The third annual TEDxStanford event, themed "Above and Beyond," took place on campus Saturday. Thirty-one talks and performances covered a wide range of subjects, including biotech, earth sciences, art, education and medicine.
A Stanford Report article notes today, "While all the talks and performances were thought-provoking and awe-inspiring, some were also deeply moving," and goes on to describe a presentation by cystic fibrosis patient Isabel Stenzel Byrnes, who received a double-lung transplant 10 years ago at Stanford Hospital. At last year's event, the piece notes, she shared the stage with her twin sister, Anabel, who died eight months ago.
More from the article:
Emotions also ran high when Jill Helms, [PhD,] a professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Stanford School of Medicine, talked about the concept of beauty and our perception of the face.
"Face-recognition is hard-wired in us," Helms said, noting that we prize symmetry, balance and proportion. That creates a challenge, though, for people whose faces don't fit our view of beauty.
When children whose faces don't fit the ideal realize that they're different, they turn inward, Helms said, her voice shaking. She challenged the audience to look past appearances. "Let's reconsider beautiful," she said.
Previously: Tickets for TedxStanford 2014 go on sale Monday, Krishna Shenoy discusses the future of neural prosthetics at TEDxStanford, Film about twin sisters’ double lung transplants and battle against cystic fibrosis available online and Living – and thriving – with cystic fibrosis
Photo of Jill Helms by Aaron Kehoe
