A couple of months back, TED put out a call for auditions for a chance to speak at one of their events. They asked for a one-minute video, and I said “What the hell, I can do that. I need an ‘elevator pitch’ version of the book-in-progress anyway.” This is the result:
So, if you’ve got a couple of minutes to spare (one minute for the video, plus the better part of a minute for miscellaneous buffering/ network nonsense), check it out. That’s as compact a statement of the core argument as I have.
And it was apparently pretty good, because now I get to put together a six-minute version to do for the TED folks in early October…
That means you are a good candidate for my fantasy physics team.
I totally want to memorize that (well, except the part about telling people I’m a physicist, because I’m not, plus changing the last bit to tell people that *this book* will tell them how to, and that they already do, think like a scientist).
“How to think like a scientist in an elevator”
“I see I am in an elevator. But am I sitting stationary (or moving at a constant speed) on earth? Or am I in space, attached to an infinitely long cable, accelerating upwards at 9.81 m/s^2? Are there any tests that I can do to tell which it is?”
“Did I say I was going to the lobby? I really meant, er, what floor is next? Well, it looks like this is my floor Chad. Good luck with your project. Bye now.”
Actually, I hope you get to do a TED Talk. People would benefit by viewing your common sense approach to science.