David Hoffman: How would you feel if you lost everything?

[tomblack2112]

I'm sorry but this guy has far from lost everything. Yes I'm sure this was a terrible loss, but the title of the video is entirely wrong. Call me when your wife and kids are taken away from you in an accident and then your next wife dies from pancreatic cancer.

[MrDavidSoley]

I watched “When Disaster Strikes” from the prospective of two young men – many years from now – trying to absorb the passion, values, and artistic eye of a then-aging father. My body shook emotionally at the sight of such a warm and caring legacy.

[xjandgs]

Wonderful video.  Thank you.

[allinaday]

Here is what happened to me after I gave this speech -- how I made something good out of something bad - I did it! please take a look at When Disaster Strikes on my YouTube channel - allinaday

[Shadowstray]

This makes me feel that I should really look into online data backups. Backing up to a physical hard drive in the same machine is no 100% fool proof :/

[allinaday]

To all those who have written a comment about my speech at Ted now 2 1/2 years ago, I have, just finished, made something that I believe made good out of something bad. You can see it on YouTube at my channel allinaday. A documentary about what happened to me after the fire.

David Hoffman

[ImaginalDisc]

@allinaday Congratulations. That's the hallmark of a creative person, the momentum and inertia to keep making new material for its own sake.

[Joannawysiwyg]

Oh my gosh, my heart goes out to this master filmmaker. David Hoffman films lost? That's huge. He is a shining light to me, and it's weird that I ran across this story just as I've begun to worry more and more about my own video work and equipment being lost in fire.

[talero1]

@9732485634 Accomplishments and 14 year olds in the same sentence? Dedicating 40 years of your life to making films is an accomplishment. Sorry, my standards are not as low as yours.



[2JAMMY]

This is one of the lessons that life is teaching us. For all the things that we do have in life we will lose everything eventually it is only a question of time. We need to make more of the things while we have them. We are all going to go through this in our lifetime in one way or another.

My heart goes out to this man, it is never easy to lose something.

[ste6666666]

The man is telling you that he gained from this,. everything he clawed back is worth more because it was gone. He probably hadn't looked at this stuff for years but now imagine digging up something a loved one gave you that you thought was lost forever. Yes they are only things but a lot of the time, they hold the key to a human experience and this man dug up those memories and lived them again. He learnt that the things that mattered were memories he just didn't want to forget them.

[Visionary0001]

That's one BRAVE man.

[Yellowelephant911]

Wow.

[gentlefury]

I had everything stolen years ago...it took me a couple days to really reflect and realize....oh well..it's just stuff. I'll never get a lot of artwork back or some older vfx productions...but there was nothing I could do...so I just got over it and moved on.

[judgementcxm]

wow, i would definately not know wt to do in his situation especially when most of the stuff is sooo irreplaceable.

[talero1]

The great failure of the Internet is that someone can try to share their experiences and what does it draw? 14 year old shits who have never had a job, never experienced hardship, never earned anything or contributed to society, get online and talk about how somebody losing many irreplaceable things is no big deal really. Boys, and you are still just boys, if you ever move out of your parents' house and become grown ups, you are in for a surprising education about life. It will be grand.

[ryajoe]

lol amen talero1

[PhillLOL]

@talero1 and it is beautiful because life is the only real school :) your parents trying to tell you something is just bullshit. the best way to educate a child is to make it and then GET OUT OF THE WAY :D

[ggjbr90]

@talero1 I agree.. this guy is talking about never losing his things.... there are people who doesn't have any things to lose, there are people who risk losing more than material things. pfff talk about losing some bullshit collection.

[rocaho001]

@talero1 exactly...little irresponsible trolls

[andyrooney12]

@talero1

Well said.

[salo73]

if he can "live" in a hilton, you haven't lost everything,

[WillyMcCoy50]

The minds of TED must be MENSA material. Well TED this, he contributed quite alot to a history that would've been overlooked in the early 60s and surely forgotten today. His "material" was shared freely and touched many. Solution comes in phases. Assess the loss is an important stage here. Is it a crime for him to tell you what happened at a point where assessing the situation is happening? Does your superior mind really need the solution to be presented on a pillow? You even know his work?

[Slance1Himself]

How would you feel if you lost everything?

the message here is to look forward

[davidsanft]

WTF? Pathetic. Ted must have been desperate to fill time. He needs a shrink. "silver spooner" if there ever was one.

[TheDunc]

um well he said "make something good out of something bad" and I think that's the message of the talk but it didn't really focus on that very much... shotty talk.. sad story though.

[biglmac]

I would hardly say he "lost everything..." his family are all alive and he doesn't even have a scratch on him. I guess it's more like.... "lost his materials." And even then, lots of the photographs were still not too badly damaged.

Well yeah, I've seen about 15 TED talks and this is the worst so far. I agree with the comments here... no message? No point.

[Cannibalzz]

I saw this talk 3 months ago and remarked on how bad I thought it was... I thought maybe after some time I might see something worthwhile in it. Nope, still sucks.

[Cannibalzz]

I feel terrible for that guy, but this is the worst TED talk I've ever seen. There was no message at the end, and those naked shots of his kids really disturbed me.

[madsin69]

your disturbing for thinking about it....

[mobilelizard]

ummm...what ws the point of his talk? What did we learn from it? Fire is dangerous? What was the message here. WTF?

[ketazlat]

i think were all gonna interpret it differently. what i got out of it is that you shouldnt be attached to things cause everything can just dissapear like that. and if something that meaningful to you does get destroyed, then you shouldnt dwell on it but make it into something better.

i dont know if that makes sense but yeah. i think his talk did have a message he just ended his presentation really badly...

[mobilelizard]

It could have been a good TEDTalk if he had told us SOMEWHERE in his speech what the message was here. All I heard was "It's all gone." Because the lack of lesson mentioned, it seemed like he just wanted to moan like a bitch to everyone, using up everone's precious time in a presticious meeting.

[brooks999]

dam i make lots of vids, im finishing my first dvd, i alwsys think somethings gonna happen to all my stuff. ive had bad dreams about all my tapes and cameras and computer getting stolen and im left with nothing. i feel that guys pain!

[Truthiness231]

When life gives you lemons, make lemon powered diamond mining robots. Simple.

[b1ngnx33]

Life will knock you down. Its YOUR job to get back up.

[ratholin]

Wait did he say bonny doon, outside sante cruz? the place that robert anson heinlein built his big awesome house?

[HerlPearl]

Attachment ... it may be wrong or right. But what the man is saying is not "nothing" or a "nothing talk". He has a very clear message:

Make something good out of something bad.

That is what he is saying.

[ketazlat]

well said! haha :D

[BoozyBeggar]

GROSS, nudie kids!

[RuudJH]

This guy has children that young?

[mikesgm6]

I was born when my dad was 50.

[guidewired]

It makes me think of all those photos and videos stored online somewhere that may one day be lost in some large server crash/fire/etc....though storing your content online seems a bit safer than it is sitting in house.

[SirosTV]

oh yes, I'm slowy learning to cherish my Google Books library more than my actually library at home. Heck, I can move one around without breaking a sweat! :)

[McWalker25]

Damn, Jesus christ.

I could understand how some people think this TALK is fruitless(it is to a degree),

but i can understand where he is coming from.

I own many Journals and Lots of idea books, pics and all that jazz, and if ever I witness them gone, I wouldn't even know what I'd do, just be standing in a White zone in all cardinals and dimensions.

But what is always agreeable is the fact that something good can always come out of something bad, could even be better.

[McWalker25]

And starting over, why, You'll find yourself starting a new voyage after time shows mercy, and all that jazz.

[thecrimsoncape]

What a nothing talk. If his genius TED talk went up in that fire and that's all he had to talk about then maybe. But GAWD.

[deejaycanuck]

Steve 1010 hit the nail on the head. What a self-serving delusional load of shite! He is upset because he lost his Chubby Checker record collection and his photos.Although it sucks to have your "stuff" go up in smoke it's just tomorrow's litter. Go do some charity work in Africa or follow the trail left by Jared Diamond and see what loss really is. Staying at the four star Hilton Hotel must be very traumatizing for him and his family, say hi to Paris for me.

[CanadianNinjaMonkey]

I understand that he went up there because he was already invited and scheduled to appear, so taking a few minutes made sense. I feel he was still trying to deal with the loss rather than making a clear point about attachments to things and memories. He started to make a point and then talked about his next project without explaining the purpose of the project, which would have validated this. I agree with the others, showing his kids naked was just irresponsible, inappropriate, and unnecessary.

[Budguy68]

Pretty cool commercial at the end.

[yeldarbo]

Anyone can get on stage and show family photos....whether or not they are charred....

[morelshaman]

Powerful and sad.

He will do well.

Only so many things.

Fire is the great equalizer.

It is not cruel - it is a clarifying solution.

[pokjin]

what the fuck kids should never be naked infront of STRANGERS

[ppesg]

Por primera vez estoy enojado por un video de TED, enserio esto esta triste, que tipo de idiotes es esto. Mira que tristeza de mi vida, por Dios, para eso veo las noticias, veo las cosas de siempre, muerte y destruccion. TED no deberia de permitir algo tan vacio. Tan tonto. TED deberia de vigilar esto, ya basta de pensamientos negativos. Vean a Tony Robbins

[ppesg]

I guess that this speech value like the things that the burn left behind.

NOTHING!!!!

[ppesg]

I sign to TED to watch smart people talk about smart thinks, make points, and give conclusions. It's ok to show what terrible things stuck in your butt, but you need to make a point, to give a build up speech about that things. No that kind of, nothing.

[steveh1010]

two things, your too old to have kids that age. And how could you get on a ted stage and talk about losing everything. People in Dafur lose, some have lost everybody in there family. You lost film reels and pictures. You must be kidding me. I find this speech selfish and ridiculous. Do you know what real loss is? Did anybody in your family die in the fire, no. Get the hell of the stage, you pompous idiot.

[NOMADdaf]

Am I the only one that feels that oldest boy is a tad old to be naked in a room with others and WAY to old to be on screen if front of the world nude!?!

[kaisergrendel]

For me the only definitive point in a child's growth that dictates he/she is too old to be naked in front of strangers is when they grow pubes. Nobody likes looking at adolescent pubes.

[bvlahos23]

hes a brave man to go up and not fall into peices

[JohnDeBunkTest]

A 30 year film memorabilia collection is a big loss.

And, no, the burnt bits are not better, but they are all that is left.

But, I love Dave's attitude, "pick up the pieces of your life, and go on."

[bvlahos23]

very true my friend

[barrywilliamsmb]

Contrast in life is great and David really knows how to help us separate from our stuff. Thanks David, thanks TED.

[zperra]

tkboyz said 1 day ago:"Again, I'm no FOR the idea of slavery, but everything has a good side :-)"

I doubt you would be for slavery if you were the slave.

[africanchina1]

poor guy! that's pretty bad, but honestly... the video is kinda pointless.. i didn't learn anything new! sorry....

[Jimmyjewels]

This IS Inspirational....Just 9 days after and he's sharing of himself for us to learn from. 9 days after most of us would still be crying. I commend you Dave.

[clannon]

Sad. Digital backups and offsite storage...

[SpinergyDude]

I still say that: The MATERIAL items lost this young man talks about is not anything anyone wants.

What I am most thankful for is he did not get injured, killed or anyone he cares about.

So in my comment where I appear to be whining oh poor me... Why not read between the lines you ignorant fools.

Step into ANY perons shoes with ANY disability and soon you realize that PEOPLE and NOT material items, including puctures, or one of movies that end up lost... That PEOPLE are most IMPORTANT

[misjudgeme]

Communicating poorly and being misunderstood doesn't leave you in a position to call other people ignorant fools.

[SpinergyDude]

I am just lucky to be able to communicate at all.

[Doomsetter]

He could of done something with this event, he presented it all wrong.

[lordtalon69]

Perhaps but perhaps he had somethihng else he had planed to say and then this happened just 8 days prior. He may not seem torn about it, but he may not of had the gumption after such a loss to put together something more lengthy and meaningful.

[chikotube]

grim reminder of the need to back it all up and spread as many copies to as many places as is practical. I'm in the middle of doing my own high-resolotion scans of all my family's film and "master" prints. I'm up to20,000 images and I think i'm only halfway done. I don't like today's spinning metal platter hard drives, but everything else is just too expensive per gigabyte, and knowing that i still need to make an offsite copy is daunting.

[therealgeeza]

yeh, hear hear - i gree.

me so terabyte.

[chiefsa12st]

Hey dude make a movie we might give a fuck then

[scort8888]

I'm not a collector of stuff, so I didn't give a crap. He should have donated his films to an archive at a University if he wanted them safe. I did notice that he lives in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

[clearmenser]

The moral: "Make distributed digital backups, analog is mortal."

[pookiehohn]

True dat

[blackberryjuice1]

Black people have been asking this question ever since we've been brought to this country. We still haven't even gotten an apology for 350+ years of overt atrocities against humanity and human dignity known as American slavery and Jim Crow. We have no assets, own nothing, know nothing about our individual ancestries, have been wiped clean. Add to that an ongoing atmosphere of condescension and antipathy. Dude, cry me a river.

[adamhunterprice]

So what would you like, what are you asking for for your great great great grandfathers suffering?

[3000gtnsxzr]

i dont know why black people still bring up slavery when it only happend to a section of their race, insted of looking at it as something bad and has past they bring it up as an excuse or opertunity to be treated more better than anyone else,guess what,hispanics were also inslaved, but the only difrance iz they dont use it to their advantage for anything

[pookiehohn]

They still have effects of slavery that do impact them today. On a superficial level it may seem as if they keep bringing it up as a moot point but it still has a real diffrence.

[tkboyz]

sorry man, but let me point out something that ppl miss, where are the most successful black ppl now?

Europe & America etc... I said if the black people wasn't brought to america, it's race would have being so backward as they are now in Africa, killing innocent people for diamond, rape. drugs power....

Again, I'm no FOR the idea of slavery, but everything has a good side :-)

[brizzl85]

For those who still dont get the point of his message: this man lost everything that was seemingly valuable to him. but then he realised... that he still had his family, he still had his memories, and all those priceless films and the things that he had worked so hard for, were merely stepping stones on his journey through life.

[SpinergyDude]

OK, let's see things... WHAAAAA poor meeeee....

Dude, hope into my shoes... I DARE YOU.

[misjudgeme]

Not a dozen comments in and the masochistic pissing contest has already begun.

[SpinergyDude]

Maybe I was not clear enough in my comment... This young man needs to be thankfull he did not get injured, or someone else...

It sucks to have lost such MATERIAL items sure...

OK if not my shoes... Christopher Reeves Shoes... What is my saying MATERIAL things INCLUDING pictures and all that being lost is really secondary to loss of life or independence GET YOU MAD AND ANGRY? Well TO BAD THEN sucks to be YOU.

[Redshift21]

It's hard to see the upside of this but I suppose at least he gets to start over with a clean slate.... sorry thats the best I can think of right now.

Actually thats not the best, the best thing is everybody got out alive and unhurt, there's nothing better than that.

[TheFutureIsAtheist]

so the moral of the story is, keep your valuables in a fireproof safe

[CrucieFiction]

Didn't cry? Obviously then, he was well insured.

[emokowsky]

so what?

[mortiphago]

Second time i watch this talk, and I still cant find the inspiring thing about it

[gspahr]

Nice. I used to have tons of pictures, digital pictures. Family pics, travels pics, memories... All gone, because of a virus. It was hard, but I learned to depend on my own memory.

[semiliteratedgod]

poor guy

(Ok, I'm going to backup my laptop's HD ... NOW!)

[Jekelstheory]

ditto