November 12, 2011
Today at the Chan Centre I watched 15 speakers, all with
inspiring endeavours that they have experienced or created, most often with the
use of technology, but not always. As I
look back on the day it is very clear that the overall message was about youth
taking action.
The audience was filled with university students, so
striking was the young demographic in attendance. I wondered how so many hundreds could afford
the price of the ticket! The stage
set-up was extremely unusual; perhaps you could call it “art techno.” I saw a large silver orb, sitting on the
apron of the stage, a set of giant baby blocks, a life-sized model of a Canada
Goose family, a Roman bust lit by a giant gooseneck lamp, an empty picture
frame suspended from the ceiling, a chaise longue, an old red lantern, a piece
of art, hanging mid-air, with an arrangement of letters and numerals, an empty
hutch ornamented with a giant egg in a bowl, a new age mirror mounted on the
side of a ladder, and a red carpet.
There were photographers everywhere and a huge film camera, its boom
rising and falling, turning forward and back, panning the full house.
Lisa Johnson of
CBC hosted the event, the title of which was Frontiers. To start the day,
Lisa asked the audience, “Where are your frontiers?”
1) Reid Gower, the first speaker, sees
“the frontier” as now, not the future.
He said that it was only a matter of 66 years from the Wright Brothers’
attempts at flying to travel to the Moon.
The future is now. Inspired by the
work of Carl Sagan, Reid created a video series which addresses planetary and
space issues through poetry and music.
You can check out The Sagan Series
(Part I): The frontier is everywhere at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY59wZdCDo0.
2) Nolan Watson’s presentation began with
a shocking title, Compassion Kills. He sure knew how to grab attention! Watson says we are making critical mistakes
in the humanitarian directions we are taking, even though what we do stems from
deep compassion for others. He says we
need to become “smart” humanitarians, with a strong sense of purpose and
responsibility. He started his own organization
to do humanitarian work in Sierra Leone, but in his case, 100% of donations are
applied to the end cause. And how else
is he “smart?” He says that right now
compassionate projects are those that keep children alive – and while this is
important, of course, he thinks that the aims are extremely short-sighted. Yes, current donations can ease pain and save
lives, but these are not longterm solutions – in fact, this practice is
“deadly.” What results, he says, is
sustained dependence on the givers. He
says that our aims need to be, whatever the cause, that recipients become
independent of the charity. He says we should earmark donations to education and
skill-building which will allow recipients to create their own futures. Invest in Africans, not Africa. Don’t let the emotions of compassion override
the real work that needs doing. See: http://www.nationscry.com/
3) Marcin Jakubowski. This was a TED talk, projected on
screen. Marcin works with open-source
technology, used for ecological purposes.
He creates versions of tools and hardware that don’t cost as much as
name-brand products for farming, building, and manufacturing. These are DIY projects, do it yourself, even
things as complicated as tractors, as he uses an open business model by which
you can pick up all instructions on a CD.
In this way there is a huge distributorship and many more people
participating in developing their own culture.
Raising money to purchase this hardware is no longer necessary as people
in developing countries can have access to creating their own future. See: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/marcin_jakubowski.html
4) Seth Cooper is a games scientist. He creates video games that are used for
scientific discoveries that solve problems in the real world. The human brain plus computation work
together. Lab experiments are difficult
to fund, whereas these video games use experts and non-experts to play at
finding solutions. For example, there is
a game called Fold It which motivates
players to make the best folded protein, something deemed essential in the
world of science. The game requires both
human and computer skills, it’s challenging and fun. In studies it has been found that the human
element is extremely important, and in fact, humans do better than computers
with certain skills. In creating this
game and others, players around the world can work together or alone, but
problems with proteins are in fact being solved. The game changes over time, adjusting to what
becomes known and what remains a question.
Players can teach their strategies to the computer and to other
players. Using games can teach us how to
fight the flu, create materials, make better uses of energy, etc. Three criteria are required for game creation
– i) the problem must be computationally unsolvable, ii) human ability must be
required, and iii) important purpose must be evident. Games, it seems, can push the frontiers of
scientific discovery! See http://michaelgr.com/2008/05/11/fold-it-the-protein-folding-game/
5)
Romeo
Dallaire, retired general with the Canadian forces, survivor of the Rwandan
catastrophe, spoke very powerfully, his subject stated as empowering youth with technology. Dallaire tells us that the status quo is
something not sustainable. Things must
change. He called upon the youth of
Canada to shape the future, not just survive it, achieving their maximum
potential. He spoke of :
a) The environment, saying that there needs to be a communion
between us as humans and the environment.
We invest in weapons to protect, but we do not work towards
environmental protection. This he sees
as critical.
b) The area of technology and
communication. It’s almost universal
now that people have iPhones, etc. This
has led to revolutionary movements for freedom as we’ve seen with the Arab
Spring this year. But now, this same
technology gives us the ability to see what’s really going on all over the
world, all the atrocities. He asked what
our response is, knowing what we know.
80% of the world are people who live in massively abusive situations,
and unfortunately, these conditions
have led to extremism world-wide.
How do we prevent or shape or advance humanity? Dallaire says it’s the youth who must move
into activism in order to do this.
How?
1) Social Media – youth hold
the balance of power; get involved through social media, engage. The world is now small. You can influence the role of Canada in the
future. Keep in mind engagement,
activism, and influence. If all eligible
voters from the youth population actually voted, he said there could be
positive change in our country’s directions and actions.
2) NGO involvement – through NGO’s there is a great potential for
activism. He spoke of Clowns without
Borders, bringing laughter into places where no one laughs. See http://www.clownswithoutborders.org/
In these ways, Dallaire sees the possibility of shaping the future with
optimism.
6) Hassan Elahi, on another TED talk, has
created a method of creative problem solving using art and technology. He was
held and questioned by the FBI for six months and underwent nine polygraphs, all
but accused of terrorism. In fact, he
teaches at a Tampa university. In order
to please the authorities, he began to record his every move with images to
document his whereabouts and actions. He
now has 46,000 images of food, airports, toilets, etc. Out of a huge insult and obvious racial
profiling, he created a solution that gives the authorities what they want,
and, at the same time, has become a giant art project. He says he has a lot of privacy, in fact,
because once he’s recorded the detailed images for the day, he’s free to do
whatever he wants! In some way, he says,
he’s devaluing FBI info because he can provide so many more details than they
can collect! See: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/hasan_elahi.html
7) Jose Figaroa. Jose appeared at the TEDx talks to speak
up about the gross errors and poor treatment of our immigration authorities and
government. From El Salvador, he left
there to become a refugee in Canada during all the tumult there in the
1980’s. He now has received a
deportation order which will affect his life and family. The reason for the order, apparently, is
because he had once been a member of the FMLN, an organization created to fight
governmental repression in El Salvador.
After immigrating to Canada and being here for some time, his son was
diagnosed with autism, and now he really needs services in order to get proper
treatment. This would never be available
in El Salvador. However, the Canadian
government have accused him of belonging to a terrorist organization – the
FMLN. Strangely, that organization has
now become the government of El Salvador and has a diplomatic relationship with
Canada. Our system has not caught up
with this fact and Jose remains on the deportation list. It seems that part of his creative effort to
stay in Canada is to speak where there are people gathered, and perhaps those
people will take it upon themselves to speak up for him to the government. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farabundo_Mart%C3%AD_National_Liberation_Front
8) David Gallo, in another TED talk, showed
a video on bioluminescence which lights up creatures underwater, like
fireflies. We have explored only 3% of
underwater life in the ocean to date, and because of bioluminescence we’ve been
able to see more -- neurally-controlled coloration and close-ups of incredible
life forms. The cephalopods and their
design were featured in the video, especially remarkable for their camouflage. See: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/david_gallo_shows_underwater_astonishments.html
9) Dr. Kate Moran, director of the Neptune
Project, followed up on Gallo’s talk.
She says that we now have new ways of exploring the sea, which takes up
70% of the planet. She pointed out that
99% of Earth’s life forms live in the sea, quite a phenomenal statistic. She explained and pointed out the 1600 year
river flow around the globe which adjust climate and is adjusted by
climate. The oceans can absorb extra
heat from the greenhouse effect and also CO2, mitigating climate change. The old methods of photography from ships and
instruments is now outdated. Mavericks
have found new ways of connecting the internet to the ocean. Project Venus is working on the coastal
areas, and Project Neptune, offshore.
The sea is now lined with tens of kilometres of cables and instruments,
as well as the use of robots to instal and maintain those instruments. Videos with HD light can be filmed now so
that much more is identifiable – e.g. identification of species moving into
spawning sites, gas releasing through the ocean floor, active tectonics, black
smokers of minerals solidifying, and new life forms. Tsunamis can now be better predicted. Educationally, we can watch from home or
school digital fisheries. See http://www.neptunecanada.ca/
10) Charlie Todd has started a group called
Improv Everywhere. He is a comedian, but
a very creative one, trying to create more laughter in the world. He showed his video of seven guys getting on
a subway car, one at each of seven consecutive stops, all of whom were wearing
shorts in the middle of winter New York!
The video focused on a woman sitting in the subway car, reading a book,
and her reactions. She’s pretty
stonefaced at first, but once she has eye contact with another passenger, she
becomes much more animated. At an eighth
stop, someone gets on the train selling pants, and all seven jump up to say
that’s just what they need to buy! In
addition to creating NO PANT days, he created LOOK UP MORE, where he
surreptitiously directs people who are standing in all the windows of a
building to dance or point, Operation Best Buy, where he commissioned a huge
number of people to arrive at Best Buy wearing blue polo shirts and khakis (the
outfit of Best Buy clerks), and one for a particularly long subway escalator
called Rob wants to give you a high five!
Evenly spaced throughout the long ride up, are people, each with one of
several signs – 1) Rob 2) wants to 3) give you 4) a high five. The fifth sign says Rob with an arrow
pointing to the guy holding the sign.
This gives a laugh to the people coming down the escalator who get to
read all the signs.
11) Shahrzad Rafati is the CEO of broadband
TV. Born in Iran, her only media
influences were hero movies and cartoons.
They influenced her and entertained her when Iran was at war. At 17 she immigrated and tv became her
teacher for language and culture. She
was taken with the power of freedom of speech, something not valued in
Iran. She saw on tv what inspired her
and how she could make her life extraordinary.
She became an expert in the tv world.
She says that all those polls that seem to ask if tv is good or bad for
children are asking the wrong question.
She spoke of Daniel Anderson who says that tv can be positive if adults
ensure an enriching experience, turning kids on to programs of value. She says that we need to teach kids to make
good choices since statistics say that over a lifetime we will be watching 15
years of television!! See VISO Give
at http://broadbandtvcorp.com/viso-give
which showcases videos from non-profits and documentary film makers from around
the globe. For every video you watch on VISO Give, money is donated directly to that cause, so keep watching
and help make a difference with your online actions!
12) Eli Pariser, another TED talker, spoke
with a warning. He says that when we use
search engines online or just use the internet at all, choices come up based on
what that search engine sees as Relevance for you. It is the main way that your choices
appear. However, there is invisible web
editing by facebook and google and many others which filter your choices, only
certain ones appearing, depending upon your browser, your location and other
factors. The move is to personalize
things in a way that you’d find your likely choices listed, but you don’t get
to see what they’re leaving out. Even
netflicks has this same problem. They’re
doing the figuring for you. Certain of
your previous behaviours lead to an algorithmic solution that has no ethics
whatsoever. You must speak up to the
search engines that you want a much broader view with other parameters included -- Ask to see:
what’s Important, Challenging, Uncomfortable as well as Other Points of View. We need to stand up for a sense of
public responsibility and personal control.
See: http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html
13) Jer Thorp, data artist, currently works
for the New York Times. He spoke about
Hypercard and how it was designed for users to make their own programs. Suddenly, there’s nothing like this at
all. He urged that science, art and
design combine to allow people to share content on the internet and be able to
create their own programs again. He told
of his work in designing the memorial to 911.
Names are placed in connection with each other, co-workers together,
siblings together, embedding narratives in a very human way. Our histories are being stored on modern
devices like iPhones and we need to put the data into a human context along
with the technology. See ProjectCascade at
edlab.tc.columbia.edu, a data visualization tool for tracking twitter activity
around New York Times content. And https://openpaths.cc/ for more of Jer’s work.
14) Kara Pecknold, design instructor at
Emily Carr, pushes for the notion of using design to change the world. She says that when we think of design, we
need to be thinking beyond objects – action is needed. She cited Dr. John Snow, who mapped out a
cholera outbreak in London and was able to discover the source of it, thus
creating the opportunity for its removal and an end to the cholera
outbreak. She told us to turn ideas into
action through using the design process:
Discovery – what is the problem?
Definition – what do we need?
Development – what are the
opportunities, options?
Delivery – what action will be
taken?
She says we need to shift our thinking from expert knowing all, telling
all, to shared knowledge. All the
experts working together to create new solutions, these experts being the lay
people directly involved with the problem!
She did such a project with women in Africa to sell their basket
ware. Now, she’s working on a cycling
project in Vancouver which involves non-design students creating a way for people to realize
they want to buy a bike!
15) Stephen Slen and Aaron Coret, snowboarders
and best friends, spoke of their passion for snowboarding and the terrible
accident experienced by Aaron which changed his life forever. He is now a paraplegic. These two were so inspirational, as Aaron
realized while in hospital that he could give up on everything or find a way to
live a life of meaning. It was these two
who designed the “landing pod” used at the 2010 Olympics for the grand entrance
of snowboarders, etc. but the design was imagined by Aaron as a training tool,
a soft landing place that could be used in educating snowboarders and
preventing other terrible accidents like his.
