You mean that wasn’t just a gimmick for a TED talk? It’s literally a metaphor his uses on a regular basis? What a douchebag.
What really bothered me most about that whole talk was how a lot of it was actually accurate, and not stuff you typically hear admitted by the TED sort. I was happy that such an audience was getting exposed to some reality…but then he just kept on going, and of course inevitably ventured back into typical nonsense. It reminded me a lot of Jared Diamond actually. So close, yet so far away.