5
14479
2467
00:28
they're under a cloud.
6
16946
1691
00:30
And when there's bad news in store,
7
18637
1689
00:32
there's a cloud on the horizon.
8
20326
2850
00:35
I saw an article the other day.
9
23176
2032
00:37
It was about problems with computer processing
10
25208
3186
00:40
over the Internet.
11
28394
1822
00:42
"A cloud over the cloud," was the headline.
12
30216
4924
00:47
It seems like they're everyone's default
13
35140
1983
00:49
doom-and-gloom metaphor.
14
37123
2274
00:51
But I think they're beautiful, don't you?
15
39397
2153
00:53
It's just that their beauty is missed
16
41550
3113
00:56
because they're so omnipresent,
17
44663
2000
00:58
so, I don't know, commonplace,
18
46663
3349
01:02
that people don't notice them.
19
50012
1436
01:03
They don't notice the beauty, but they don't even notice the clouds
20
51448
2879
01:06
unless they get in the way of the sun.
21
54327
2630
01:08
And so people think of clouds as
22
56957
2305
01:11
things that get in the way.
23
59262
2080
01:13
They think of them as the annoying, frustrating obstructions,
24
61342
5071
01:18
and then they rush off and do some blue-sky thinking.
25
66413
2920
01:21
(Laughter)
26
69333
2385
01:23
But most people, when you stop to ask them,
27
71718
2223
01:25
will admit to harboring a strange sort of fondness for clouds.
28
73941
4850
01:30
It's like a nostalgic fondness,
29
78791
2659
01:33
and they make them think of their youth.
30
81450
3134
01:36
Who here can't remember thinking, well,
31
84584
3236
01:39
looking and finding shapes in the clouds
32
87820
2602
01:42
when they were kids?
33
90422
1343
01:43
You know, when you were masters of daydreaming?
34
91765
6731
01:50
Aristophanes, the ancient Greek playwright,
35
98496
2767
01:53
he described the clouds as the patron godesses
36
101263
3351
01:56
of idle fellows
37
104614
1784
01:58
two and a half thousand years ago,
38
106398
1215
01:59
and you can see what he means.
39
107613
1341
02:00
It's just that these days, us adults seem reluctant
40
108954
4998
02:05
to allow ourselves the indulgence
41
113952
3360
02:09
of just allowing our imaginations
42
117312
2632
02:11
to drift along in the breeze, and I think that's a pity.
43
119944
3670
02:15
I think we should perhaps do a bit more of it.
44
123614
2386
02:18
I think we should be a bit more willing, perhaps,
45
126000
3020
02:21
to look at the beautiful sight of the sunlight bursting out
46
129020
3943
02:24
from behind the clouds and go, "Wait a minute,
47
132963
3466
02:28
that's two cats dancing the salsa!"
48
136429
2339
02:30
(Laughter) (Applause)
49
138768
1397
02:32
Or seeing the big, white, puffy one up there
50
140165
5766
02:37
over the shopping center looks like
51
145931
1922
02:39
the Abominable Snowman going to rob a bank.
52
147853
3633
02:43
(Laughter)
53
151486
3196
02:46
They're like nature's version of those inkblot images,
54
154682
3918
02:50
you know, that shrinks used to show their patients
55
158600
2060
02:52
in the '60s,
56
160660
1612
02:54
and I think if you consider the shapes you see in the clouds,
57
162272
3725
02:57
you'll save money on psychoanalysis bills.
58
165997
3890
03:01
Let's say you're in love. All right?
59
169887
1879
03:03
And you look up and what do you see?
60
171766
2197
03:05
Right? Or maybe the opposite.
61
173963
2626
03:08
You've just been dumped by your partner,
62
176589
2044
03:10
and everywhere you look, it's kissing couples.
63
178633
3109
03:13
(Laughter)
64
181742
1952
03:15
Perhaps you're having a moment of existential angst.
65
183694
3756
03:19
You know, you're thinking about your own mortality.
66
187450
2332
03:21
And there, on the horizon, it's the Grim Reaper.
67
189782
3117
03:24
(Laughter)
68
192899
2959
03:27
Or maybe you see a topless sunbather.
69
195858
3445
03:31
(Laughter)
70
199303
1629
03:32
What would that mean?
71
200932
3072
03:36
What would that mean? I have no idea.
72
204004
5531
03:41
But one thing I do know is this:
73
209535
2230
03:43
The bad press that clouds get is totally unfair.
74
211765
3375
03:47
I think we should stand up for them,
75
215140
1377
03:48
which is why, a few years ago,
76
216517
1327
03:49
I started the Cloud Appreciation Society.
77
217844
3174
03:53
Tens of thousands of members now
78
221018
2572
03:55
in almost 100 countries around the world.
79
223590
2026
03:57
And all these photographs that I'm showing,
80
225616
3001
04:00
they were sent in by members.
81
228617
2356
04:02
And the society exists to remind people of this:
82
230973
3464
04:06
Clouds are not something to moan about.
83
234437
3047
04:09
Far from it. They are, in fact,
84
237484
2383
04:11
the most diverse, evocative, poetic aspect of nature.
85
239867
7710
04:19
I think, if you live with your head in the clouds
86
247577
3267
04:22
every now and then, it helps you keep your feet on the ground.
87
250844
2812
04:25
And I want to show you why, with the help of
88
253656
1622
04:27
some of my favorite types of clouds.
89
255278
2245
04:29
Let's start with this one. It's the cirrus cloud,
90
257523
2249
04:31
named after the Latin for a lock of hair.
91
259772
3028
04:34
It's composed entirely of ice crystals
92
262800
1621
04:36
cascading from the upper reaches of the troposphere,
93
264421
2516
04:38
and as these ice crystals fall,
94
266937
1422
04:40
they pass through different layers with different winds
95
268359
2399
04:42
and they speed up and slow down,
96
270758
2008
04:44
giving the cloud these brush-stroked appearances,
97
272766
3059
04:47
these brush-stroke forms known as fall streaks.
98
275825
2935
04:50
And these winds up there can be very, very fierce.
99
278760
2011
04:52
They can be 200 miles an hour, 300 miles an hour.
100
280771
2581
04:55
These clouds are bombing along,
101
283352
1209
04:56
but from all the way down here,
102
284561
1783
04:58
they appear to be moving gracefully, slowly,
103
286344
3440
05:01
like most clouds.
104
289784
2209
05:03
And so to tune into the clouds is to slow down,
105
291993
3223
05:07
to calm down.
106
295216
1945
05:09
It's like a bit of everyday meditation.
107
297161
2833
05:11
Those are common clouds.
108
299994
1160
05:13
What about rarer ones, like the lenticularis,
109
301154
2802
05:15
the UFO-shaped lenticularis cloud?
110
303956
2351
05:18
These clouds form in the region of mountains.
111
306307
2520
05:20
When the wind passes, rises to pass over the mountain,
112
308827
2885
05:23
it can take on a wave-like path in the lee of the peak,
113
311712
3239
05:26
with these clouds hovering at the crest
114
314951
2727
05:29
of these invisible standing waves of air,
115
317678
2660
05:32
these flying saucer-like forms,
116
320338
2262
05:34
and some of the early black-and-white UFO photos
117
322600
2664
05:37
are in fact lenticularis clouds. It's true.
118
325264
2916
05:40
A little rarer are the fallstreak holes. All right?
119
328180
3839
05:44
This is when a layer is made up of very, very cold
120
332019
2188
05:46
water droplets, and in one region they start to freeze,
121
334207
3064
05:49
and this freezing sets off a chain reaction which spreads outwards
122
337271
3039
05:52
with the ice crystals cascading and falling down below,
123
340310
2832
05:55
giving the appearance of jellyfish tendrils down below.
124
343142
4839
05:59
Rarer still, the Kelvin–Helmholtz cloud.
125
347981
4080
06:04
Not a very snappy name. Needs a rebrand.
126
352061
3442
06:07
This looks like a series of breaking waves,
127
355503
3760
06:11
and it's caused by shearing winds -- the wind
128
359263
2694
06:13
above the cloud layer and below the cloud layer
129
361957
1962
06:15
differ significantly, and in the middle, in between,
130
363919
2856
06:18
you get this undulating of the air,
131
366775
1883
06:20
and if the difference in those speeds is just right,
132
368658
2201
06:22
the tops of the undulations curl over
133
370859
1902
06:24
in these beautiful breaking wave-like vortices.
134
372761
3862
06:28
All right. Those are rarer clouds than the cirrus,
135
376623
2360
06:30
but they're not that rare.
136
378983
1752
06:32
If you look up, and you pay attention to the sky,
137
380735
2848
06:35
you'll see them sooner or later,
138
383583
1873
06:37
maybe not quite as dramatic as these, but you'll see them.
139
385456
2655
06:40
And you'll see them around where you live.
140
388111
2185
06:42
Clouds are the most egalitarian
141
390296
2561
06:44
of nature's displays, because we all have a good,
142
392857
2674
06:47
fantastic view of the sky.
143
395531
2631
06:50
And these clouds, these rarer clouds,
144
398162
1840
06:52
remind us that the exotic can be found in the everyday.
145
400002
4720
06:56
Nothing is more nourishing, more stimulating
146
404722
2759
06:59
to an active, inquiring mind than being surprised,
147
407481
3467
07:02
being amazed. It's why we're all here at TED, right?
148
410948
3696
07:06
But you don't need to rush off
149
414644
2945
07:09
away from the familiar, across the world
150
417589
2360
07:11
to be surprised.
151
419949
1462
07:13
You just need to step outside,
152
421411
2775
07:16
pay attention to what's so commonplace, so everyday,
153
424186
2576
07:18
so mundane that everybody else misses it.
154
426762
3987
07:22
One cloud that people rarely miss is this one:
155
430749
2414
07:25
the cumulonimbus storm cloud.
156
433163
2968
07:28
It's what's produces thunder and lightning and hail.
157
436131
2434
07:30
These clouds spread out at the top in this enormous
158
438565
3175
07:33
anvil fashion stretching 10 miles up into the atmosphere.
159
441740
2822
07:36
They are an expression of the majestic architecture
160
444562
3419
07:39
of our atmosphere.
161
447981
1885
07:41
But from down below, they are the embodiment
162
449866
3386
07:45
of the powerful, elemental force and power
163
453252
4131
07:49
that drives our atmosphere.
164
457383
1894
07:51
To be there is to be connected in the driving rain
165
459277
4114
07:55
and the hail, to feel connected to our atmosphere.
166
463391
3302
07:58
It's to be reminded that we are creatures
167
466693
2298
08:00
that inhabit this ocean of air.
168
468991
1709
08:02
We don't live beneath the sky. We live within it.
169
470700
3397
08:06
And that connection, that visceral connection to our atmosphere
170
474097
4083
08:10
feels to me like an antidote.
171
478180
2436
08:12
It's an antidote to the growing tendency we have
172
480616
3104
08:15
to feel that we can really ever experience life
173
483720
3875
08:19
by watching it on a computer screen, you know,
174
487595
1861
08:21
when we're in a wi-fi zone.
175
489456
2804
08:24
But the one cloud that best expresses
176
492260
2284
08:26
why cloudspotting is more valuable today than ever
177
494544
2925
08:29
is this one, the cumulus cloud.
178
497469
3191
08:32
Right? It forms on a sunny day.
179
500660
2079
08:34
If you close your eyes and think of a cloud,
180
502739
1761
08:36
it's probably one of these that comes to mind.
181
504500
2708
08:39
All those cloud shapes at the beginning,
182
507208
2624
08:41
those were cumulus clouds.
183
509832
2143
08:43
The sharp, crisp outlines of this formation
184
511975
3624
08:47
make it the best one for finding shapes in.
185
515599
3156
08:50
And it reminds us
186
518755
1972
08:52
of the aimless nature of cloudspotting,
187
520727
3944
08:56
what an aimless activity it is.
188
524671
2249
08:58
You're not going to change the world
189
526920
1654
09:00
by lying on your back and gazing up at the sky, are you?
190
528574
4137
09:04
It's pointless. It's a pointless activity,
191
532711
2223
09:06
which is precisely why it's so important.
192
534934
4856
09:11
The digital world conspires to make us feel
193
539790
4029
09:15
eternally busy, perpetually busy.
194
543819
2771
09:18
You know, when you're not dealing with
195
546590
1553
09:20
the traditional pressures of earning a living
196
548143
2959
09:23
and putting food on the table, raising a family,
197
551102
2654
09:25
writing thank you letters,
198
553756
2074
09:27
you have to now contend with
199
555830
2712
09:30
answering a mountain of unanswered emails,
200
558542
3566
09:34
updating a Facebook page,
201
562108
1858
09:35
feeding your Twitter feed.
202
563966
2548
09:38
And cloudspotting legitimizes doing nothing.
203
566514
3786
09:42
(Laughter)
204
570300
1905
09:44
And sometimes we need —
205
572205
2652
09:46
(Applause)
206
574857
5608
09:52
Sometimes we need excuses to do nothing.
207
580465
4083
09:56
We need to be reminded by these
208
584548
2782
09:59
patron goddesses of idle fellows
209
587330
3532
10:02
that slowing down
210
590862
2975
10:05
and being in the present, not thinking about
211
593837
3803
10:09
what you've got to do and what you should have done,
212
597640
2854
10:12
but just being here, letting your imagination
213
600494
2735
10:15
lift from the everyday concerns down here
214
603229
2762
10:17
and just being in the present, it's good for you,
215
605991
2832
10:20
and it's good for the way you feel.
216
608823
2138
10:22
It's good for your ideas. It's good for your creativity.
217
610961
3568
10:26
It's good for your soul.
218
614529
3350
10:29
So keep looking up,
219
617879
2227
10:32
marvel at the ephemeral beauty,
220
620106
3053
10:35
and always remember to live life with your head in the clouds.
221
623159
3424
10:38
Thank you very much.
222
626583
1187
10:39
(Applause)
223
627770
5647
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Gavin Pretor-Pinney - CloudspotterCloud Appreciation Society founder Gavin Pretor-Pinney shows how seemingly idle pursuits provide unexpected paths to appreciating overlooked wonders.
Why you should listen
As co-founder of The Idler magazine, Gavin Pretor-Pinney is a longtime advocate of the joys of time ill-spent. In The Cloudspotter's Guide and The Cloud Collector's Handbook, he tackles the idlest pursuit of all: cloudwatching.
Pretor-Pinney’s blend of tranquil appreciation and hard science have floated his cloud books to the top of bestseller lists. For Pretor-Pinney, clouds illustrate how mundane phenomena reveal the complex vectors that connect the natural wonders around us.
Pretor-Pinney is also the author of The Wavewatcher's Companion.
Gavin Pretor-Pinney | Speaker | TED.com