John Francis: I walk the Earth

[ratholin]

John Francis is the lorax.

[7thegirlinglass7]

ROLE MODEL!



[Foxrider4564]

John Francis is a truly exceptional individual and has opened my eyes to the problems currently occurring in our environment. this video needs to be spread across the world informing people of the environmental epidemic happening RIGHT NOW!!!

Like this to increase environmental awareness and promote John Francis(LIKE)

[crowman131]

jesus...........

[Angelia2041]

Thank you @JohnFrancis I love travelling from my inner heart. So TED talks, like John Francis walks the Earth, really give me a big image what the human can really have done on our mother earth. In one life, what it really matters if I could keep walking on.

[ladylari7307]

This man is a hero!

[ahsl]

cool guy

[georgenaumov]

1 logical reason to press dislike?! if you think he is stupid just StumbleUpon man....

[georgenaumov]

1 logical reason to press unlike?! if you think he is stupid just StumbleUpon man....

[ratholin]

this guy is simply amazing

[FrancisChanWordOfGod]

John Francis !!

An Epic and inspirational human...

God Bless

Francis Chan Word Of God

[AlSwearengen15]

John Francis's book Planet Walker is amazing. What an inspirational man and story!

[nye1956]

Great video, thanks for sharing! :o)

[TheHappyjackster]

Wow! That was stunning and beautiful!!!! LOVE it!!!! Love you all!!!!

[derman077]

A girl once asked me, ' Why can't I find a guy like you?' I said " I don't know, if I see a guy like me, I'll ask him.

[TheMargaretindc]

Seriously. Just watch this video.

John Francis took a 17 yr. vow of silence and swore off motorized vehicles for 20 years after an oil spill in the SF Bay.

In that time, he earned a B.A., a Masters and his PhD, all while walking around the country.

He taught college while not speaking, and is one of the world's leading experts on on oil spills.

[epikteta]

I tried to walk through the USA and it is impossible because the police, they literally stop you and return you to home or the hotel.....

[Mrmoc7]

@epikteta

loloololololol

F*** the police!!! -:)

[mkraft1212]

@epikteta you're kiddin, you couldn't just tell them that home was ahead of you? How far did you get from you're home. I wanna hear about this!

[sue75lewis]

With the greatest of respect to you :- YEEHAWSAUCE03 you don't seem to gave got the point.

He's talking about you!

You are the next one, to inspire the next one...........to inspire the next one.......

[dmixtress]

What a great story teller .. I can imagine sitting around a fire with my daughter.. listening to a story with life lessons intertwined.

Thank you. Really enjoyed it.

[RoseyinWonderland]

Love that you play clawhammer banjo too! You are my hero.

[bsglick]

I have never been inspired by anyone other than my father anywhere near as much as by John Francis. I am altering my lifestyle radically, but aspire to live totally car free someday soon.

[yeehawsauce03]

a lovely man. i read the book as well. i'm in hopes everyone else can take the time to do the same. john can be inspire us all. we need more people like him.

[sunshineandmuffins]

Thank you.

[RoseyinWonderland]

Thank you . I can't wait to read your book.

[visionmnky]

I knew about John Francis and his story for years, but I wish I had posted this to share with everyone sooner. May you watch this man speak and be inspired. He lived out where I grew up in beautiful West Marin.

[sarabuffalo1]

thank you! The miracle is the journey!

[pjo1993]

That makes total sense when you consider the talks on education from Sir Ken Robinson. He talked about how our culture today is based on industry, as if we were all like little machines made to do the work it takes to make the world go 'round. And that mindset manifested itself in our treatment of the environment too. I like this guy, I wonder if he knows exactly what he's come across. Great talk.

[ElliotJohnNovak]

Saw him in Minneapolis at the U of MN. Great, great storyteller and speaker, especially live. And of course, the banjo sounds better live as well - the video camera narrows and distorts the audio. I own the book now, it kicks ass. That's my two cents!

[Ghostthehumanist]

Thank you John Francis. You have changed me.

[lillyvalleys]

Truly inspiring.

Rosanella :-)

[blacksheepliberal]

T-HOOPES.

[xRawlins]

What a great speaker. This guy is amazing, you can't help but listen and like him.

Keep spreading your message, John!

[Zinjadu1]

i hope there's no movie. that would totally ruin the message. Hollywood's perversion would corrupt the inspiration to be activists and to be free. Listen and be quiet. WOW GOOD STORY. Thank you for the vid.

[keg77105]

this guys book is awesome. i heard their gonna make a movie about it and will smith is gonna play him. anyone know if their is any truth beind this?

[Infectious0Fun]

My name is John Francis. :P

[Infectious0Fun]

Same here.

[cantfakethefunkdj]

i saw him at the wilcox presentation 10/7/09! i asked him to sign my chest!

[gavanduffy123]

john francis=pimp

[dmstromer]

this is so heavy! thank you!

[PurpleILL]

whats the point...

[boorens18]

hes saying that, the way to make people start caring about the enviroment is to make them care about eachother, however hard that may be.

If you think of us as indifferent to eachother, we use pollution and ignorance of the damage as a metaphorical attack on eachother. We dont care about how we damage eachother, hence we dont care that we are polluting and harming eachother

[zoezuniga]

Another beautiful speaker on this subject of treatent of ourselves an others is World Peace Diet.

[slaughtz]

Instead of voting you down like a lot of other people, I think that's a valid question. What is the point? Well, I'd say to try and consider how 'life would be like' if people were to take his approach, but I too have the same skepticism. Why live for anyone but yourself? Giving to yourself, in my opinion; is essential, before you can give to others. It's really not up to anyone else but you to come up with the 'point' of changing. No one else can convince you to change, it's up to you.

[EBurwell]

Grok

[dragonstorm83]

i needed to hear this message. it touched me more strongly than anything I have ever listened to in my life.

[Jahaison]

Wow, this guy has lived the life most of us dream of... or do in retirement. Well, with the talking.

[darealdeal21]

Awesome story! Wish i had the courage to do something like that.

[t00ny]

incredible... for 20 minutes i just couldnt take my eyes off the screen. DAMN!

[idanceyousing]

great speech.

is that a real song he was playing @ the beginning, or a jam? i like it.

[AdamsJoshua85]

I love this guy!! Although a bike would have been awesome lol!

[eoinycroiny]

lol indeed

[wangchangyang]

incredible speech, one of the best i've heard from ted.. then again all of them are great in one way or another.

[ElectrickDragon]

awesome!

[dinkolino2]

did he have a permit to build a wooden boat? or tu cut that trees for the boat? did he pay the co2 and a fine for disturbing the earth he walked on?

because thats what the fundamental eviromentalism will result in. He isclearly a good guy, but he is being USED

[peacocar]

Oh you are such a tool

[Hostile]

This was brilliant.

[johnyprestige]

beautiful

[brooks999]

booya grandma

[longnamesaredumb]

why didnt he use a bike?

[Hostile]

I dunno but I think I'd prefer walking, especially if you're looking to learn about the informal aspects of environment, i.e. people.

[EchONailer]

i dont think he wanted to try and get from A to B as fast as he could ^^

[aa1usa]

its also hard to play the banjo on a bike

[tzoche]

This video made my day :).

[InsectRoyalty]

I'm impressed with him, and I feel there is something to learn, but I feel I need to feel for myself the passion to change in such a way. Incredible story. I'm inspired, I just don'k know how or do what end. Time will tell!

[kalleu00]

AMAZINGGGGG

[melonbarmonster]

he needs to tune his banjo.

[NicknameAvailable]

I guess he sees the beauty where you don't

[goodbuykiss]

Our planet will be way more beautiful with more souls like him. And we are getting there. Love and respect to all.

Cheers!

[FrozenSilence]

Amazing!

[TheGrannySnatcher]

so deep.

[phillyroll]

Wow this brought a tear to my eye. Solid, solid presentation.

[angeleyes0thebad]

I wonder if he is a vegetarian?

[arheru]

I surely hope so!

[JessicaAlba10]

great speaker & story...God gave us two ears, but only one mouth. A subtle hint that we should listen more than talk.

[Finiras]

lies. it was the flying spaghetti monster.

[jaredhutcheson]

This guy is cool.

[pleytes]

This to me is such an important lesson. Thank you.

[ehsanul]

Is that banjo tuned ok? Sounds pretty out of tune in the beginnning, one of the strings...

[ehsanul]

ok, forget the banjo, cos that talk was freakin awesome!

[oryxchannel]

yes your ears are correct however that is the way you play it. there are what you call "partial harmonies" in having a banjo playing an old song with a string imposing "dissonance". Picture an angelic antiphony going back and forth. A "song" within the song if you will.

The banjo was the first stringed instrument ever.

It was made of dried entrails for the strings and a dried gourd. Peace.

[ehsanul]

Ahh, I see. Maybe it'll take me a while to "get it", if you know what I mean. Thanks for the info, and may peace be with you as well.

[mrkvamaster]

Amazing

[ashdyo]

truly inspiring, and really get you thinking about the importance and necessity of language, or possibly the true lack there of

[MyGlobalAdventure]

It's so wonderful to hear your story in your own words (literally). Your book (Planetwalker) touched me and your continuing activities inspire me. I'm happy that your message is getting out thru this venue (TED & YouTube). Thanks to your assistant for getting the message out. Keep up the great work! I'm in! Nick

[happyfallen]

remarkable man

[TheSunMystic]

That went by so quickly yet it was 20 minutes long.

A wise man indeed my friends.

My Soul Bows to Your Soul John Francis

ॐ

[TheWeatherMan2012]

GREAT ONE LOVE

[NamaSika]

Thank you for this beautiful share.

Great message here.

Thanks you.

Tara

[TheWeatherMan2012]

You're welcome ;o)

[jarduli]

lets change then!

[descendantofmankind]

John Francis is my new hero.

[afghanibullrider]

It's good to see you had hear you John - you know I always wanted to hear a sound from you. You look like the years have been good to you - My best, Francesca

[lebasson]

breathtaking!

[deezacharo]

amazing!!

[ralphwen]

We are abusing our senses. We are taking in so much information without thinking about them. This is such a great video. I'm completely moved.

[xanthus1]

I really enjoyed this talk. He's right about the silence: it's a moving experience. I haven't really realized it before. I wouldn't necessarily define me as a quiet person, but I am often in a sort of silent mood, and you're able to hear things and understand others in a way you didn't before.

[lemaitrethemonk]

what an incredible story... after hearing this i will try to be silent for an hour a day. who knows it mite change my perspective and teach me to listen more! he is the american version of gandi and i'm proud to have watched this...peace everyone and have a good day or night. which ever finds you best...

[bRoeLwE]

If there is a god, he must look like this guy.

[ORIBEL38]

There is a god. And he looks like you, and he looks like me too. If each person in this world begin to treat each life form with respect as each life form is a creation of god, then you will begin seeing the environment changing. Little by little, it will and it can change. As Mahatma Gandhi once said,"You must be the change you want to see in this world." You see we are all interconnected.Yes, the change is now here. More and more people are awakening to this message. It begins with the people.

[Rubenvenezuela]

everything was perfect until you came up with creationist crap! god doesnt exist get over it... science is the future! THINK BIG! ASK QUESTIONS!

[lukebowring]

hey, take it easy fella. nothing he said jangled my atheistic nerves. try doing as the man did.

[ratholin]

Holy crap that was amazing! That's one of the best TED talks ever.

[oryxchannel]

exemplary

[ibektas]

nice story. but i have a question. didn't you never think of buying a bike?

[hernantoro]

Bicycle wheels are made with oil derived products.

[ibektas]

oh ofcourse, i didn't think of that. i must say good argument. but than a new question arise. what about sunflower oil? if diesel could drive on it maybe a bike could too.

[thedailyenglishshow]

Interesting story ... I thought it fell a bit flat at the end though.

[jesslorenzo]

Very inspiring. :-)

[chick7489]

He's very inspirational. I think he should become a preacher like you said because before he even started talking it just feels that he wants to influence the world to believe what he is offering to us. It's great how people can share their experiences and knowledge to help others. :)

[josephpetepickle]

His communication style reminds me of a preacher. I almost feel in moments here and there that he is preaching a faith and a belief system!

[descendantofmankind]

Wow, it made me cry. I admire the power in his soft spoken words. I need to shut up and listen, myself. I think I will try to.

[PokinSmot420]

He's probably hell of a camper

[paddycy]

totally

[DSBrekus]

17:37

[Wisdomlikeyoda]

Thank you. Best Wishes!

[BRNE111]

This guy is amazing! Not very profound comment, but felt I had to write it...

[popitypop]

u dun have to be profound to wirte coments.. :)

[BRNE111]

Indeed not, but profundity makes them worth reading!

[wanj101982]

reminds me of trancendental living. he speaks very well for being silent for so long.

[awimagic]

he started speaking again in 1990 and before that he was always writing so he was in touch with language.. just not verbally

[EvanChaim]

voluntarily not talking for 17 years? yeah right!!1

[Magik57]

opening banjo sounds really out of tune ahaha

[marsCubed]

Guess there's no chance of him visiting Europe soon.

[irish202]

yhis is what we should all behave like

[flamablesteve]

This guy is my hero.

[juliecranford]

I went through a very short no-talking phase when I was 11. Later I decided I like talking because it helps me connect to other people.

[flamablesteve]

Talking is for losers....

Damnit.

[Alriskeke]

Thou' you wrote that.

[juliecranford]

He's lucky there were no emergencies that required him to talk.

[morelshaman]

Very compelling, very TED, too courageous for most of us.

Though i hear his voice i feel i cannot walk his path.

I am glad to hear that this path was walked & glad to hear it be told.

[religiousinadequacy]

The banjo in the beginning is really cool.

[boxant]

And such an amazing voice it is.

[HeyYouNotYou]

Dude, Point Reyes Station has the coolest beach over here in Northern California.

[amplify1492]

kind of ran out of steam at the end

[Elaina43]

This would be an excellent challenge.

I don't know if I could do it for 24 hours.

[Elaina43]

LOL Mothers are like that!

[Elaina43]

Thank you, Santi2c!

[Decimaster321]

This is so amazing, absolutely my favorite TED video I've seen so far.

[VisionQuest2012]

Are we changing the environment or is the environment changing us? That is something to think about indeed.

[jojo808]

is there a difference between us and our environment . that is something to think about also.

[jojo808]

13:40

[AngilasGuy]

That was amazing.

[LJPpro]

This is easily one of the best TED talks I've seen. Very inspirational.

[OpakeArawra2]

wow.

[Elaina43]

Drat! YT is saying this vid is no longer available...

[Paranormal999]

I love this guy's motivation, imagine how that one incident (The crash of the Tankers ) changed his life, makes you think what would make you change or do if something truly effected your life ??

TED TV is one of my daily stops on the internet its got some amazing talks.

[smallpenis1]

yer, best thing to happen to the internet imo

[Doomsetter]

very nice, i bet he could of done a week long talk and id still be captivated.

[Saesegral]

What an interesting person and so incredibly unique. I only wish I could have heard more about his exciting adventures.

[kingkrankSPW]

damn that was deep.

[SaintCog]

More banjo....!

[buckfush12]

John is a very inspirational man.

[Frace91]

very inspiring story

great video, everyone should see this

[qpwnsall]

People who talk too much and don't let you finish sentences are often very ignorant.

[marjan15]

Interesting man, too bad he didn't tell any facts about environment.

[apocaRUFF]

Why would he need to? @_@ It's on of those inspiring talks =0

[marjan15]

Yea, but if he studied it for at least 17 years, it would be very informative.

[prelan]

its not about the environment

[Rantandreason]

He did. You just need to listen between the words.

[wolfblade25]

Astounding, Possibly my favorite TED yet.

[smcmillan88]

It's interesting to see how different a lifestyle John has pursued and how he has become.

I can't help wonder how he ate and survived for those 7 years walking across the Continent.

[TheEggBeast]

remarkable

[Truthiness231]

17 years without speaking... um... I can't go 17 minutes...

[fuckingeveryname]

Thanks TED

[jack19790]

I subscribe for the opening music on every video.

[thedailyenglishshow]

You're joking, right? I can't stand that music. I wish they'd start with silence.

[Chikitotube]

Best TED talk so far.

[fkd247]

My fav is "why schools kill creativity"

[JW93HB07]

wow, i've never had the first comment... Nice banjo?=D