Members Sean Gourley

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About me

Physicist, Decathlete & Political Adviser. A recovering Rhodes Scholar and new TEDfellow. I'm originally from New Zealand where I spent most of my time evenly divided between, studying Physics, running, surfing and organizing political rallies. During my time in New Zeal ... More »

Location:
United States, San Francisco, CA
Current organization:
younoodle
Past organizations:
Oxford University, NASA, Simudyne, Exclusive Analysis
Gender:
Male
Areas of expertise:
Quantative Analysis, Network theory, Online news, Decathlon, Mathematics of War, Physics, Venture Capital 2.0, Nanotechnology

I am:
Activist, Athlete, Consultant, Idea generator, Policy maker, Scientist, Startup
My website links:
younoodle, The mathematics of war, my twitter page
Universities:
Oxford University, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
TED Conferences Attended:
TED2009, TEDGlobal 2005

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More about me
I'm passionate about

Predictive Analytics, understanding global conflict through mathematics, creating a platform for innovation, changing the way the VC system operates and running + jumping over things.
An idea worth spreading

Despite all the chaos and unpredictability that surrounds modern war, war can in fact be characterized by a surprisingly simple set of mathematical equations. What is more these mathematical equations are consistent across dozens of different wars from around the world. This suggests that the fundamental dynamics of war are largely independent of the religious, political or cultural metrics that have traditionally shaped our understanding of conflict.
Talk to me about

Politics, Venture Capital and innovation, Mathematics, Physics, running, single malt scotch, the latest book I have to read or movie I should go see.
People don't know that I'm good at

Pole Vault - if you want lessons let me know and I'll see if we can arrange some vaulting for TED 2009 ;)
My TED story

I managed to talk my way into TED global in 2005 - it was an amazing experience. I met some of the most interesting people there who were doing some amazing things. So upon hearing about the TED fellows program that was being launched this year I knew I had to try and apply. I was lucky enough to be selected as one of the new Fellows. I'm not sure what to expect from this year's conference, but as usual with TED I am prepared to be amazed.