0:00:09.480,0:00:11.974 It is a delight to be here. 0:00:11.994,0:00:15.101 I worked on my speech[br]at 4 in the morning last night. 0:00:15.176,0:00:16.415 (Laughter) 0:00:16.436,0:00:19.202 And I think it's part[br]of this criptic code. 0:00:20.008,0:00:21.719 I want to talk about technology. 0:00:21.739,0:00:24.815 Technology surround us, it's everywhere, 0:00:24.834,0:00:26.660 it fills our lives, 0:00:26.681,0:00:29.867 a lot of us work[br]at making more tachnology. 0:00:30.393,0:00:34.131 The first [letter][br]of this conference, TED, 0:00:34.152,0:00:36.084 stands for technology. 0:00:36.104,0:00:38.529 And yet, I don't think we really know[br]what it is. 0:00:38.600,0:00:41.599 I want to talk about my investigations 0:00:41.600,0:00:45.685 into what technology means in our lives - 0:00:45.767,0:00:48.766 not just our immediate life,[br]but in the cosmic sense, 0:00:48.800,0:00:51.799 in the kind of long history of the world 0:00:51.800,0:00:54.779 and our place in the world: 0:00:54.780,0:00:56.779 What is this stuff? 0:00:56.800,0:00:58.799 What is the significance? 0:00:58.800,0:01:00.799 And so, I want to kind of go through 0:01:00.800,0:01:02.799 my little story of what I found out. 0:01:02.800,0:01:05.658 And one of the first things[br]that I started to investigate was 0:01:05.678,0:01:08.799 the history of the name of technology. 0:01:08.800,0:01:11.705 And in the United States[br]there is a State of the Union address 0:01:11.725,0:01:14.360 given by every president since 1790. 0:01:14.380,0:01:19.558 So we have 220[br]State of the Union addresses. 0:01:19.680,0:01:22.679 And each one of those is really kind of 0:01:22.700,0:01:24.699 summing up the most important things 0:01:24.700,0:01:26.699 for the United States at that time. 0:01:27.303,0:01:30.438 If you search for the word "technology," 0:01:30.478,0:01:32.679 it was not used until 1952. 0:01:33.684,0:01:37.155 So, technology was sort of absent[br]from everybody's thinking 0:01:37.181,0:01:39.746 until 1952, which happened to be[br]the year of my birth. 0:01:39.746,0:01:41.270 And obviously, technology 0:01:41.311,0:01:44.004 had existed before then,[br]but we weren't aware of it, 0:01:44.036,0:01:46.129 and so it was sort of an awakening 0:01:46.130,0:01:48.699 of this force in our life. 0:01:49.900,0:01:54.662 I actually did research to find that[br]the first use of the word "technology" 0:01:54.701,0:01:56.963 was in 1829, 0:01:57.319,0:02:01.422 and it was invented by a guy[br]who was starting a curriculum, 0:02:01.500,0:02:03.499 a course, bringing together all the kinds 0:02:03.500,0:02:06.499 of arts and crafts, and industry - 0:02:06.500,0:02:08.499 and he called it "Technology." 0:02:08.500,0:02:10.500 And that's the very first use of the word. 0:02:10.912,0:02:14.563 Obviously this thing in our life[br]has been going on a lot earlier. 0:02:14.620,0:02:16.599 So, what is this stuff 0:02:16.600,0:02:19.599 that we're all consumed by, 0:02:19.600,0:02:21.916 and bothered by? 0:02:22.068,0:02:24.384 Alan Kay calls it, "Technology is anything 0:02:24.424,0:02:26.599 that was invented after you were born." 0:02:26.600,0:02:27.599 (Laughter) 0:02:27.600,0:02:31.599 Which is sort of the idea that we[br]normally have about what technology is: 0:02:31.600,0:02:33.599 It's all that new stuff. 0:02:33.600,0:02:35.599 It's not roads, or penicillin, 0:02:36.330,0:02:39.599 or factory tires; it's the new stuff. 0:02:39.600,0:02:42.574 My friend Danny Hillis[br]says kind of a similar one, 0:02:42.629,0:02:45.510 he says, "Technology is anything[br]that doesn't work yet." 0:02:45.600,0:02:47.648 Which is, again, a sense[br]that it's all new. 0:02:47.668,0:02:49.599 But we know that it's just not new. 0:02:49.600,0:02:52.077 It actually goes way back,[br]and what I want to suggest 0:02:52.097,0:02:55.599 is it goes a long way back. 0:02:55.600,0:02:58.348 So, another way to think about technology,[br]what it means, 0:02:58.348,0:03:00.359 is to imagine a world without technology. 0:03:00.359,0:03:03.934 If we were to eliminate every single bit[br]of technology in the world today - 0:03:03.934,0:03:05.479 and I mean everything, 0:03:05.479,0:03:09.199 from blades to scrapers to cloth - 0:03:09.200,0:03:12.199 we as a species would not live very long. 0:03:12.200,0:03:15.199 We would die by the billions,[br]and very quickly: 0:03:16.846,0:03:20.243 The wolves would get us,[br]we would be defenseless, 0:03:20.300,0:03:23.299 we would be unable to grow enough food,[br]or find enough food. 0:03:23.300,0:03:27.299 Even the hunter-gatherers[br]used some elementary tools. 0:03:27.300,0:03:29.299 And so, they had minimal technology, 0:03:29.300,0:03:31.299 but they had some technology. 0:03:31.300,0:03:34.299 And if we study those[br]hunter-gatherer tribes 0:03:34.300,0:03:38.122 and the Neanderthal,[br]which are very similar to early man, 0:03:38.143,0:03:41.539 we find out a very curious thing[br]about this world without technology, 0:03:41.559,0:03:44.299 and this is a kind of a curve[br]of their average age. 0:03:44.300,0:03:48.130 There are no Neanderthal fossils[br]that are older than 40 years old 0:03:48.599,0:03:50.099 that we've ever found, 0:03:50.100,0:03:52.099 and the average age of most of these 0:03:52.100,0:03:54.503 hunter-gatherer tribes is 20 to 30. 0:03:54.524,0:03:57.523 There are very few young infants 0:03:57.544,0:04:00.973 because they die - high mortality rate[br]- and there's very few old people. 0:04:01.017,0:04:04.813 And so the profile is sort of for your[br]average San Francisco neighborhood: 0:04:04.845,0:04:06.115 a lot of young people. 0:04:06.147,0:04:09.184 And if you go there, you say,[br]"Hey, everybody's really healthy." 0:04:09.184,0:04:11.094 Well, that's because they're all young. 0:04:11.094,0:04:14.144 And the same thing with[br]the hunter-gatherer tribes and early man 0:04:14.144,0:04:16.299 is that you didn't live[br]beyond the age of 30. 0:04:16.299,0:04:18.279 So, it was a world without grandparents. 0:04:18.279,0:04:20.073 And grandparents are very important, 0:04:20.073,0:04:23.440 because they are the transmitter[br]of cultural evolution and information. 0:04:23.461,0:04:26.460 Imagine a world and basically[br]everybody was 20 to 30 years old. 0:04:26.486,0:04:28.317 How much learning can you do? 0:04:28.317,0:04:30.638 You can't do very much[br]learning in your own life, 0:04:30.659,0:04:31.915 it's so short, 0:04:31.949,0:04:34.740 and there's nobody to pass on[br]what you do learn. 0:04:36.134,0:04:37.333 So, that's one aspect. 0:04:37.354,0:04:38.627 It was a very short life. 0:04:38.675,0:04:41.511 But at the same time anthropologists know 0:04:41.624,0:04:44.134 that most hunter-gatherer tribes[br]of the world, 0:04:44.219,0:04:46.931 with that very little technology,[br]actually did not spend 0:04:46.989,0:04:49.844 a very long time gathering the food[br]that they needed: 0:04:49.865,0:04:52.044 three to six hours a day. 0:04:52.100,0:04:55.942 Some anthropologists call that[br]the original affluent society. 0:04:56.649,0:04:59.038 Because they had banker hours basically. 0:04:59.101,0:05:02.602 So, it was possible to get enough food. 0:05:03.500,0:05:05.499 But when the scarcity came 0:05:05.500,0:05:07.643 when the highs and lows[br]and the droughts came, 0:05:07.663,0:05:10.499 then people went into starvation. 0:05:10.500,0:05:12.500 And that's why they didn't live very long. 0:05:12.520,0:05:14.499 So, what technology brought, 0:05:14.500,0:05:19.499 through the very simple tools[br]like these stone tools here - 0:05:19.500,0:05:21.499 even something as small as this - 0:05:21.500,0:05:23.548 the early bands of humans[br]were actually able 0:05:23.568,0:05:26.499 to eliminate to extinction 0:05:26.500,0:05:30.499 about 250 megafauna animals 0:05:30.499,0:05:33.927 in North America when they first arrived[br]10,000 years ago. 0:05:33.948,0:05:36.512 So, within several generations, 0:05:36.532,0:05:38.532 a couple thousands of years, 0:05:38.552,0:05:42.515 that little bit of technology [br]eliminated all those animals, 0:05:42.535,0:05:46.380 so we've been actually affecting[br]the planet on a grand scale 0:05:46.400,0:05:48.400 from a very early age. 0:05:51.480,0:05:53.479 So, long before the industrial age 0:05:53.500,0:05:56.499 we've been affecting the planet[br]on a global scale, 0:05:56.500,0:05:58.499 with just a small amount of technology. 0:05:58.500,0:06:01.499 The other thing[br]that the early man invented was fire. 0:06:02.500,0:06:04.500 And fire was used to clear out, and again, 0:06:04.520,0:06:08.499 affected the ecology of grass[br]and whole continents, 0:06:08.500,0:06:10.472 and was used in cooking. 0:06:10.507,0:06:13.083 It enabled us to actually eat[br]all kinds of things. 0:06:13.104,0:06:15.773 It was sort of, in a certain sense,[br]in a McLuhan sense, 0:06:15.773,0:06:17.313 an external stomach, 0:06:17.334,0:06:20.959 in the sense that it was cooking food[br]that we could not eat otherwise. 0:06:21.004,0:06:23.970 And if we don't have fire,[br]we actually could not live. 0:06:24.094,0:06:27.499 Our bodies have adapted[br]to these new diets. 0:06:27.500,0:06:30.499 Our bodies have changed[br]in the last 10,000 years. 0:06:30.500,0:06:33.248 So, with that little bit of technology, 0:06:33.317,0:06:35.629 humans went from a small band[br]of 10,000 or so - 0:06:35.692,0:06:37.740 the same number[br]as Neanderthals everywhere - 0:06:37.760,0:06:39.499 and we suddenly exploded. 0:06:39.500,0:06:42.109 With the invention of language[br]around 50,000 years ago, 0:06:42.109,0:06:43.829 the number of humans exploded, 0:06:43.829,0:06:46.879 and very quickly became[br]the dominant species on the planet. 0:06:46.879,0:06:50.499 And they migrated into the rest[br]of the world at two kilometers per year 0:06:50.500,0:06:53.499 until, within several[br]tens of thousands of years, 0:06:53.500,0:06:55.787 we occupied every single[br]watershed on the planet 0:06:55.787,0:06:57.619 and became the most dominant species, 0:06:57.619,0:06:59.499 with a very small amount of technology. 0:06:59.500,0:07:02.499 And even at that time,[br]with the introduction of agriculture, 0:07:02.500,0:07:04.499 8,000, 10,000 years ago 0:07:04.500,0:07:06.499 we started to see climate change. 0:07:06.500,0:07:08.499 So, climate change is not a new thing. 0:07:08.500,0:07:10.499 What's new is just the degree of it. 0:07:10.500,0:07:13.499 Even during the agricultural age[br]there was climate change. 0:07:13.500,0:07:15.500 And so, already small amounts[br]of technology 0:07:15.520,0:07:17.499 were transforming the world. 0:07:17.500,0:07:19.616 And what this means,[br]and where I'm going, 0:07:19.616,0:07:23.499 is that technology has become[br]the most powerful force in the world. 0:07:23.500,0:07:25.499 All the things that we see today 0:07:25.500,0:07:28.006 that are changing our lives,[br]we can always trace back 0:07:28.006,0:07:30.098 to the introduction[br]of some new technology. 0:07:30.098,0:07:33.499 So, it's a force[br]that is the most powerful force 0:07:33.500,0:07:36.383 that has been unleashed on this planet, 0:07:37.251,0:07:40.788 and in such a degree that I think 0:07:40.979,0:07:45.474 that it's become who we are. 0:07:46.150,0:07:49.513 In fact, our humanity, and everything[br]that we think about ourselves 0:07:49.513,0:07:51.132 is something that we've invented. 0:07:51.158,0:07:52.596 So, we've invented ourselves. 0:07:52.596,0:07:54.746 Of all the animals[br]that we have domesticated, 0:07:54.746,0:07:57.082 the most important animal[br]that we've domesticated 0:07:57.082,0:07:58.319 has been us. Okay? 0:07:58.319,0:08:01.271 So, humanity is our greatest invention. 0:08:01.500,0:08:03.499 But of course we're not done yet. 0:08:03.500,0:08:06.929 We're still inventing, and this is[br]what technology is allowing us to do - 0:08:06.949,0:08:09.499 it's continually to reinvent ourselves. 0:08:09.500,0:08:12.044 It's a very, very strong force. 0:08:12.092,0:08:15.282 I call this entire thing -[br]us humans as our technology, 0:08:15.353,0:08:19.064 everything that we've made,[br]gadgets in our lives - 0:08:19.064,0:08:20.404 we call that the technium. 0:08:20.404,0:08:22.116 That's this world. 0:08:22.936,0:08:24.819 My working definition of technology 0:08:24.830,0:08:27.829 is "anything useful[br]that a human mind makes." 0:08:29.000,0:08:33.679 It's not just hammers and gadgets,[br]like laptops. 0:08:33.759,0:08:35.499 But it's also law. 0:08:35.519,0:08:38.158 The system of law is a kind of technology. 0:08:38.179,0:08:43.378 And of course cities are ways[br]to make things more useful to us. 0:08:44.154,0:08:47.525 But - and this is the point of my talk - 0:08:48.299,0:08:50.585 While this is something[br]that comes from our mind, 0:08:50.606,0:08:53.299 it also has its roots deeply 0:08:53.300,0:08:55.299 into the cosmos. 0:08:55.300,0:08:56.639 It goes back. 0:08:56.639,0:08:59.489 The origins and roots of technology[br]go back to the Big Bang, 0:08:59.489,0:09:03.285 in this way, in that they are part of this[br]self-organizing thread 0:09:03.300,0:09:05.299 that starts at the Big Bang 0:09:05.300,0:09:08.299 and goes through galaxies and stars, 0:09:08.300,0:09:10.010 into life, into us. 0:09:10.041,0:09:12.359 And the three major phases[br]of the early universe 0:09:12.383,0:09:14.584 was energy, when the dominant force[br]was energy; 0:09:14.605,0:09:17.492 then as it cooled[br]the dominant force became matter; 0:09:17.512,0:09:21.030 and then, with the invention of life,[br]four billion years ago, 0:09:21.030,0:09:23.809 the dominant force in our neighborhood[br]became information. 0:09:23.809,0:09:26.069 That's what life is:[br]It's an information process 0:09:26.069,0:09:28.299 that was restructuring[br]and making new order. 0:09:28.300,0:09:31.965 So, those energy, matter[br]Einstein show were equivalent, 0:09:31.965,0:09:35.059 and now new sciences of quantum computing 0:09:35.059,0:09:39.165 show that entropy and information[br]and matter and energy 0:09:39.165,0:09:42.492 are all interrelated,[br]so it's one long continuum. 0:09:43.300,0:09:46.299 You put energy[br]into the right kind of system 0:09:46.300,0:09:49.299 and out comes wasted heat, entropy 0:09:49.300,0:09:52.299 and extropy, which is order. 0:09:52.300,0:09:54.299 It's the increased order. 0:09:54.300,0:09:56.872 Where does this order come from?[br]Its roots go way back. 0:09:56.892,0:09:58.299 We actually don't know. 0:09:58.300,0:10:01.299 But we do know[br]that the self-organization trend 0:10:01.300,0:10:03.299 throughout the universe is long, 0:10:03.300,0:10:05.299 and it began with things like galaxies; 0:10:05.300,0:10:08.299 they maintained their order[br]for billions of years. 0:10:08.300,0:10:12.299 Stars are basically[br]nuclear fusion machines 0:10:12.300,0:10:15.539 that self-organize and self-sustain[br]themselves for billions of years, 0:10:15.540,0:10:17.958 this order against the entropy[br]of the world. 0:10:18.375,0:10:23.299 And flowers and plants[br]are the same thing, extended, 0:10:23.300,0:10:27.019 and technology is basically[br]an extension of life. 0:10:29.226,0:10:32.273 One trend that we notice[br]in all those things is that 0:10:32.300,0:10:34.726 the amount of energy per gram per second 0:10:34.800,0:10:37.799 that flows through this,[br]is actually increasing. 0:10:37.800,0:10:42.132 The amount of energy is increasing[br]through this little sequence. 0:10:42.153,0:10:46.180 And that the amount of energy per gram[br]per second that flows through life 0:10:46.196,0:10:48.172 is actually greater than a star - 0:10:48.204,0:10:51.203 because of the star's long lifespan, 0:10:51.308,0:10:54.497 the energy density in life[br]is actually higher than a star. 0:10:54.553,0:10:57.552 And the energy density[br]that we see in the greatest 0:10:57.585,0:11:00.090 of anywhere in the universe[br]is actually in a PC chip. 0:11:00.149,0:11:03.148 There is more energy flowing through,[br]per gram per second, 0:11:03.212,0:11:06.211 than anything that we have[br]any other experience with. 0:11:06.315,0:11:09.314 What I would suggest[br]is that if you want to see 0:11:09.335,0:11:13.781 where technology is going,[br]we continue that trajectory, 0:11:13.781,0:11:17.005 and we say, "Well what's going to become[br]more energy-dense, 0:11:17.053,0:11:18.283 that's where it's going." 0:11:18.304,0:11:21.219 And so what I've done is, [br]I've taken the same kinds of things 0:11:21.243,0:11:22.799 and looked at other aspects 0:11:22.800,0:11:24.502 of evolutionary life and say, 0:11:24.542,0:11:27.034 "What are the general trends[br]in evolutionary life?" 0:11:27.074,0:11:29.232 And there are things moving towards 0:11:29.300,0:11:32.177 greater complexity,[br]moving towards greater diversity, 0:11:32.225,0:11:34.727 moving towards greater specialization, 0:11:34.791,0:11:38.974 sentience, ubiquity and most important,[br]evolvability: 0:11:39.148,0:11:42.609 Those very same things[br]are also present in technology. 0:11:42.630,0:11:44.629 That's where technology is going. 0:11:44.648,0:11:48.730 It is moving towards more complexity,[br]diversity, specialization, 0:11:48.751,0:11:50.751 more mindfulness 0:11:51.001,0:11:52.771 more evolvability. 0:11:52.810,0:11:57.161 In fact, technology is accelerating[br]all the aspects of life, 0:11:57.522,0:12:00.570 and we can see that happening;[br]just as there's diversity in life, 0:12:00.613,0:12:03.178 there's more diversity in things we make. 0:12:03.178,0:12:05.310 Things in life start out[br]being general cell, 0:12:05.319,0:12:07.728 and they become specialized:[br]you have tissue cells, 0:12:07.728,0:12:09.200 you have muscle, brain cells. 0:12:09.200,0:12:12.521 And same things happens with, say[br]a hammer, which is general at first 0:12:12.521,0:12:13.921 and becomes more specific. 0:12:13.921,0:12:17.501 So, I would like to say[br]that while there is six kingdoms of life, 0:12:17.522,0:12:19.513 we can think of technology basically 0:12:19.534,0:12:21.533 as a seventh kingdom of life. 0:12:21.593,0:12:23.762 It's a branching off from the human form. 0:12:23.800,0:12:25.799 But technology has its own agenda, 0:12:25.800,0:12:27.799 like anything, like life itself. 0:12:28.809,0:12:32.713 For instance, right now, three-quarters[br]of the energy that we use 0:12:32.767,0:12:34.863 is actually used[br]to feed the technium itself. 0:12:34.920,0:12:37.569 In transportation,[br]it's not to move us, it's to move 0:12:37.615,0:12:39.688 the stuff that we make or buy. 0:12:40.969,0:12:43.577 On one hand, technology [unclear] 0:12:43.597,0:12:46.649 on the other hand, it's blessing us[br]with all kinds of things. 0:12:46.800,0:12:49.835 I use the word "want."[br]Technology wants. 0:12:49.922,0:12:52.939 This is a robot that wants[br]to plug itself in to get more power. 0:12:52.939,0:12:55.760 Your cat wants more food. 0:12:55.843,0:12:58.799 A bacterium,[br]which has no consciousness at all, 0:12:58.800,0:13:00.799 wants to move towards light. 0:13:00.800,0:13:03.063 It has an urge,[br]and technology has an urge. 0:13:03.084,0:13:05.180 At the same time,[br]it wants to give us things, 0:13:05.201,0:13:07.658 and what it gives us[br]is basically progress. 0:13:07.679,0:13:10.584 You can take all kinds of curves,[br]and they're all pointing up. 0:13:10.606,0:13:12.680 There's really no dispute about progress, 0:13:12.760,0:13:15.905 if we discount the cost of that. 0:13:15.982,0:13:18.397 And that's the thing[br]that bothers most people, 0:13:18.439,0:13:20.397 is that progress is really real, 0:13:20.459,0:13:24.458 but we wonder and question:[br]What are the environmental costs of it? 0:13:24.478,0:13:28.382 But there's no doubt about it,[br]that it really is present and gives us. 0:13:28.403,0:13:32.294 I did a survey of a number of species[br]of artifacts in my house, 0:13:32.349,0:13:33.348 and there's 6,000. 0:13:33.369,0:13:35.368 Other people have come up with 10,000. 0:13:35.500,0:13:38.499 When King Henry of England died, 0:13:38.500,0:13:41.814 he had 18,000 things in his house, 0:13:42.300,0:13:45.299 but that was the entire wealth of England. 0:13:47.100,0:13:49.806 And with that entire wealth of England, 0:13:49.827,0:13:53.021 King Henry could not buy any antibiotics, 0:13:53.052,0:13:54.632 he could not buy refrigeration, 0:13:54.689,0:13:56.737 he could not buy a trip[br]of a thousand miles. 0:13:56.758,0:13:59.769 Whereas this rickshaw wallah in India 0:13:59.814,0:14:01.813 could save up and buy antibiotics 0:14:01.834,0:14:03.721 and he could buy refrigeration. 0:14:03.738,0:14:07.162 He could buy things that King Henry,[br]in all his wealth, could never buy. 0:14:07.162,0:14:08.854 That's what progress is about. 0:14:08.901,0:14:11.655 So, technology is selfish;[br]technology is generous. 0:14:11.655,0:14:15.298 That conflict, that tension,[br]will be with us forever, 0:14:15.298,0:14:17.714 that sometimes it wants to do[br]what it wants to do, 0:14:17.714,0:14:19.911 and sometimes[br]it's going to do things for us. 0:14:19.911,0:14:22.326 And that's where we get [br]this sort of feeling, 0:14:24.551,0:14:28.099 we have confusion about what[br]we should think about a new technology. 0:14:28.100,0:14:29.800 Right now the default position 0:14:29.800,0:14:32.079 about when a new technology[br]comes along, is - 0:14:32.100,0:14:34.243 people talk about[br]the precautionary principle, 0:14:34.263,0:14:36.567 which is very common in Europe, 0:14:36.588,0:14:38.718 which says, basically, "Don't do anything. 0:14:38.762,0:14:40.741 When you meet a new technology, stop, 0:14:40.782,0:14:43.194 until it can be proven[br]that there's no harm." 0:14:43.216,0:14:45.559 I think that really leads nowhere. 0:14:45.580,0:14:48.407 But a better way is to,[br]what I call proactionary principle, 0:14:48.460,0:14:51.002 which is: you engage with technology. 0:14:51.023,0:14:52.375 You try it out. 0:14:52.401,0:14:56.558 You obviously do[br]what the precautionary principle suggests, 0:14:56.579,0:14:59.299 you try to anticipate it,[br]but after anticipating it, 0:14:59.320,0:15:00.942 you constantly asses it, 0:15:01.005,0:15:02.879 not just once, but eternally. 0:15:02.957,0:15:05.956 And when it diverts from what you want, 0:15:06.700,0:15:09.839 we prioritize risk,[br]we evaluate not just the new stuff 0:15:09.862,0:15:11.246 but the old stuff. 0:15:11.300,0:15:14.299 We fix it, but most importantly,[br]we relocate it. 0:15:14.900,0:15:16.899 And what I mean by that is that 0:15:16.900,0:15:18.879 we find a new job for it. 0:15:21.018,0:15:24.489 Technologies are sort of like children. 0:15:25.000,0:15:29.276 Nuclear energy, fission,[br]is really bad idea for bombs. 0:15:29.316,0:15:32.249 But it may be a pretty good idea - 0:15:32.384,0:15:35.735 relocated into[br]sustainable nuclear energy - 0:15:36.200,0:15:38.825 for electricity, instead of burning coal. 0:15:38.890,0:15:42.904 When we have a bad idea,[br]the response to a bad idea 0:15:42.925,0:15:45.924 is not no ideas,[br]it's not to stop thinking. 0:15:46.980,0:15:49.817 The response to a bad idea - 0:15:50.055,0:15:51.999 like, say, a tungsten light bulb - 0:15:52.000,0:15:53.999 is a better idea. OK? 0:15:54.999,0:15:58.658 So, better ideas is really -[br]always the response 0:15:58.679,0:16:00.203 to technology that we don't like 0:16:00.243,0:16:02.586 is basically, better technology. 0:16:02.636,0:16:04.332 And actually, in a certain sense, 0:16:04.358,0:16:08.008 technology is a kind of a method[br]for generating better ideas, 0:16:08.016,0:16:09.794 if you can think about it that way. 0:16:09.794,0:16:12.850 So, maybe spraying DDT on crops[br]is a really bad idea. 0:16:12.873,0:16:16.094 But DDT sprayed on local homes, 0:16:17.506,0:16:20.606 there's nothing better[br]to eliminate malaria, 0:16:20.628,0:16:24.154 besides insect DDT-impregnated[br]mosquito nets. 0:16:24.382,0:16:27.685 But that's a really good idea;[br]that's a good job for technology. 0:16:27.720,0:16:29.493 So, our job as humans 0:16:29.541,0:16:32.024 is to parent our mind children, 0:16:32.754,0:16:34.599 to find them good friends, 0:16:34.600,0:16:36.429 to find them a good job. 0:16:36.472,0:16:38.945 And so, every technology[br]is sort of a creative force 0:16:38.993,0:16:40.543 looking for the right job. 0:16:40.600,0:16:42.599 That's actually my son, right here. 0:16:42.600,0:16:44.079 (Laughter) 0:16:44.359,0:16:46.843 There are no bad technologies, 0:16:46.864,0:16:48.748 just as there are no bad children. 0:16:48.793,0:16:51.535 We don't say children are neutral,[br]children are positive. 0:16:51.535,0:16:53.917 We just have to find them the right place. 0:16:54.000,0:16:56.866 And so, what technology gives us, 0:16:56.896,0:16:59.787 over the long term,[br]over the sort of extended evolution - 0:16:59.811,0:17:01.342 from the beginning of time, 0:17:01.378,0:17:05.117 through the invention[br]of the plants and animals, 0:17:05.142,0:17:08.141 and the evolution of life,[br]the evolution of brains - 0:17:08.162,0:17:10.285 what that is constantly giving us 0:17:10.319,0:17:14.173 what technology is giving us[br]after we weigh the pros and cons, 0:17:14.387,0:17:19.343 is increasing differences -[br]which was mentioned this morning - 0:17:20.000,0:17:22.409 it's increasing diversity,[br]it's increasing options, 0:17:22.409,0:17:24.499 it's increasing choices, opportunities, 0:17:24.500,0:17:26.499 possibilities and freedoms. 0:17:26.500,0:17:29.499 That's what we get from technology[br]all the time. 0:17:29.500,0:17:31.499 That's why people leave villages 0:17:31.500,0:17:33.643 and go into cities,[br]is because they are always 0:17:33.663,0:17:37.499 gravitating towards[br]increased choices and possibilities. 0:17:37.500,0:17:39.916 And we are aware of the price. 0:17:39.916,0:17:42.869 We pay a price for that,[br]but we are aware of it, and generally 0:17:42.869,0:17:45.026 we will pay the price[br]for increased freedoms, 0:17:45.026,0:17:46.943 choices and opportunities. 0:17:46.968,0:17:49.967 Even technology wants clean water. 0:17:51.351,0:17:53.350 Is technology[br]diametrically opposed 0:17:55.369,0:17:57.778 to nature? 0:17:58.735,0:18:01.787 I have a couple of slides, [br]two slildes left - 0:18:01.807,0:18:06.018 I would say high technology [br]needs clean water 0:18:06.038,0:18:08.474 as much as we do, if not more than we do. 0:18:08.563,0:18:11.399 Because technology[br]is an extension of life, 0:18:11.400,0:18:14.324 it's in parallel and aligned[br]with the same things 0:18:14.364,0:18:16.399 that life wants. 0:18:16.400,0:18:18.399 So that I think technology loves biology, 0:18:18.400,0:18:20.399 if we allow it to. 0:18:20.419,0:18:24.652 So, all these things - complexity,[br]diversity - are the long strand, 0:18:24.701,0:18:29.731 the great movement[br]that is starting billions of years ago 0:18:29.900,0:18:31.948 is moving through us[br]and it continues to go, 0:18:31.968,0:18:34.295 and our choice, so to speak, 0:18:34.316,0:18:36.843 in technology,[br]is really to align ourselves 0:18:36.901,0:18:38.949 with this force much greater[br]than ourselves. 0:18:38.969,0:18:41.899 So, technology is more[br]than just the stuff in your pocket. 0:18:41.900,0:18:43.234 It's more than just gadgets; 0:18:43.235,0:18:45.378 it's more than just things[br]that people invent. 0:18:45.398,0:18:47.899 It's actually part of a very long story, 0:18:47.900,0:18:50.610 a great story,[br]that began billions of years ago. 0:18:50.610,0:18:53.039 And it's moving through us,[br]this self-organization, 0:18:53.039,0:18:55.069 and we're extending and accelerating it, 0:18:55.069,0:18:57.491 and we can be part of it[br]by aligning the technology 0:18:57.491,0:18:58.899 that we make with it. 0:18:59.664,0:19:02.899 I really appreciate your attention today.[br]Thank you. 0:19:02.920,0:19:05.521 (Applause)