July 13th, 2007

Dean Kamen on Design Responsibility

Every once in a while we get a glimpse of how amazing people view the world in such a way that we can’t help but see the world with new eyes ourselves…

“There is a disproportionate capability among people on this planet to solve problems. We certainly can’t expect most of the people who don’t have the resources to be the ones who supply the solutions. That makes you a very small minority. I heard different definitions of “minority,” but educated people who understand the laws of nature, the rules of engineering, or the laws of man and economics and finance and politics and democracy are an incredibly small minority on this planet, and they have a huge advantage in the leverage and the control they have over the world’s physical and political environment. You don’t have to be an historian to know most of the time that leverage is used to help the rich get richer. You are able to think about how your education is going to enrich you.

You also ought to remember that if you are going to solve all problems that we’re facing in this world, it’s unlikely that the people and ideas that got us to where we are, are either the people or ideas that are going to get us to a different place. It’s going to require new people with new ideas [applause]. And that would be you.”

…

“We’re moving from a world of stuff, from the idea that there’s a finite amount of gold out there, a finite amount of almost anything out there. Throughout all of history, people fought over stuff: land, fuel, stuff. But in your generation, the most value that will be created isn’t stuff anymore. It really is ideas. The Internet is an abstraction, and the value of Google exceeds the value of all the car makers. In a world that’s about ideas, it’s not a zero-sum game. You don’t have to win by someone else losing, where you have the gold or oil or water, and somebody else doesn’t.

In a world of ideas, you all create and share those ideas and everybody has more ideas in the end, whether it’s a cure for cancer, or a way to make water drinkable, or a way to make energy that’s non-polluting. And whether you like it or not, you are moving for the first time into a world where ideas matter more than all the stuff there is. But those ideas have to come from educated people and they have to be used as a tool and not as a weapon. That’s the biggest change that’s happening.”

From his 2007 commencement speech at Bates College.

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Comments ( 5 Responses so far )

1. Gong Szeto on July 13th, 2007 (Comment) #

thanks so very much for posting this - i found it really inspiring and i hope it circulates around a lot. he’s utterly right.

2. Daniel Szuc on July 14th, 2007 (Comment) #

Sharing ideas and knowledge to help ALL people. Wonderful!

3. Zoe Marmara on July 17th, 2007 (Comment) #

Although it generates self-awareness about the responsibility that educated people have over the ones who lack basic goods, one must admit his speech implies some kind of a new economy hierarchy. Don’t you think? Besides, the emphasis given on “the ideas must come from educated people” somehow divides people - sounds like a discrimination that is being accepted silently: Educated and non-educated people. Which comes to the meaning of education and what is nowadays accepted as such… Well, we’ve probably made the world a pretty confused place. The good thing is, confusion usually produces a lot of ideas… I hope you don’t mind a little bit of consciousness. Good luck with your new business Joshua!

4. Michael Chui on July 18th, 2007 (Comment) #

Of course he’s dividing people. Educated people are a minority and, as he says, most people are not educated. A couple months ago, I attended a talk on Yunus and Grameen Bank, and one of the most poignant things I said was that people don’t have jobs. Jobs are a luxury. This isn’t a question of unemployment; people labor to survive. They don’t have jobs; they have work.

You need an education to have a job.

5. Brendan Sheppard on August 8th, 2007 (Comment) #

what he is talking about here is the change in what drives our econmoy. it is no longer dominated and driven by industry but by knowledge and ideas (The Knowledge Economy). the countries that have the newest ideas which improve society’s quality of life are the ones that flourish. there is a different competition out there now, not so much for resources but idea generation.

I’m not sure i agree entirely with the comment on ideas having to come from educated people. to what degree do people have to be educated before their ideas are recognised? How many people are innovators and designers with no more than a School Certificate behind them?

Dean Kamen on Design Responsibility

Comments ( 5 Responses so far )

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