As head of TED, Chris Anderson has had a ringside view of the world’s most influential thinkers. TED’s annual conference in Vancouver sees thousands of delegates flock from across the world to hear presentations from pre-eminent scientists, artists, entrepreneurs, political leaders and CEOs on the biggest issues of the day. The first TED talk posted online was in 2006, during a relatively optimistic period in recent history. But in recent years Anderson has seen the tone of the talks delivered at TED shift as experts warn of the unprecedented dangers and risks posed by artificial intelligence, climate change, war and other tectonic shifts in our world.

On Tuesday February 20, Anderson comes to Intelligence Squared in conversation with author and filmmaker Jon Ronson to argue that despite these challenges we can turn fear back into optimism. Drawing from his new book Infectious Generosity he will argue that there is so much to be positive about in our world and that good things happen when we start to incorporate the most fundamental of human virtues into our lives: generosity. Join Anderson and Ronson for an evening of insight and optimism in the face of fear and cynicism.