Lux Narayan: What I learned from 2,000 obituaries
拉克斯.納拉揚: 我們從 2000 則訃聞中,學到什麼?
Lux Narayan is a perpetual learner of various things -- from origami and molecular gastronomy to stand-up and improv comedy. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
around the Stanford campus,
史丹福大學校園周圍慢跑,
jogging there as well.
引發了他的好奇:
from side to side like that?
he set out to understand why.
他決定要弄清楚原因。
about many things:
I hadn't heard of Joseph Keller.
我還不知道約瑟夫·凱勒是誰。
of editorial dedicated to him,
用了半個版面來向他致敬。
for a newspaper of their stature.
對一家大報社來說,
I'm rather morbid
有點病態的習慣:
and a "Let's see who died today."
一邊閱讀訃聞版:
is usually bad news,
cues accomplishment
壞消息卻暗示了某人的成就,
in the obituaries.
在訃聞版。
on future insights
我們關注未來的發展趨勢,
from past data --
to obituaries from the New York Times?
進行回顧分析?
your obituary featured --
「如何讓訃聞變得更為獨特」──
由編輯部刊登,非付費的訃聞,
between 2015 and 2016.
20 個月之間。
rather, lives -- teach us?
──應該說是生命──
worded descriptor
一些優美的描述辭彙,
capture an achievement or a lifetime.
或是他的一生。
people who died in the last two years.
在這兩年內過世的名人。
natural language processing,
例如 「the」--
you can mime easily in "Charades," --
很容易以手勢表示的文字,
significant words.
訃聞的描述詞彙。
and of course, art, are huge.
當然「藝術」是最明顯的。
why in so many societies
為什麼在大多數的社會中,
engineering or medicine or business or law
醫學、商業或法律科系,
they achieved things.
you've got to wait 37 years ...
就是你平均必須等待 37 年……
that you're remembered for --
die at the age of 81 --
your stride in your 20s.
only commendable act in their mid-40s.
可能也是唯一的一次,
是不是很令人著迷?
more than just a descriptor.
first paragraph of all 2,000 obituaries,
訃聞的第一段全文,
for two groups of people:
and people that are not famous.
Ali, Zaha Hadid --
阿里、札哈.哈蒂。
are people like Jocelyn Cooper,
of most of their names.
大多數這些人的名字。
but they're not famous.
these two groups separately --
should thank your parents --
應該感謝你的父母──
your obituary when you're gone.
當你過世時要把訃聞剪下來。
from lives well-led,
在報紙上令我們緬懷的事蹟,
in print could teach us.
教導我們如何好好活著。
to the kaleidoscope that is life,
萬花筒般生命的迷人見證。
majority of obituaries
in the fabric of life.
留下了有意義的印記。
back to your daily lives:
當你回到日常生活中:
幫助這個社會?
trying to be famous in death,
在活著時努力過著自己的人生,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Lux Narayan - EntrepreneurLux Narayan is a perpetual learner of various things -- from origami and molecular gastronomy to stand-up and improv comedy.
Why you should listen
Lakshmanan aka Lux Narayan mans the helm of Unmetric, a social media intelligence company that helps digital marketers, social media analysts, and content creators harness social signals to track and analyze competitive content and campaigns, and to create better content and campaigns of their own.
Prior to founding Unmetric, Narayan was a co-founder at Vembu Technologies, an online data backup company. He also helped found and volunteered at ShareMyCake, a non-profit started by his wife that focuses on encouraging children to use their birthdays to channel monetary support towards a cause of their choosing.
As Unmetric's CEO, he leads a team of 70 people distributed across the company's operations in Chennai and New York City.
Outside of work, he is a perpetual learner of various things -- from origami and molecular gastronomy to stand-up and improv comedy. He enjoys reading obituaries and other non-fiction and watching documentaries with bad ratings. Narayan makes time every year for trekking in the Himalayas or scuba diving in tropical waters, and once he learns to fly, he hopes to spend more time off land than on it.
Lux Narayan | Speaker | TED.com