1) Zeresenay Alemseged looks for humanity’s roots:
This TED Talk sends viewers to Ethiopia on a paleoanthropological
journey digging for truths behind mankind’s ancient origins. Zeresenay
Alemseged shares the stunning true story of his team’s excavation of the
oldest known child skeleton. A discovery that might very well open more
doors toward better understanding our biological history.
2) Aubrey de Grey says we can avoid aging:
Step from humanity’s past to one option in its multiple-choice future,
courtesy of a respected Cambridge professor. Likening aging to a
degenerative disease, he believes that the right science can reverse,
even “cure,” the natural process, and describes the benefits of doing
so. Time will ultimately reveal this mindset’s true outcome, but it
certainly provides nourishing food for thought today.
3) Wade Davis on endangered cultures: An enviable position with National Geographic
granted Wade Davis the extraordinarily rare opportunity to immerse
himself in indigenous and marginalized societies worldwide. His
multimedia TED Talk exposes audiences to these threatened peoples, often
displaced and threatened thanks to imperialism and globalization. It’s a
somber look at a tragic anthropological reality for tens of millions
(if not hundreds of millions) worldwide.
4) Nicholas Christakis explains how social networks predict epidemics:
Today’s anthropologists should probably pay attention to the role
social media plays in forming cliques and subcultures. As Nicholas
Christakis’ thorough research reveals, mapping Facebook, Twitter, and
the like actually provides the quickest conduit for tracking the spread
of everything from diseases to creative ideas. Suffice it to say,
valuable (if not life-altering) applications for this technology exist
beyond the anthropological realm.
5) Jane Goodall discusses what separates us from apes:
Because biology and evolution make up a significant chunk of a future
anthropologist’s education, paying attention to one of the world’s most
pre-eminent primatologists is essential. After a lifetime among
Tanzanian chimpanzees, Jane Goodall marveled at the eerie parallels
between humans and their closest genetic relatives. But at least one
glaring departure exists, revolving around differences in language and
communication complexities.
6) Dan Dennett: Cute, sexy, sweet, funny:
Such simple, though often subjective, concepts like those in the title
actually involve some seriously complex social and biological
constructs. Though, scarily enough, the latter doesn’t always exactly
gel with the former. In fact, sometimes one’s physical wiring declares
the exact opposite of the philosophical.
7) Nina Jablonski breaks the illusion of skin color: In a TED Talk sure to spark some controversy and discussion, Skin
author Nina Jablonski harnesses NASA’s TOMS7 satellite to draw
conclusions about pigmentation and UV exposure. She notes some
interesting points about UV rays’ role in darkening skin, and believes
that the phenomenon eventually infiltrated humans at the genetic level.
It’s compelling science, to be certain, and one anthropology students
should keep in mind as their studies progress.
8) A.J. Jacobs’ lives biblically for a year:
Anthropology majors nurturing a healthy interest in religion and its
role in inspiring humanity toward both good and evil will undoubtedly
find this particular lecture fascinating. Here, they can explore one
journalist’s attempts to spend an entire year following the Bible
literally, and the resulting internal and external stresses. Considering
the topical nature of fundamentalism and ensuing cultural and political
controversies, his insight might very well prove beneficial in the long
run.
9) Chris Abani muses on humanity: This Nigerian activist’s modus operandi
is simple, straightforward, and noble: “to chronicle, to share and to
document stories about people.” This also happens to be the core goal of
the entire anthropological community. Chris Abani collects stories the
way some people collect baseball cards, and he shares some here that
uphold humanity’s dignity without paying lip service to its more
sinister corners.
10) Spencer Wells builds a family tree for humanity:
Even though the human race boasts incredible genetic diversity these
days, that coding had to start programming itself somewhere. This TED
Talk by Spencer Wells, the National Geographic Society’s genographic
project head, discusses how he’s currently working backwards to discover
the biology every human on earth currently shares. For anthropology
students and anyone else fascinated by the life sciences, his lecture is
a satisfying mental treat.
11) Rodney Brooks says robots will invade our lives:
Because mankind’s machines have left an indelible impact on its
evolutionary, social, and cognitive development since pretty much the
beginning, it stands to reason that they’ll continue to do so forever.
These days, robots infiltrate so many facets of daily life in the First
World, many people can’t visualize a future without them. And though
this TED Talk hails from the dark ages of 2003, much of what it has to
offer still applies to contemporary times.
12) Louise Leakey digs for humanity’s origins:
Another amazing anthropological lecture inquiring about the beginnings
of modern humans, this time coming from the Rift Valley and Lake
Turkana. Here, mysteries about Homo erectus and other species
who may have eventually spawned us battle it out for scientific
dominance. After all, “until 30,000 years ago, at least three upright
walking apes shared the planet Earth,” so right now, the real ancestor
could be any one of them, or one that continues to remain unknown.
13) Kevin Bales advises us how to combat modern slavery:
Slavery has plagued humanity since ancient eras, and continues netting
millions of billions of dollars annually, particularly when it comes to
labor and sex. Kevin Bales’ research, which he shares here, exposes the
tragic, inhumane reality behind some of the world’s wealthiest
industries. And then he tells viewers exactly what needs doing to ensure
equitable economic treatment for all the world’s peoples.
14) Amber Case claims we are all cyborgs now:
Technological advances in communications, particularly cell phones and
the internet, will inevitably lead to evolutionary changes to
accommodate them more and more in our daily lives. Whether or not this
turns humanity into “Terminator” or useless blobs with “external brains”
is anyone’s guess, but anything’s possible. Regardless, though,
anthropologists will inevitably end up dealing with the aftermath, so
they may as well start preparing now.
15) Robert Sapolsky shares the uniqueness of humans:
TED frequently shares its favorite videos from around the web, and one
particularly human-centric example comes straight from Stanford
University’s Class Day in 2009. Primatologist Robert Sapolsky
hilariously skewers the human animal and its often inexplicable behavior
patterns. It certainly makes you wonder what the rest of the world’s
biomass makes of such curious bipedal creatures.
16) Stefana Broadbent discusses how the Internet enables intimacy: Social media critics frequently lambast the isolationist components of the Internet, but cognitive scientist Stefana Broadbent heartily disagrees. Her two decades’ worth of research regarding communication via cell phone, instant messaging, social networks, and more lead her to believe that they actually encourage individuals to stay connected with one another. Loved ones separated by distance or time can use these available tools to foster closeness rather than staying apart or constantly waiting for correspondence.
17) Aaron Huey looks at America’s native prisoners of war:
America’s inhumane, brutal treatments of indigenous peoples is a
well-known, but tragically under-addressed, atrocity. Aaron Huey’s
photographs of the shocking, impoverished conditions at the Pine Ridge
Indian Reservation showcase how such historical injustices continue
stretching into contemporary times. The suffering of the Lakota people
summarizes how horrifically imperialism’s marginalization hits native
civilizations and serves as a clarion call toward social action.
18) Devdutt Pattanaik: East vs. West — the myths that mystify:
Despite frequent interactions (and an extended period of British
exploitation), India and “Western” society still manage to perpetuate
myths and misunderstandings about one another. Drawing from his
experiences as Future Group’s Chief Belief Officer, Devdutt Pattanail
explains that these assumptions likely stem from religious roots.
Although this TED Talk expresses a businessman’s perspective, his
insights resonate far beyond the boardroom.
19) James Watson on how he discovered DNA:
James Watson and Francis Crick built upon Rosalind Franklin’s research
to unlock the scientific reality of DNA — although only the first two
received any sort of recognition for it. Nevertheless, the story remains
one of the most important in life science history, and its relevance to
anthropology should be self-evident. Majors and non-majors alike should
still sit and marvel over the triumphs, drama, and tragedies behind
piecing together the mysteries driving living matter.
20) Adam Ostrow: After your final status update:
Archaeologists and anthropologists of the past (and today, obviously)
dig through ancient dirt to discover as many truths about human culture
and evolution as they can. Those in the future will have completely
different territory to excavate: the digital landscape. Social media
sites unwittingly serve as virtual memorials to the deceased, providing a
first-person view of contemporary cultural memes.
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