How technology has changed what it's like to be deaf | Rebecca Knill

TED Talks Daily

TED

Creativity, Ted Podcast, Ted Talks Daily, Business, Design, Inspiration, Society & Culture, Science, Technology, Education, Tech Demo, Ted Talks, Ted, Entertainment, Tedtalks

4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 18 February 2021

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

"Complete silence is very addictive," says Rebecca Knill, a writer who has cochlear implants that enable her to hear. In this funny, insightful talk, she explores the evolution of assistive listening technology, the outdated way people still respond to deafness and how we can shift our cultural understanding of ability to build a more inclusive world. "Technology has come so far," Knill says. "Our mindset just needs to catch up."

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You're listening to TED Talks Daily. I'm Elise Hugh.
0:06.9	What will it mean to be human in the future? Mind and machine are melding more and more as technology evolves.
0:14.9	In her 2020 archive talk from TED at Wells Fargo, writer Rebecca Nill, who calls herself a cyborg,
0:21.3	will explain how the blurring lines between man and machine
0:24.6	have already meant huge breakthroughs for the death.
0:30.4	My name is Rebecca, and I'm a cyborg.
0:36.8	Specifically, I have 32 computer chips inside my head which rebuild my sense of hearing
0:42.9	this is called a cochlear implant you remember the the Borg from Star Trek those aliens
0:50.6	who conquered and absorbed everything in sight?
0:55.4	Well, that's me.
1:00.0	The good news is I come for your technology and not for your human life forms.
1:04.9	Actually, I've never seen an episode of Star Trek.
1:09.0	But there's a reason for that.
1:11.5	Television wasn't in close captioned when I was a kid.
1:14.9	I grew up profoundly deaf.
1:16.8	I went to regular schools, and I had to a lip-breed.
1:20.0	I didn't meet another deaf person until I was 20.
1:24.1	Electronics were mostly audio back then.
1:27.1	My alarm clock was my sister Barbara,
1:29.4	who would set her alarm and then throw something at me to wake up.
1:35.7	My hearing aids were industrial strength, sledgehammer, volume,
1:41.3	but they helped me more than they help most people.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from TED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of TED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.