That Sheehan Family foundation and many things to jack and mary, our sponsors for this venue Trinity United Methodist church. And also to those donors and to make the free festival events possible. 90 of revenue comes from donors just like you. So look in your program for instructions how to download. Immediately following the presentation celeste will be signing purchase copies of her book and if you plan to stay for the following author presentation and then we can let everybody in that we can so take a moment to set your phone to do not disturb or turn it off. No flasht photography. If you dont know how the dont take that picture questionandanswer major hand they will bring a microphone to you. Dont start asking your question until the microphone gets there. So please keep your questions short so from Savannah State university. The host of the georgia Public Broadcasting Program as well as the cohost of the correspondent for National Public radio and classically trained soprano and has even written a book called we need to talk a very good book about communications i will have my wife read that very soon. [laughter] please give a warm welcome to t19t19. [applause] i am a buddhist so this feels a little uncomfortable. So for generation after generation to cause an argument we dont talk about it so politics and religion willll be address and Climate Change and guns and eventually we will add everything until we are not talking about anything anymore. We dont talk to people unless they agree with you or if you will never be challenged you cannot learn anything new. Also forgive me if i get emotional because after the shooting in florida last week i keep seeing those headlines saying it was the unspeakable tragedy but it is not. You have to speak about it. [applause] so most of us that disagree with us. You can get along with peopled. Who dont agree with you and you can talk to them and instead of avoiding the subjectsts what you have to learn to talk to them without arguing. So to tell you exactly how tomu do that there is a number of steps and stop trying to change peoples money. Stop trying to convince them when his last time you had a disagreement . H i am completely wrong you are right. [laughter] that is totally changed my mind. That doesnt happen science can tell you that. They dont change their minds over the course of the conversation and the intent to change peoples minds we can frustrated and miserable so part of the reason we are arguing is we are trying to change peoples minds and beating your head against the wall repeatedly. I will never do that again it is the beating of the head against the wall making you upset. You have control over what they think this is 100 not in your control. What you think of what you hear what you listen to so to say we will have this out score points and win the debate that will make you upset and instead of doing that to sample not leave this conversation that you can accomplish that 100 of the time. I dont care guns is more divisive than race or abortion or samesex marriage or marijuana. Really . Really . We cant talk about firearms . I do care if you are a member of the nra. How many of you know everything you need to know about guns and you dont have to learn from anybody ever . You really thank you know everythingn about guns . I own a smart phone i dont know everything about that phone. There isth no issue on which you can tell me you are the ultimate expert with nothing to learn about it. That is not true. And that means you have to change your habits. Imr sorry but im tired of doing the same thing over and over and over in the disruptor hands to say they called me an idiot. Of course they did because they did not listen to you. If we plan to progress you cannot stand on principle. You are just standing and not going anywhere. How many of you made promises about what you were going to do . And then n ended up . When i had a kid when i was pregnant i said i would never raise my voice to my child in anger. [laughter] we all make principles in ourak heads. It is ridiculous to think they will never change. But then it would be a huge pain in the butt was my son. You have to evolve but to put our own comfort above Everything Else but comfort is the enemy of innovation and growth we have created bubbles around ourselves. So with after all the research to have Academic Research going on that they are telling us the same thing over and over. Because social media which we dreamed would open up a conversation those who were nervous state your opinion open the conversation and it did the opposite. It turns out people who get shut down on social media are less likely to have a facetoface conversation social media shutting down conversation so the smart phones in her hands they would increase the conversations that we have. So at this point the average american that he spent 30 minute today texting Companies Like cocacola in cisco in j. P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs use their phones so little they eliminated the voice mail syste system. But heres the thing your smart phone is a crappy replacement for conversation. I do not know why we keep inventing new replacement for the things that human beings do better than any other species. S. Probably the only thing we do better than other species. Im not trying to be funny but we all know we lose a fight with a mosquito. But the one thing that we do well the reason we have dominated on the planet is because we collaborate because when you mess with one human you usually mess with a bunch of others. That is why we have succeeded. The formula we are messing with. We are breaking it so google tricks us to think we are an expert everything. We are beginning to think in and of ourselves maybe our family unit there is no replacement for the human voice it is so complex and magical science cannot explain how this works research at princeton right now called neuro coupling they had one person come in to be hooked up to a functional Magnetic Imaging machine while the person is conscious and they have them tell a story from their life one case it was a story of prom then they listen to her tell the story. And they found something miraculous that when these people were listening in the engaged way their brains synced up moving in perfect inc. It was so exact the listeners brains change by a fraction of the second that is mind meld if you see that in star trek you would think it is realistic but that is what happens when the parent human ears listens to a human voice. Wewe cant explain it, we dont know how or why. But that is something humans do that other species cant. We can bond with one another. Beyond what science can tract. And now we replace that with the mlg. [laughter] seriously. And move it up one inch. And move it back one inch. Thats the Compassion Center of your brain. And when the process of forgiveness begins, you have to get an apology in some form and your Compassion Center goes on and that leads you to the whole rest of the process that makes you able to forgive the person and forget about it. I someone reads an apology in any form nothing happens. You send an apology by email or god forbid, text, nothing, crickets. Why do we avoid calling the person or seeing them to apologize . Why . Its easier. That is exactly right. It is tough to say youre sorry to member. Its really tough. And its painful and, get what,own apologizing to someone and they either hear or see it is tough for you, bing, the Compassion Center lights up, and then the process begins. The apology is effective because its hard. And if its not hard, theres no point. This is another way in which you cannot replace human communication between one voice and one pair of ears. And, listen, there are tons of things humans do tear my. A lot of ways that our smartphone can fill in for things were not great at. Our brains are not computers. Right . Our memories are bad. We are bad at storing information, and then recalling it when we want to. So, thats what a computer is for. Thats great. Thats awesome. And, like it or not, even though most people cant find their way home from the Grocery Store without their phones anymore, gps is pretty awesome. We used to have to rely on people to give us directions to their houses. Remember that . Some people are terrible at it. And after following their crappy directions and getting loss, you get to their house and youre like, hi. Yeah. That doesnt happen anymore. You dont have to get angry at your flippeds and family members for giving you terrible, terrible directions. You have a gps. Thats fantastic. Mine, i use it tell mets if theres a traffic jam, which is i live in atlanta. There are plenty things for us to use technology for. But not conversation. Theres in replacement. It cant be improved upon at this point. And the other part of that is, the adoption of Smartphone Technology has been so rapid. As of i think it was 2003, only maybe 10 of American Adults in the United States owned a cell phone. Raise your hand if you own a smartphone right now. Over 90 , in the world more people have access 0 cell phone than access to a working toilet. That is incredibly rapid growth and has outpaced or ability to understand the effect, because clinical studies take years, and then they have to be Peer Reviewed and then the have to be replicated. So were only now beginning to see some of the effects of smartphones on our brains. And its not great. For example, they did a study in the uk in which they had hundreds of people come in and sit done and have a conversation if with strangers and then ask them, tell us about the other person . What were they like, friendly, blah blah blah. In half of the conversations they would come and place a cell phone down on the table. I months to neither person and never made a noise. But in those conversations in which there was a cell phone present, and visible. They were 62 more likely to come out and say the person was unfriendly, untrustworthy and up likeable. I want you to think about how many times you have again to lunch with somebody and just set your cell phone down on the table and felt good because you didnt look at it. The thing is, its having an effect on their brain because they can see it. And the other side of that is, its having an effect on your brain because part of your brain, they say, about 1 of your brian, is thinking about that cell phone. Its basically in fight or flight mode. Ready for it to make a noise. Which means, if you are sitting at your desk and one of the people that habitually keeps your email client all the time. Your iq drops by ten points. Because part of your brain is thinking about the email. It is occupied in wonder, its making sure its ready for that notification to come in. So, again, im not telling you to get rid of your cell phone. Just saying, put it away. When its time to have a conversation, put it away. Dont put it down. Put it away. Its not about getting rid of technology and becoming the unibomber in a shack. Its about being aware of the power of that technology and being smart about it. Its not about not letting technology do the things were bad at. Its about reclaiming the things we do better than anybody else. Reclaiming what is basically our humanity. And theres more really, really mindblowing research. My favorite researcher, and my son would tell you that shows what dork i am because i have a favorite researcher is a guy named nicholas eppley, and he has been researching intangibles of human nature for years. Just recently a few months ago he did this very long study, not just nicholas. But a bunch of people. When how read an opinion you dent agree with, whether its in a newspaper, book, an email, facebook, if we read it, we are much moyer likely to think we disagree because that person is stupid and ignorant of the real issues. If we hear someone telling us the same opinion, whether its recorded in a podcast, doesnt mary. If we hear their voice telling us that opinion were much more lickly to think they disagree with us because they have a different experience and perspective. And what that means is that the human voice is literally humanizing. It is the voice itself, some quality of the human voice, that helps to us recognize each other as human beings, deserving of respect, and we do deserve respect. Every person deserves respect. Not every opinion but every person. And it also means that this process that were going through right now, of transferring all of our communication to the digital world, is dehumanizing us. Of course we hate each other. We dont see each other as human beings, deserving of respect. And this is not a partisan issue. I you think, absolutely though, liberals are always jerks, or the other way. Doesnt matter what youre thinking are its not partisan. Every Single Person is equally appropriate prone to do this to the other side. Equally prone to confirmation bias. Its where you believe something and then someone gives you evidence proving that belief is wrong, and it makes you believe it harder. We are the only species that suffers from confirmation bias. And that is because confirmation bias is not helpful. Well, its not really helpful. If you have a cat and the cat truly believes theres no cats in the next room i mean, mouse. Sorry a mouse and the mouse totally believes theres no cat in the next room, and you show them evidence of cats in the next room, lots of cats and that makes the mouse believe harder there are no cats in the next room, mice would basically be wiped off the face of the planet. So you have to ask yourself, why do we have confirmation bias . Why do all of us have confirmation bias, and how does it help us . Because, frankly, why would it survive through all of millenia of evolution, if it did not in some way help. And ill tell you what i believe, even though we fully dont understand it yet. I think confirmation bias is actually a strength. Think it proves to us constantly we need each other. That we need to talk to each other. Because we are our own checks and balances. I need you guys to tell me when ive said something nutballs. And i need to believe you. We need each other. All of us. There is no virtue in saying, i dont talk to people like that. Its not a virtue. I dont care how vial you think their opinion is. Thats not something to brag about. You can talk to everybody. And ill just give you two examples. One is georgias own, does anyone know who rein nona clayton is . One person. A street name after her in atlanta. She was a good friend of the kings, dr. King and his wife, coretta. She when they decided to great the great neighborhoods initiative, Great Society initiative to strengthen neighborhoods in atlanta, she was the head of the program and had a whole bunch of different neighborhood captains, and the mayor came to her and said, listen, i have to warn you because the was an africanamerican still is an africanamerican woman. Hasnt changed. One of your neighborhood captains is a grand dragon in the kkk. Just so you know. And she described that very first meeting where all the captains name and one refuse today touch her or shake her hand. She was, oops, thats the one. So, he would come in from time to time and sit in her office and she would talk to him. About whatever. And she says, dr. King told her, you dont try to change hearts. Leave that to god. You have no control over whether a heart is changed. You dont have that power. But you can be a human being and respectful, and thats what she did. And they would talk to each other. He ended up coming, sometimes two or three times a week and sat down. At one point she asked him why do you keep coming sneer you dont even like me. And he says, i know, but i like to talk to you. And about a year later, after all this, he held a press conference and he renounced his membership in the kkk. And he said, just because this woman you probably never heard of, because i was wrong. And i rule give you one more example. Another black guy, africanamerican, a jazz pianist, darryl davis. A pbs documentary called accidental courtesy. What he does is convince people to leave the kkk and hate organizations, and he is so successful that he almost dismantled the kkk operation in the state of maryland. And people ask him, what do you say . What is it your saying to convince them . He says, i dont say anything. In fact, he said this is really important he said, by actively listening to them i am passively teaching them about myself. And sometimes people just need to be heard. And this is what i would say to you after telling you, you cant change peoples minds, after dr. King said you cant change anybodys hearts, and thats true. Sometimes. Sometimes the act of listening can be such a gift, it he can be such an act of love, that you may not be aware of when it happens, over time, you can change people and more importantly, you can be changed. By listening and by being heard. We have about 25 minutes left. I can keep talking but there are usually a lot of questions, so im going to go ahead and take questions if you have them. If there arent any, ill keep going. Celeste, over here. Far back. Oh, i see you. Right here. A couple years ago you came to savannah and dade ted caulk, and ted talk and it was one of the best ever. Thank you, 13 million views, ladies and gentlemen. [applause] tell us something you learned doing a ted talk. Next time get a haircut and put on makeup. [laughter] that is what i learned. Other people will be watching this. Brush your hair. Wait, they want me here and here. Theyll bring you a microphone. Okay. You talked about the challenges to great conversations but you didnt say anything specific about how to have great conversations. Well, thats because i wrote a book about it. And it took me a long time. No, i mean, the number one challenge to having a great conversation is listening and its not just a matter of none of you are going to leave here and say, shes right, im going to be a great listener. Human beings are not born knowing how to listen well. Were just not. Its not something we do well. As a species. Anyone who has been around a baby knows that. Right . You dont come out of the womb knowing how to listen. You come out of the womb knowing how to scream, and some of us never stop. Listening hawse to be taught. Thats the secret. How many of you were offered at some point a public speaking course in your life . How many of were offered a listening course in your life . Yeah, like two. It really is its something you have to learn. Quite literally. Incredible research out of australia the School System inside phrase and new zealand that shows the only way to become a better listener is to actually work at it. It takes discipline. Its one of those things not like information you just master and learn and memorize and then move on. Its like going to gym. Nobody goes to gym, gets a great pump and then youre done working out. Thats listening. It is exercising a muscle that is not naturally strong. So, get in there every day. How does the brain react to the voice of Artificial Intelligence . We dont have a lot of Good Research on there right now, like alexa, we dont really react to it the way we do to a human being. Believe me, im one of the consultant for amazon, trying to teach them how to have alexa have real conversations. And unpaid consultant, i might add. Because what am i going to say . We dont know. We cant we dont have any way at this point of measuring what were responding to in a human voice, so we dont actually know what is missing in the a. I. But it is missing. Neurocoupleing does not occur between an a. I. And a human being, regardless of that movie her or she . What is the name of that movie . Im going to go buy three of your books and give it to three of my family members, and give them some three instructions from you. Listen is one. What would the other two be. The other one obviously would be put away your cell phone. And the last one would be, if youre not able to have a conversation right then, walk away. If you cant focus and and cant listen, thats fair. Thats fine, just excuse yourself. Dont put the other person through the pain of talking to you when you cant listen. Dont waste their time. Just walk away, politely. Other questions . There are lot im a millenial and a lot of people in my generation and the one below us now that would the igen theyre calling it. Right. Thats scary. They would argue that they are having meaningful conversations over texts and over social media and what would you say to them . Youre not supposed to change peoples minds but how would you approach that subject . Id say, youre wrong. [laughter] i mean, you cant just tell me what you feel. Show me the proof. Right . And there is zero data. I mean, the scientific point on texting and emailing is, as you universal as the opinion on Climate Change. Its wrong. Texting is not a conversation. In fact, they have found that even your closest friends and family members are know more accurate of detecting sarcasm than a stranger. When i tell people. That issue totally believe that, except me. My friend toldly know. And i say, thats not how math works. That is not how math works. We we are great at figuring out what other people do wrong. We are excellent at it. But the fact of the matter is, were terrible at being good judges of what we are doing wrong and what were not. Theres this book called you you are not so smart , also a podcast. If youre ever feeling really confident, just read that book. Its okay, its true of all of us, even really brilliant people, its true of everybody, but the thing is that its just wrong. A text is not a conversation. And you may be thinking youre communicating well, but youre not saying what theyre hearing. Theyre hearing and reading Something Different from what you have type. And miscommunication is the number one cause of project failure in business. Mostly because of email. It costs 210 trillion a year. You want to put it in dollars and cents. As a child, i remember hearing children to be seen and not heard amen. No, just kidding. Children are told to keep quiet the entire school years. Is that part oft why we dont talk im . I dont think so. Youre told to keep quiet in has because theres too many kids who want to say things. Its the same thing in college courses. You cant everyone cant just talk while the professor is trying to lecture you. But thats been the that hat been the norm for as far back as we have records. Im not saying children should be seen and not heard. Come on. But thats okay. When someone is actually lecturing if you were all talking right now there would be a brawl because the person next to you would be like, im trying to hear and the other person is, shut up, im talking to my mom it and would be like that church scene in the kicks men. Theres times when you shouldnt talk. Plenty of them but im not talking about that. Imtalking about actual conversations, which were not having anymore. What were having is exchanges where one person says what they think, and believe, and the other person says what they think and believe, but theyre not actually listening to each other. A conversation is an exchange of information. Its one person speaking and another listening listening and responsible and then speaking and then going become. That were not having that anymore, and thats certainly not what a tweet is. We need fewer hot takes. Question. I heard your ted talk. It was wonderful. And you did make a wonderful comparison from your sister, a good conversation, and a short skirt. But i do have a question here. I i think i assumed your book would be more anecdotal and sounded like its really solidly researched and based on data. How long did it take you to do the research and write it. Well, a long time. I think theres probably like 30 pages of footnotes at the end. Its not fully just science. Its basically split into three kind of chunks. Theres plenty of anecdotal because i admit all the things i do wrong, which could have philadelphia another book. And then theres the Science Behind what we know, and then theres what i learned in my professional experiences as a broadcaster, a professional interviewer. Kind of split evenly. So, it takes a lot. One reason is because when i first set out to become a better interview are that was my initial effort years and years ago. I went and i went to those same Research Books that all of us have been reading for years, that say, look them in the spy nod your head and a, okay. Thats crap. It doesnt work. It doesnt work. If youre sitting there staring interest someones eyes and making eye contact, its uncomfortable, isnt it . It doesnt work. And so i had to start from scratch. And sometimes i had to reach into Research Fields in science that wasnt about communication in order to get my answers. I had to sort of just forget what i knew or thought i knew about the subject, and also, what the hell did those people what were they writing snout i dont theres no way they followed that advice it and made their conversations better. Its no way. Its literally teaching you how to act like youre listening. Thats what all the advice is about. Hes how you pretend youre paying attention. This mos authentic way to do that is pay attention. Its totally believable. So, yeah, the quote youre talking about is a version of an originally a Winston Churchill quote which says, a conversation a good conversation is like a miniskirt, long enough to cover the surge and short enough to retain interest. Winston churchill would Say Something like that. Hi. Im in adult education, and one thing that we continue to learn is that lecture style learning is the most ineffective. Yes. So, can a esthetic learning where people aring a toughly engaged is more. How do you have a conversation that includes the active component. Lecture and trying 0 educate people is the death of a good conversation. If your intent is to educate someone, youre not having a good conversation. The first thing is you basically screwed up the power dynamic because you put yourself above them. Made yourself their teacher, and is why theres one part in the book i will almost never tell you what to say or what not say because its completely situational, and if youre paying attention, youll know what to say. But the one phrase i want people to stop saying is, actually, but actually its like, im not a racist, but nothing good will come after it. If you feel yourself wanting to say, but actually just stop. Just stop yourself. You dont need to explain. I think the example i use in the become, youre not making the dinner any better to interrupt what someone is saying to explain that real champagne only comes from france, right . Come on. Just let it go. Let it go. And its the same thing in learning. What were finding is that theres all kinds we know all kinds of ways to shut a brain down, and a human mine is already really prone to distraction. Microsoft does some of the best research around into Attention Span, and what they discovered is that on the internet, at least, our Attention Span is about eight seconds, which i one second shorter than that of a geld fish. Goldfish. In conversation our Attention Span is 30 to 60 seconds. So, when you leave here, get something that has a second hand, timer, and start telling a story, and see how long 30 seconds gets you through. And then stop. Because its a good chance youve their Attention Span has expired. The other side is the human brain can only hold on to three or four thingses at any one time. So if youre one of those people that starts talking to your spouse and its like, and another thing and you just kind of going through all the stuff, you are spitting in the wind, my friend. Choose one thing. Choose one thing and say it in 30 to 60 seconds, and then be done and walk away, and everybody will be happier. Yes. Im not trying to break line. Youre good. I was always told and reading Business Books and advice from people that know, that one should stick to their knitting. That is know, what business youre in and sting to that. Why on argentina would you change your appearance when your last ted talk gained 13 million listeners or viewers . [laughter] i watched your ted talk last night, and decided i have to go see this woman, and im a little disappointed because, frankly, i didnt think it was all about cell phones but i understand everything youre saying. My daughter i theres a question. If you consider the multiplication of technology talking about Text Messages or forwarding twitter stuff, i forwarded something. My daughter, like unfriended me, and i called her and i said, listen, this is what was trying to say. She said oh, the human voice brought it all together. So i apologize for that. Was there a question . Why i would change it . I didnt. I didnt. I just put it in a clip. I lied about me learning that. Because we are more reticent to communicate with each other and thats making people more reliant on texting. Have there been any studies that say we now read differently . The old days we used to learn empathy by reading novels. You still do. Are we not as good as we used to be as readers . Thats a complicated question. Thank you. We are not as good readers, meaning that we dont have an Attention Span for reading the way we used to. And if you look at the amount, how much of an article the average person actually reads before they click away to another link, or how long a become become is from an unestablished author that people will actually read to the end, we do not read as minute as we used to. But we have also found that the number one way to teach people Critical Thinking and reading and how to speak well is to read to them. The benefits that we get from reading have not changed, and it is still true that you can learn empathy by reading novels about people whose experiences are different from your own. The number one most effective way to learn to increase your empathy this is important because empathy can be increased or decreased. Empathy has been on the decline for 30 years, in fact dropped 40 in the last years, mostly since 2000. The number one most efficient way to do that is by having a conversation with someone necessary which you learn about their experiences and their perspective. Its no small thing. Even when you disagree with them. Its helping you. And i tell people all the time, stop thinking about the benefit youre conferring on someones toll listen to them. Its good for you. Small talk makes you live longer, makes you less likely to have a fatal cardiac event, and makes you less prone to depression, knowing being friendly with your neighbors makes you less prone to diabetes, makes you less prone to all kinds of diseases and yet i have a friend who drove around the block twice because his neighbor was out front and he didnt want to pull in while he was there and get in a conversation with them. Those little chats with your uecker driver and Grocery Store clerks about nothing are litllly help making you healthier so when they dont make eye contact and talking to you, youre hurtings yourself other. Questions. Now, when the comment was made that younger folks might feel theyre communicating just as effectively when theyre communicating union their cell phone, the first thing you said was, thats not true. Science has shown blah blah blah. However, feelings, i feel this way, is legitimate in terms of how im approaching that conversation. You seem to stop the conversation and say nate that true. This is the facts knowledge fact dont seem to be as important anymore as feelings. Not to me. But i have nothing but respect for peoples feelings but doesnt change fact. I mean, i can feel all i want, that i have written an email and its really good communication. From my end that may be truism may have expressed myself in a way im perfectly happy with, and i think it is rewarding to me. The question is, in a Good Exchange of information, did the other person get an accurate reading of what it was i was trying to say . Was the information communicated clearly . And did i express myself in a way that was effective . That they dont need further explanation in order to understand what i was trying to say. The fact is, texting that doesnt mean every single text is not a Good Exchange. In fact, its a perfectly great platform for a Simple Exchange of information. What do you want for dip dinner in chinese food. But, i cant make it to your Birthday Party . So sorry. Nope. How do you effectively use the facts youre aware of from scientific literature to confront the confirmational bias of the other individual . I dont confront peoples confirmation bayhas. You just did. Somebody said i communicated equally well if not bet no. He was saying other people he knows he was saying other young people believe that. What if i said, i believe that. I would say you probably feel that but its not correct. We have four minutes. Another question. I enjoyed your talk very much. Thank you. Any mystery to why it seems like these alexa and things like that are in the female voice or seems very predominant. This is actually quite interesting. People get irritated when its a male telling them. For whatever reason and they believe am on believes its because of the maternal nature of much of the instruction that most people get when theyre growing up. They tend to be more accepting of someone telling them your time is up or its time to go to bed or whatever it is when its a woman telling them, whereas when its a guy telling them, its like, i will say heres an interesting thing that not part of your question. Amazon has made so it if youre rude in a misogynist way to alexa, she shuts off. [applause] she turns herself off if you call her the c word or anything like it. She will not engage. Back to reading. Any scientific information on what you comprehend reading off of a computer versus what you comprehend when youre reading a book or newspaper . Ive been saying its a generational thing because i do not comprehend as well off the computer as i do something thats just habit. Theres no they havent really found some of the best research at uc berkeley, a great governor center, one of the places that are doing incredible work on this kind of topic and also empathy. Thats more of a it depends on what you like. I like an actual physical book and i like Library Books because smell like Library Books but my kid is fine reading off a computer. Get the same information. Writing, though you need the physical act of writing to make it to your memory banks, fyi. If you type notes in a class it doesnt get to your memory banks. Thats exactly where i was going with my question. Is letter writing different from email . This is interesting. There are few things that email does better than regular communication. I have one minute so ill make this quinn. One is sending an attachment and eone is sending a list or agenda or summation of a meeting or phone call. Heres what i heard, and the other thing we found is an email is a perfectly good replacement for what would have been a long letter that you wrote. You dont get the benefit of physically write it accept in Microsoft One note where i can rite on my tablet with my pen and then to do get the benefit. Other than that theirs in diminution in the benefits them receiving the letter and reading it on email. Same thing. Thank you all very much. To. [applause] dont forget the little yellow buckets on the way out. If you have any spare jewelry, car keyes, compels money, what have excess money, what have you. [inaudible conversations] for nearly 20. In depth on booktv featured the nations best known nonfiction wrote aers for live conversations about their booked. This year were featuring bestselling fiction writers for the monthly prom, in depth fiction edition. Let me take you on a very, very brief, 20, to 30,000 year history of cool. Very brief. When we were hunter gatherers, primarily our gods were the gods of the sky because what was important at that point was geography, landscape, and so the way that we understood our connection with the deities was through to the speaks of nature that helped in the hunt, and most of those deities were male deities with some exception. The mines often seen as a female deity, not always but often. But the sun is definitely a male deity. The sky is a male deity. Temperature, lightning, male deities. When we transition to agriculture, interestingly enough, our focus went from the sky to the earth. The earth, as oppose told the sky, is soit with female deities. Obviously. Right . It gives us life. We plant seeds in it. It sprouts life. We live off of it. The fertility of women were dim munozed in a way. Then something very interesting happened, which is that with agriculture came the rise of civilizations, and with civilizations came the creation of organized religion. Right . Religion, like we, was not stable. It was not static. It was in constant movement. When we stopped moving, and we settled down, and we began to plant fields and build villages and cities, we also built temples, a place to house the gods, and heres the thing about temples. The second you build Something Like that, you need someone to administer it. Right . You need someone who is in charge of that thing now. And that the idea of the intermediary between humanity and god almost always fell to men. There were exceptions, particularly in mesopotamia, when you have very, very powerful goddesses, like ishtar. Those kinds of goddesses would have women in charge and that pass pay, a cal. The apart track cal. Patriarchal. The other godded are male dominated. That is the process whereby what we start to see is the creation of organized religion, almost immediately becomes a patriarchal thing, and that just extents extends for the next 10,000, 12,000 years. Its sort of an unbroken chain that can really go back to the very first civilizations and the very first temples. [inaudible] good evening. Im bradley graham. On behalf of the entire staff here at p p, welcome. Thank you very much for coming. It really is quite