Translator: Chelsea Esterline Reviewer: Denise RQ
Let's say that you walk into my room.
A few things will pop out at you.
First, the computer work station with wires scattered about,
then some Star Trek posters, a phaser, other sort of tech pictures
(Laughter)
and prominently sitting on top of my dresser
sit a LEGO crane, Millennium Falcon, and city.
This in reverse order, shows the progression of interests in my life.
Simple creation with LEGO led to an interest in Sci-Fi
and later, engineering.
It all started with LEGO; for me and millions of others.
For some scope, let's hear some fun facts.
Over half a billion people grew up playing with LEGO.
There are currently 100 pieces per person in the world,
which makes well over 700 billion in total.
Currently, 100,000 LEGO pieces are made per minute.
So what makes LEGO so popular?
Simply put, they spark our imagination.
Six 2x3 pieces, these little rectangles, can be put together
in over 915 million different ways.
Once you get to ten pieces, the number is technically finite,
but it hasn't even been found, so it's infinite in human practice.
Furthermore, LEGO bricks are relatively cheap
and basically unbreakable.
Pieces made in the 1950s are still compatible with modern pieces,
and many are still in use today.
This yellow piece is my dad's from the 1970s,
and it still fits perfectly with these modern pieces
even though I had to pry it off of a set last night with a wrench.
(Laughter)
But it's not just the existence of the product
that makes LEGO such an icon.
In the early 2000s, the company was losing money quickly
because it acted like it was just another toymaker.
To save itself, LEGO had to realize what makes their product great.
As in my experience, LEGO can be used as a tool for engineering.
Around the time they were losing money,
the company had just come out with a kit called Mindstorms,
this motor set I had.
Practically overnight, these devices
were used in classrooms to teach programming and robotics.
At LEGOLAND and other places,
Mindstorm robotics competitions propagated.
Thousands of kids, including me,
were introduced to engineering for the first time.
Beyond primary school, LEGOs can be used as a tool for real work.
MIT famously uses them in some research labs, like city planning,
and some architecture firms use LEGO to make models of their buildings.
Amazingly,
a working car, a life size home, and a 112-foot tower have been built
with nothing more than the plastic bricks.
These fantastic LEGO creations demonstrate
the system's other key feature: its universality.
The car is from Romania, the house is from England,
and the tower is from the United States.
Because so many people are familiar with the system,
LEGO unites makers everywhere through the worldwide AFOL community.
It stands for Adult Fan of LEGO.
(Laughter)
These adults meet at LEGO online forums
and at unofficial "brick fairs" held across the world.
They can communicate across numerous language barriers
because, like a picture, each set tells its own story.
You don't have to speak Romanian
to appreciate how awesome a working LEGO car is.
Many people argue whether English or Chinese is the universal language.
In many ways, LEGO is more universal.
Certainly, it is the universal language of creativity.
Schematics for a set don't contain words, only pictures,
so any maker can share his or her creation
with anybody else in the world.
The only requirement is the parts to complete the project.
The rise of LEGO stop motion movies
only expanded the product's storytelling capabilities.
A search on YouTube turns up
everything from a mini-figure version of Michael Jackson's Thriller
to slapstick comedy.
And the LEGO Movie,
which had relatively low expectations before it came out,
became an instant favorite of kids and their parents,
and it was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe.
Clearly, you can tell any story with LEGO.
It might sound like I'm lauding LEGO as the solution to all our world problems.
I know they're not.
But that doesn't mean we can't learn from the small brick.
So maybe you'll consider a humble plastic building material
the next time you're in the market for a house or a car.
I leave you with this.
(Vidfeo starts) (Music)
(Michael Jackson singing) 'Cause this is thriller, thriller night
And no one's gonna save you from the beast about to strike
You know it's thriller, thriller night
You're fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller
Thriller, thriller night
'Cause I can thrill you more than any ghoul would ever dare try
Thriller, thriller night
So let me hold you tight and share a killer, diller
chiller Thriller here tonight
(Music ends)
(Applause)