The "Stuff" in the Stuff of Life

Pre-conference TEDGlobal is in the books, the first session is near, and after days of wondering what the “stuff” in this year’s Stuff of Life theme could mean, I may have a start. Thinking about stuff automatically includes thinking about things. And indeed we are fond of our stuff: computers, cars, Saturday jeans, running shoes, and whatever other objects you value. But the stuff of life is not only objects (and besides, you can’t have a four-day conference only about things). The Stuff of Life is actually the stuff in life—inspiration and disappointment, marriage and divorce, life and death.

There’s a big difference between a thing and how we make that thing a part of our lives. Another way of saying this is, objects are just objects until we humanize them. Technology and it’s tools are conduits for human impact (the TED conferences are some of the best places to see this in action). Even historic objects with built-in stories need historians to translate and carry forth those stories. 

There’s been quite a bit of talk already (at the TED U sessions and the opening party) about critical human interactions. One small example: TED U speaker Bert Govig spoke of a smoking cessation campaign in Canada in which he and his team made stop smoking posters to put around the community. It flopped until they recruited a local team of girls to perform a song and dance routine inside local stores, after which store owners were happy to put up the posters. But what Govig said during his talk was most telling: “It wasn’t the song and dance that did it, although it was good. It was the girls’ connection to their community. Everyone knew who they were and that’s what sparked the change in behavior.” 

I believe we are seeing the start of a trend toward the analog, which is to say, a trend toward real human connection. This is not to say that Facebook and now Google + or any other repository for our digital identities will diminish. It is to say, however, that we are gaining new perspective on our digital relationships. For me, they are time consuming and ultimately disconnected for the connection we truly crave. 

Of course, it’s easy to see how important and rewarding meatspace connections really are when you’re at a conference, but it is for this reason why new types of conferences continue come on line. Some worried that TED’s TEDx initiative would dilute the TED brand and that people would grow tired of conference attending, but it has done the opposite. It has inspired an entirely new cache of events such as Thinking Digital, Eyeo, and the WWWconference (started by TED founder Richard Saul Worman). 

So, as I venture into TEDGlobal and begin to hear the various perspectives on the Stuff of Life, I know it won’t be only about objects. It’s the human that brings the object to life, so the stuff of life is the human adventure. 

Sam is the director of publishing for frog where he oversees frog's global content, editorial, and digital publishing strategy. He is also the editor of design mind, frog's print and online media platform. Sam is the author of numerous books of non fiction and has written for Dwell, Metropolis, GOOD, and other magazines.