ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Steven Johnson - Writer
Steven Berlin Johnson examines the intersection of science, technology and personal experience.

Why you should listen

Steven Johnson is a leading light of today's interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to innovation. His writings have influenced everything from cutting-edge ideas in urban planning to the battle against 21st-century terrorism. Johnson was chosen by Prospect magazine as one of the top ten brains of the digital future, and The Wall Street Journal calls him "one of the most persuasive advocates for the role of collaboration in innovation."

Johnson's work on the history of innovation inspired the Emmy-nominated six-part series on PBS, "How We Got To Now with Steven Johnson," which aired in the fall of 2014. The book version of How We Got To Now was a finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. His new book, Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World, revolves around the creative power of play and delight: ideas and innovations that set into motion many momentous changes in science, technology, politics and society. 

Johnson is also the author of the bestselling Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation, one of his many books celebrating progress and innovation. Others include The Invention of Air and The Ghost Map. Everything Bad Is Good For You, one of the most discussed books of 2005, argued that the increasing complexity of modern media is training us to think in more complex ways. Emergence and Future Perfect explore the power of bottom-up intelligence in both nature and contemporary society.

An innovator himself, Johnson has co-created three influential sites: the pioneering online magazine FEED, the Webby-Award-winning community site, Plastic.com, and the hyperlocal media site outside.in, which was acquired by AOL in 2011.

Johnson is a regular contributor to WIRED magazine, as well as the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and many other periodicals. He has appeared on many high-profile television programs, including "The Charlie Rose Show," "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer."


More profile about the speaker
Steven Johnson | Speaker | TED.com
TED Studio

Steven Johnson: The playful wonderland behind great inventions

Steven Johnson: Como a música levou à invençao dos computadores modernos

Filmed:
1,351,401 views

A necessidade é a mãe da invenção, certo? Bem, nem sempre. Steven Johnson nos mostra como algumas das ideias e tecnologias mais transformadoras, como o computador, não vieram da necessidade, mas sim do estranho prazer de brincar. Compartilhe esta cativante exploração ilustrada da história das invenções. No fim das contas, você vai encontrar o futuro naquilo que mais diverte as pessoas.
- Writer
Steven Berlin Johnson examines the intersection of science, technology and personal experience. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
(Music)
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Roughly 43,000 years ago,
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Há aproximadamente 43 mil anos,
00:19
a young cave bear
died in the rolling hills
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um jovem urso-das-cavernas
morreu nas colinas
00:22
on the northwest border
of modern day Slovenia.
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na fronteira noroeste da atual Eslovênia.
00:25
A thousand years later,
a mammoth died in southern Germany.
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Mil anos depois, um mamute
morreu no sul da Alemanha.
00:29
A few centuries after that,
a griffon vulture also died
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Alguns séculos depois,
um abutre também morreu
00:33
in the same vicinity.
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nas proximidades.
00:35
And we know almost nothing
about how these animals met their deaths,
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Não sabemos quase nada
sobre como esses animais morreram,
00:39
but these different creatures
dispersed across both time and space
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mas essas diferentes criaturas
dispersas no tempo e no espaço
00:43
did share one remarkable fate.
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compartilharam um destino notável.
00:46
After their deaths,
a bone from each of their skeletons
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Depois da sua morte, um osso
de cada um dos esqueletos
00:50
was crafted by human hands
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foi transformado por mãos humanas
00:52
into a flute.
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em uma flauta.
00:54
Think about that for a second.
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Pense nisso por um segundo.
00:56
Imagine you're a caveman,
40,000 years ago.
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Imagine que você é um homem
das cavernas, há 40 mil anos.
00:59
You've mastered fire.
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Você dominou o fogo.
Você construiu ferramentas
simples para caçar.
01:00
You've built simple tools for hunting.
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01:02
You've learned how to craft
garments from animal skins
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Você aprendeu a fazer vestes
com a pele de animais
01:05
to keep yourself warm in the winter.
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para manter-se aquecido no inverno.
01:07
What would you choose to invent next?
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Qual será sua próxima invenção?
01:10
It seems preposterous
that you would invent the flute,
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Parece ilógico inventar a flauta,
01:13
a tool that created
useless vibrations in air molecules.
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uma ferramenta que cria vibrações
inúteis nas moléculas do ar.
01:17
But that is exactly
what our ancestors did.
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Mas foi exatamente isso
que nossos ancestrais fizeram.
01:21
Now this turns out
to be surprisingly common
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E isso se tornou surpreendentemente comum
01:24
in the history of innovation.
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na história da inovação.
01:26
Sometimes people invent things
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Algumas vezes as pessoas inventam coisas
01:28
because they want to stay alive
or feed their children
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porque elas querem se manter vivas
ou alimentar seus filhos
01:31
or conquer the village next door.
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ou conquistar uma aldeia próxima.
01:33
But just as often,
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Mas, frequentemente,
01:34
new ideas come into the world
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novas ideias surgem no mundo
01:36
simply because they're fun.
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simplesmente por serem divertidas.
01:39
And here's the really strange thing:
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E o mais estranho de tudo:
01:41
many of those playful
but seemingly frivolous inventions
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muitas dessas invenções divertidas,
mas aparentemente frívolas,
01:45
ended up sparking
momentous transformations
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acabaram por desencadear
transformações muito importantes
01:47
in science, in politics and society.
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na ciência, na política e na sociedade.
01:51
Take what may be the most
important invention of modern times:
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Veja o que pode ser a invenção
mais importante dos tempos modernos:
01:54
programmable computers.
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os computadores programáveis.
01:56
Now, the standard story is that computers
descend from military technology,
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A história padrão é que os computadores
vêm de tecnologia militar,
pois os primeiros computadores
foram projetados especificamente
02:01
since many of the early computers
were designed specifically
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para decodificar códigos durante a guerra
ou calcular trajetórias de foguetes.
02:04
to crack wartime codes
or calculate rocket trajectories.
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02:07
But in fact, the origins
of the modern computer
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Mas, na verdade, a origem
do computador moderno
02:11
are much more playful,
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é muito mais divertida,
02:12
even musical,
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e até musical, do que você imagina.
02:14
than you might imagine.
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A ideia por trás da flauta,
02:15
The idea behind the flute,
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02:16
of just pushing air through tubes
to make a sound,
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de assoprar ar através
de tubos para produzir sons,
02:19
was eventually modified
to create the first organ
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foi finalmente modificada
para criar o primeiro órgão
02:22
more than 2,000 years ago.
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há mais de 2 mil anos.
02:24
Someone came up with the brilliant idea
of triggering sounds
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Alguém teve a brilhante ideia
de provocar a emissão de sons
02:27
by pressing small levers with our fingers,
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pressionando pequenas
alavancas com os dedos,
02:30
inventing the first musical keyboard.
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inventando o primeiro teclado musical.
02:33
Now, keyboards evolved
from organs to clavichords to harpsichords
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Bem, os teclados evoluíram do órgão
para o clavicórdio, o cravo
02:37
to the piano,
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e o piano
02:38
until the middle of the 19th century,
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até meados do século 19,
02:41
when a bunch of inventors
finally hit on the idea
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quando um grupo de inventores
finalmente teve a ideia
02:44
of using a keyboard
to trigger not sounds but letters.
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de usar um teclado para gerar
letras, em vez de sons.
02:48
In fact, the very first typewriter
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De fato, a primeira máquina de escrever
02:50
was originally called
"the writing harpsichord."
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foi chamada originalmente
de "o cravo de escrever".
02:55
Flutes and music led
to even more powerful breakthroughs.
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As flautas e a música levaram
a avanços ainda mais poderosos.
02:59
About a thousand years ago,
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Há aproximadamente mil anos,
03:01
at the height of the Islamic Renaissance,
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no auge do Renascimento islâmico,
03:03
three brothers in Baghdad
designed a device
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três irmãos em Bagdá
projetaram um dispositivo
03:05
that was an automated organ.
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que era um órgão automatizado.
03:08
They called it "the instrument
that plays itself."
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Eles o chamaram
"o instrumento que toca sozinho".
03:11
Now, the instrument
was basically a giant music box.
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Bem, o instrumento era basicamente
uma caixa de música gigante.
03:15
The organ could be trained to play
various songs by using instructions
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O órgão podia ser treinado para tocar
várias músicas usando instruções
03:19
encoded by placing pins
on a rotating cylinder.
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codificadas por meio de pinos
colocados em um cilindro giratório.
03:23
And if you wanted the machine
to play a different song,
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Para a máquina tocar uma música diferente,
era só trocar um cilindro por outro
com uma codificação diferente.
03:26
you just swapped a new cylinder in
with a different code on it.
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03:29
This instrument was the first of its kind.
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Este foi o primeiro
instrumento desse tipo.
03:33
It was programmable.
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Ele era programável.
03:35
Now, conceptually,
this was a massive leap forward.
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Bem, conceitualmente,
esse foi um imenso salto adiante.
03:38
The whole idea of hardware and software
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Toda a ideia de "hardware" e "software"
03:41
becomes thinkable for the first time
with this invention.
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se tornou possível pela primeira vez
com essa invenção.
03:44
And that incredibly powerful concept
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E esse conceito incrivelmente poderoso
03:47
didn't come to us as an instrument
of war or of conquest,
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não veio para nós na forma
de um instrumento de guerra,
conquista ou necessidade, de forma alguma.
03:50
or necessity at all.
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03:52
It came from the strange delight
of watching a machine play music.
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Ele veio do estranho prazer
de ver uma máquina tocar música.
03:57
In fact, the idea of programmable machines
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De fato, a ideia de máquinas programáveis
04:00
was exclusively kept alive by music
for about 700 years.
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foi mantida viva exclusivamente
pela música por aproximadamente 700 anos.
04:05
In the 1700s, music-making machines
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Nos anos 1700, máquinas que faziam música
04:07
became the playthings
of the Parisian elite.
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viraram os brinquedinhos
da elite parisiense.
04:11
Showmen used the same coded cylinders
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Em performances, foram usados
os mesmos cilindros codificados
04:14
to control the physical movements
of what were called automata,
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para controlar os movimentos
dos chamados autômatos,
04:18
an early kind of robot.
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um tipo primário de robô.
04:20
One of the most famous of those robots
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Um desses robôs mais famosos
04:22
was, you guessed it,
an automated flute player
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foi, adivinhem, um flautista automatizado
04:25
designed by a brilliant French inventor
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projetado por um brilhante inventor
francês chamado Jacques de Vaucanson.
04:27
named Jacques de Vaucanson.
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04:30
And as de Vaucanson
was designing his robot musician,
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E enquanto Vaucanson
projetava seu robô músico,
04:33
he had another idea.
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ele teve outra ideia.
04:35
If you could program a machine
to make pleasing sounds,
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Se você pode programar uma máquina
para produzir sons agradáveis,
04:39
why not program it to weave
delightful patterns of color out of cloth?
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por que não programá-la para tecer
lindos padrões de tecidos?
04:44
Instead of using the pins of the cylinder
to represent musical notes,
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Em vez de usar os pinos do cilindro
para representar notas musicais,
04:49
they would represent
threads with different colors.
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eles representariam fios
de diferentes cores.
04:52
If you wanted a new pattern
for your fabric,
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Se você quisesse
um novo padrão para seu tecido,
04:54
you just programmed a new cylinder.
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bastava programar um novo cilindro.
04:57
This was the first programmable loom.
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Esse foi o primeiro tear programável.
05:00
Now, the cylinders were too expensive
and time-consuming to make,
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Na época, era muito caro
e demorado produzir cilindros,
05:04
but a half century later,
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mas meio século depois
05:06
another French inventor named Jacquard
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outro inventor francês chamado Jacquard
05:08
hit upon the brilliant idea
of using paper-punched cards
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teve a brilhante ideia de usar
cartões de papel perfurados
05:13
instead of metal cylinders.
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em vez de cilindros de metal.
05:15
Paper turned out to be
much cheaper and more flexible
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O papel se mostrou uma forma
muito mais barata e flexível
05:18
as a way of programming the device.
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de programar o dispositivo.
Esse sistema de cartões perfurados
05:20
That punch card system inspired
Victorian inventor Charles Babbage
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inspirou o inventor
vitoriano Charles Babbage
05:25
to create his analytical engine,
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a criar sua máquina analítica,
05:27
the first true programmable computer
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o primeiro computador verdadeiramente
programável já projetado.
05:30
ever designed.
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E cartões perfurados foram usados
por programadores de computador
05:31
And punch cards were used
by computer programmers
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05:34
as late as the 1970s.
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até o final da década de 1970.
05:37
So ask yourself this question:
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Então, faça-se a seguinte pergunta:
05:39
what really made
the modern computer possible?
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o que realmente tornou
o computador moderno possível?
05:43
Yes, the military involvement
is an important part of the story,
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Sim, o envolvimento militar
é uma parte importante da história,
05:47
but inventing a computer
also required other building blocks:
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mas a invenção de um computador
também exigiu outras peças:
05:51
music boxes,
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caixas de música,
05:52
toy robot flute players,
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robô de brinquedo tocador de flauta,
05:54
harpsichord keyboards,
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teclados de cravos,
05:55
colorful patterns woven into fabric,
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padrões coloridos de tecelagem,
05:58
and that's just a small part of the story.
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e essa é só uma pequena parte da história.
06:01
There's a long list of world-changing
ideas and technologies
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Existe uma longa lista de ideias
e tecnologias transformadoras
06:04
that came out of play:
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que vieram de brincadeiras:
06:06
public museums, rubber,
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os museus públicos, a borracha,
06:08
probability theory, the insurance business
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a teoria das probabilidades, os seguros
06:10
and many more.
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e muito mais.
06:11
Necessity isn't always
the mother of invention.
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A necessidade nem sempre
é a mãe da invenção.
06:15
The playful state of mind
is fundamentally exploratory,
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Um estado de espírito lúdico
é fundamentalmente exploratório
06:19
seeking out new possibilities
in the world around us.
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e busca novas possibilidades
no mundo ao nosso redor.
06:22
And that seeking
is why so many experiences
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E, devido a essa busca,
muitas experiências que começaram
por simples prazer e diversão
06:26
that started with simple
delight and amusement
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06:29
eventually led us
to profound breakthroughs.
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por fim nos levaram a grandes avanços.
06:33
Now, I think this has implications
for how we teach kids in school
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Bem, eu acho que isso tem efeitos na forma
como ensinamos as crianças na escola
06:37
and how we encourage innovation
in our workspaces,
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e como encorajamos a inovação
em nossos locais de trabalho,
06:40
but thinking about play
and delight this way
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mas pensar sobre o brincar
e o prazer dessa forma
06:43
also helps us detect what's coming next.
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também nos ajuda a ver o que vem a seguir.
06:47
Think about it: if you were
sitting there in 1750
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Pense nisto: se você
estivesse sentado em 1750
06:49
trying to figure out
the big changes coming to society
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tentando imaginar as grandes
transformações na sociedade
06:53
in the 19th, the 20th centuries,
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que ocorreriam nos séculos 19 e 20,
06:55
automated machines, computers,
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máquinas automatizadas, computadores,
06:57
artificial intelligence,
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inteligência artificial,
06:59
a programmable flute
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uma flauta programável
07:00
entertaining the Parisian elite
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que entretinha a elite parisiense
07:03
would have been as powerful a clue
as anything else at the time.
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teria sido uma pista tão poderosa
quanto qualquer outra coisa da época.
07:07
It seemed like an amusement at best,
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Na melhor das hipóteses,
parecia um divertimento,
07:10
not useful in any serious way,
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nada que pudesse ser útil
de alguma forma séria,
07:13
but it turned out to be
the beginning of a tech revolution
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mas acabou se tornando
o início de uma revolução tecnológica
07:17
that would change the world.
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que mudaria o mundo.
07:18
You'll find the future
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Você encontrará o futuro
07:20
wherever people are having the most fun.
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naquilo que mais diverte as pessoas.
Translated by Cláudia Sander
Reviewed by Raissa Mendes

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Steven Johnson - Writer
Steven Berlin Johnson examines the intersection of science, technology and personal experience.

Why you should listen

Steven Johnson is a leading light of today's interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to innovation. His writings have influenced everything from cutting-edge ideas in urban planning to the battle against 21st-century terrorism. Johnson was chosen by Prospect magazine as one of the top ten brains of the digital future, and The Wall Street Journal calls him "one of the most persuasive advocates for the role of collaboration in innovation."

Johnson's work on the history of innovation inspired the Emmy-nominated six-part series on PBS, "How We Got To Now with Steven Johnson," which aired in the fall of 2014. The book version of How We Got To Now was a finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. His new book, Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World, revolves around the creative power of play and delight: ideas and innovations that set into motion many momentous changes in science, technology, politics and society. 

Johnson is also the author of the bestselling Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation, one of his many books celebrating progress and innovation. Others include The Invention of Air and The Ghost Map. Everything Bad Is Good For You, one of the most discussed books of 2005, argued that the increasing complexity of modern media is training us to think in more complex ways. Emergence and Future Perfect explore the power of bottom-up intelligence in both nature and contemporary society.

An innovator himself, Johnson has co-created three influential sites: the pioneering online magazine FEED, the Webby-Award-winning community site, Plastic.com, and the hyperlocal media site outside.in, which was acquired by AOL in 2011.

Johnson is a regular contributor to WIRED magazine, as well as the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and many other periodicals. He has appeared on many high-profile television programs, including "The Charlie Rose Show," "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer."


More profile about the speaker
Steven Johnson | Speaker | TED.com