TED’s head honcho, Chris Anderson, just released his first TEDTalk. He makes the case that online video is profoundly changing our lives and how we spread ideas. As you’d expect, it’s fascinating. You really should watch it.

Our ancestors were biologically wired for word-of-mouth. We learned in small communities and passed on our knowledge face-to-face.

Then Gutenberg came around. The printing press radically changed how we spread ideas. It upped the ante for everyone. And from Twitter to Wikipedia, we built our knowledge systems on the legacy of the written word. Never, in the history of humanity, have we had access to so much knowledge.

The problem is that the printed word required that we educate ourselves out of our evolutionary origins. Because of physical constraints, we traded the lack of face-to-face connection and the communal aspect of learning for scaling knowledge. It required that we artificially teach ourselves to actually enjoy reading. The medium disconnected us from the fundamental idea of tribal sharing.

We’re living through a second revolution. It’s not anymore about the vastness knowledge, but about the medium. Online video scales this powerful face-to-face intimate connection. It appeals to our basic instincts in a very fundamental way.

I finally understand why TED is so fascinating. I think.