0:00:00.000,0:00:02.000
What I want to do today is to spend

0:00:02.000,0:00:04.000
some time talking about some stuff that's

0:00:04.000,0:00:06.000
sort of giving me a little bit of

0:00:06.000,0:00:09.000
existential angst, for lack of a better word,

0:00:09.000,0:00:11.000
over the past couple of years, and

0:00:11.000,0:00:14.000
basically, these three quotes

0:00:14.000,0:00:16.000
tell what's going on.

0:00:16.000,0:00:18.000
"When God made the color purple,

0:00:18.000,0:00:20.000
God was just showing off," Alice Walker

0:00:20.000,0:00:22.000
wrote in "The Color Purple," and

0:00:22.000,0:00:24.000
Zora Neale Hurston wrote in

0:00:24.000,0:00:26.000
"Dust Tracks On A Road,"

0:00:26.000,0:00:28.000
"Research is a formalized curiosity.

0:00:28.000,0:00:30.000
It's poking and prying with a purpose."

0:00:30.000,0:00:32.000
And then finally,

0:00:32.000,0:00:34.000
when I think about the near future,

0:00:34.000,0:00:36.000
you know, we have this attitude, well,

0:00:36.000,0:00:38.000
whatever happens, happens. Right?

0:00:38.000,0:00:40.000
So that goes along with the Chesire Cat

0:00:40.000,0:00:42.000
saying, "If you don't care much

0:00:42.000,0:00:44.000
where you want to get to,

0:00:44.000,0:00:46.000
it doesn't much matter which way you go."

0:00:46.000,0:00:48.000
But I think it does matter

0:00:48.000,0:00:50.000
which way we go, and what road we take,

0:00:50.000,0:00:52.000
because when I think about design in the

0:00:52.000,0:00:54.000
near future, what I think are the most

0:00:54.000,0:00:56.000
important issues, what's really

0:00:56.000,0:00:58.000
crucial and vital is that we need

0:00:58.000,0:01:00.000
to revitalize the arts and sciences

0:01:00.000,0:01:03.000
right now in 2002.

0:01:03.000,0:01:08.000
(Applause)

0:01:08.000,0:01:10.000
If we describe the near future

0:01:10.000,0:01:12.000
as 10, 20, 15 years from now,

0:01:12.000,0:01:15.000
that means that what we do today

0:01:15.000,0:01:17.000
is going to be critically important,

0:01:17.000,0:01:19.000
because in the year 2015,

0:01:19.000,0:01:21.000
and the year 2020, 2025, the world

0:01:21.000,0:01:23.000
our society is going to be building on,

0:01:23.000,0:01:25.000
the basic knowledge and abstract ideas,

0:01:25.000,0:01:28.000
the discoveries that we came up with today,

0:01:28.000,0:01:30.000
just as all these wonderful things we're

0:01:30.000,0:01:32.000
hearing about here at the TED conference

0:01:32.000,0:01:34.000
that we take for granted in the world

0:01:34.000,0:01:36.000
right now, were really knowledge

0:01:36.000,0:01:38.000
and ideas that came up

0:01:38.000,0:01:41.000
in the '50s, the '60s, and the '70s.

0:01:41.000,0:01:44.000
That's the substrate that we're exploiting

0:01:44.000,0:01:46.000
today, whether it's the internet,

0:01:46.000,0:01:48.000
genetic engineering, laser scanners,

0:01:48.000,0:01:50.000
guided missiles, fiber optics, high-definition

0:01:50.000,0:01:52.000
television, sensing, remote-sensing

0:01:52.000,0:01:54.000
from space and the wonderful

0:01:54.000,0:01:56.000
remote-sensing photos that we see in

0:01:56.000,0:01:59.000
3D weaving, TV programs like Tracker,

0:01:59.000,0:02:01.000
and Enterprise, CD rewrite drives,

0:02:01.000,0:02:04.000
flatscreen, Alvin Ailey's Suite Otis,

0:02:04.000,0:02:07.000
or Sarah Jones' "Your Revolution Will Not

0:02:07.000,0:02:09.000
Be Between These Thighs," which

0:02:09.000,0:02:11.000
by the way was banned by the FCC,

0:02:11.000,0:02:13.000
or ska, all of these things

0:02:13.000,0:02:15.000
without question, almost without exception,

0:02:15.000,0:02:17.000
are really based on ideas

0:02:17.000,0:02:19.000
and abstract and creativity

0:02:19.000,0:02:21.000
from years before,

0:02:21.000,0:02:23.000
so we have to ask ourselves,

0:02:23.000,0:02:25.000
what are we contributing to that legacy

0:02:25.000,0:02:27.000
right now? And when I think about it,

0:02:27.000,0:02:29.000
I'm really worried. To be quite frank,

0:02:29.000,0:02:31.000
I'm concerned. I'm skeptical

0:02:31.000,0:02:34.000
that we're doing very much of anything.

0:02:34.000,0:02:36.000
We're, in a sense, failing to act

0:02:36.000,0:02:39.000
in the future. We're purposefully,

0:02:39.000,0:02:41.000
consciously being laggards.

0:02:41.000,0:02:43.000
We're lagging behind.

0:02:43.000,0:02:45.000
Frantz Fanon, who was a psychiatrist

0:02:45.000,0:02:47.000
from Martinique, said, "Each generation

0:02:47.000,0:02:49.000
must, out of relative obscurity,

0:02:49.000,0:02:53.000
discover its mission, and fulfill or betray it."

0:02:54.000,0:02:56.000
What is our mission? What do we have

0:02:56.000,0:02:58.000
to do? I think our mission is

0:02:58.000,0:03:00.000
to reconcile, to reintegrate

0:03:00.000,0:03:03.000
science and the arts, because right now

0:03:03.000,0:03:06.000
there's a schism that exists

0:03:06.000,0:03:08.000
in popular culture. You know,

0:03:08.000,0:03:10.000
people have this idea that science

0:03:10.000,0:03:12.000
and the arts are really separate.

0:03:12.000,0:03:14.000
We think of them as separate

0:03:14.000,0:03:16.000
and different things, and this idea was

0:03:16.000,0:03:18.000
probably introduced centuries ago,

0:03:18.000,0:03:20.000
but it's really becoming critical now,

0:03:20.000,0:03:22.000
because we're making decisions about our

0:03:22.000,0:03:25.000
society every day that,

0:03:25.000,0:03:27.000
if we keep thinking that the arts

0:03:27.000,0:03:29.000
are separate from the sciences,

0:03:29.000,0:03:31.000
and we keep thinking it's cute to say,

0:03:31.000,0:03:33.000
"I don't understand anything about this one,

0:03:33.000,0:03:35.000
I don't understand anything about the other

0:03:35.000,0:03:37.000
one," then we're going to have problems.

0:03:37.000,0:03:39.000
Now I know no one here at TED

0:03:39.000,0:03:41.000
thinks this. All of us, we already know

0:03:41.000,0:03:43.000
that they're very connected, but I'm going

0:03:43.000,0:03:45.000
to let you know that some folks

0:03:45.000,0:03:47.000
in the outside world, believe it or not,

0:03:47.000,0:03:49.000
they think it's neat when they say,

0:03:49.000,0:03:51.000
"You know, scientists and science is not

0:03:51.000,0:03:53.000
creative. Maybe scientists are ingenious,

0:03:53.000,0:03:55.000
but they're not creative.

0:03:55.000,0:03:57.000
And then we have this tendency, the career

0:03:57.000,0:03:59.000
counselors and various people say things

0:03:59.000,0:04:01.000
like, "Artists are not analytical.

0:04:01.000,0:04:04.000
They're ingenious, perhaps,

0:04:04.000,0:04:07.000
but not analytical," and

0:04:07.000,0:04:09.000
when these concepts underly our teaching

0:04:09.000,0:04:11.000
and what we think about the world,

0:04:11.000,0:04:13.000
then we have a problem, because we

0:04:13.000,0:04:15.000
stymie support for everything.

0:04:15.000,0:04:17.000
By accepting this dichotomy,

0:04:17.000,0:04:19.000
whether it's tongue-in-cheek, when

0:04:19.000,0:04:21.000
we attempt to accommodate it in our world,

0:04:21.000,0:04:23.000
and we try to build our foundation

0:04:23.000,0:04:25.000
for the world, we're messing up the future,

0:04:25.000,0:04:27.000
because, who wants to be uncreative?

0:04:27.000,0:04:29.000
Who wants to be illogical?

0:04:29.000,0:04:31.000
Talent would run from either of these fields

0:04:31.000,0:04:33.000
if you said you had to choose either.

0:04:33.000,0:04:35.000
Then they're going to go to something

0:04:35.000,0:04:37.000
where they think, "Well, I can be creative

0:04:37.000,0:04:39.000
and logical at the same time."

0:04:39.000,0:04:41.000
Now I grew up in the '60s and I'll admit it,

0:04:41.000,0:04:44.000
actually, my childhood spanned the '60s,

0:04:44.000,0:04:46.000
and I was a wannabe hippie and I always

0:04:46.000,0:04:48.000
resented the fact that I wasn't really

0:04:48.000,0:04:50.000
old enough to be a hippie.

0:04:50.000,0:04:52.000
And I know there are people here, the

0:04:52.000,0:04:54.000
younger generation who want to be hippies,

0:04:54.000,0:04:56.000
but people talk about the '60s all the time,

0:04:56.000,0:04:58.000
and they talk about the anarchy

0:04:58.000,0:05:00.000
that was there, but when I think about

0:05:00.000,0:05:02.000
the '60s, what I took away from it was

0:05:02.000,0:05:04.000
that there was hope for the future.

0:05:04.000,0:05:06.000
We thought everyone could participate.

0:05:06.000,0:05:08.000
There were wonderful, incredible ideas

0:05:08.000,0:05:10.000
that were always percolating,

0:05:10.000,0:05:13.000
and so much of what's cool or hot today

0:05:13.000,0:05:15.000
is really based on some of those concepts,

0:05:15.000,0:05:17.000
whether it's, you know, people trying to

0:05:17.000,0:05:19.000
use the prime directive from Star Trek

0:05:19.000,0:05:21.000
being involved in things, or again that

0:05:21.000,0:05:23.000
three-dimensional weaving and

0:05:23.000,0:05:25.000
fax machines that I read about in my

0:05:25.000,0:05:27.000
weekly readers that the technology

0:05:27.000,0:05:29.000
and engineering was just getting started.

0:05:29.000,0:05:31.000
But the '60s left me with a problem.

0:05:31.000,0:05:33.000
You see, I always assumed I would go

0:05:33.000,0:05:36.000
into space, because I followed all of this,

0:05:36.000,0:05:39.000
but I also loved the arts and sciences.

0:05:39.000,0:05:41.000
You see, when I was growing up as

0:05:41.000,0:05:43.000
a little girl and as a teenager,

0:05:43.000,0:05:45.000
I loved designing and making dogs' clothes

0:05:45.000,0:05:47.000
and wanting to be a fashion designer.

0:05:47.000,0:05:50.000
I took art and ceramics. I loved dance.

0:05:50.000,0:05:54.000
Lola Falana. Alvin Ailey. Jerome Robbins.

0:05:54.000,0:05:56.000
And I also avidly followed the Gemini

0:05:56.000,0:05:59.000
and the Apollo programs.

0:05:59.000,0:06:01.000
I had science projects and tons of astronomy

0:06:01.000,0:06:03.000
books. I took calculus and philosophy.

0:06:03.000,0:06:05.000
I wondered about the infinity

0:06:05.000,0:06:07.000
and the Big Bang theory.

0:06:07.000,0:06:09.000
And when I was at Stanford,

0:06:09.000,0:06:11.000
I found myself, my senior year,

0:06:11.000,0:06:13.000
chemical engineering major, half the folks

0:06:13.000,0:06:15.000
thought I was a political science and

0:06:15.000,0:06:17.000
performing arts major, which was sort of

0:06:17.000,0:06:19.000
true because I was Black Student Union President

0:06:19.000,0:06:21.000
and I did major in some other things,

0:06:21.000,0:06:23.000
and I found myself the last quarter juggling

0:06:23.000,0:06:25.000
chemical engineering separation processes,

0:06:25.000,0:06:27.000
logic classes, nuclear magnetic resonance

0:06:27.000,0:06:29.000
spectroscopy, and also producing

0:06:29.000,0:06:31.000
and choreographing a dance production,

0:06:31.000,0:06:33.000
and I had to do the lighting and the

0:06:33.000,0:06:36.000
design work, and I was trying to figure out,

0:06:36.000,0:06:38.000
do I go to New York City

0:06:38.000,0:06:40.000
to try to become a professional dancer,

0:06:40.000,0:06:43.000
or do I go to medical school?

0:06:43.000,0:06:45.000
Now, my mother helped me figure

0:06:45.000,0:06:48.000
that one out. (Laughter)

0:06:48.000,0:06:50.000
But when I went into space,

0:06:50.000,0:06:52.000
when I went into space I carried a number

0:06:52.000,0:06:54.000
of things up with me. I carried a poster

0:06:54.000,0:06:56.000
by Alvin Ailey, which you can figure out

0:06:56.000,0:06:58.000
now, I love the dance company.

0:06:58.000,0:07:00.000
An Alvin Ailey poster of Judith Jamison

0:07:00.000,0:07:02.000
performing the dance "Cry," dedicated to all

0:07:02.000,0:07:04.000
black women everywhere. A Bundu statue,

0:07:04.000,0:07:06.000
which was from the Women's Society

0:07:06.000,0:07:08.000
in Sierra Leone, and a certificate for the

0:07:08.000,0:07:10.000
Chicago Public School students to work to

0:07:10.000,0:07:12.000
improve their science and math,

0:07:12.000,0:07:14.000
and folks asked me,

0:07:14.000,0:07:16.000
"Why did you take up what you took up?"

0:07:16.000,0:07:18.000
And I had to say,

0:07:18.000,0:07:20.000
"Because it represents human creativity,

0:07:20.000,0:07:22.000
the creativity that allowed us, that we were

0:07:22.000,0:07:24.000
required to have to conceive and build

0:07:24.000,0:07:27.000
and launch the space shuttle, springs from

0:07:27.000,0:07:29.000
the same source as the imagination and

0:07:29.000,0:07:32.000
analysis it took to carve a Bundu statue,

0:07:32.000,0:07:35.000
or the ingenuity it took to design,

0:07:35.000,0:07:38.000
choreograph, and stage "Cry."

0:07:38.000,0:07:40.000
Each one of them are different

0:07:40.000,0:07:43.000
manifestations, incarnations, of creativity,

0:07:43.000,0:07:46.000
avatars of human creativity,

0:07:46.000,0:07:48.000
and that's what we have to reconcile

0:07:48.000,0:07:50.000
in our minds, how these things fit together.

0:07:50.000,0:07:52.000
The difference between arts and sciences

0:07:52.000,0:07:55.000
is not analytical versus intuitive, right?

0:07:55.000,0:07:58.000
E=MC squared required

0:07:58.000,0:08:00.000
an intuitive leap, and then you had

0:08:00.000,0:08:02.000
to do the analysis afterwards.

0:08:02.000,0:08:04.000
Einstein said, in fact, "The most beautiful

0:08:04.000,0:08:07.000
thing we can experience is the mysterious.

0:08:07.000,0:08:10.000
It is the source of all true art and science."

0:08:10.000,0:08:12.000
Dance requires us to express and want

0:08:12.000,0:08:14.000
to express the jubilation in life, but then you

0:08:14.000,0:08:16.000
have to figure out, exactly

0:08:16.000,0:08:18.000
what movement do I do to make sure

0:08:18.000,0:08:20.000
that it comes across correctly?

0:08:20.000,0:08:22.000
The difference between arts and sciences

0:08:22.000,0:08:24.000
is also not constructive versus

0:08:24.000,0:08:26.000
deconstructive, right? A lot of people

0:08:26.000,0:08:28.000
think of the sciences as deconstructive.

0:08:28.000,0:08:30.000
You have to pull things apart.

0:08:30.000,0:08:32.000
And yeah, sub-atomic physics

0:08:32.000,0:08:34.000
is deconstructive. You literally try to

0:08:34.000,0:08:36.000
tear atoms apart to understand

0:08:36.000,0:08:38.000
what's inside of them. But sculpture, from

0:08:38.000,0:08:40.000
what I understand from great sculptors,

0:08:40.000,0:08:42.000
is deconstructive, because you see a piece

0:08:42.000,0:08:44.000
and you remove what doesn't

0:08:44.000,0:08:46.000
need to be there.

0:08:46.000,0:08:48.000
Biotechnology is constructive.

0:08:48.000,0:08:50.000
Orchestral arranging is constructive.

0:08:50.000,0:08:52.000
So in fact we use constructive and

0:08:52.000,0:08:54.000
deconstructive techniques in everything.

0:08:54.000,0:08:57.000
The difference between science

0:08:57.000,0:09:00.000
and the arts is not that they

0:09:00.000,0:09:02.000
are different sides of the same coin, even,

0:09:02.000,0:09:04.000
or even different parts

0:09:04.000,0:09:06.000
of the same continuum, but rather

0:09:06.000,0:09:09.000
they're manifestations of the same thing.

0:09:09.000,0:09:11.000
Different quantum states of an atom?

0:09:11.000,0:09:13.000
Or maybe if I want to be more 21st century

0:09:13.000,0:09:15.000
I could say that they are different harmonic

0:09:15.000,0:09:17.000
resonances of a superstring.

0:09:17.000,0:09:19.000
But we'll leave that alone. (Laughter)

0:09:19.000,0:09:21.000
They spring from the same source.

0:09:21.000,0:09:23.000
The arts and sciences are avatars of

0:09:23.000,0:09:25.000
human creativity. It's our attempt

0:09:25.000,0:09:27.000
as humans to build an understanding

0:09:27.000,0:09:29.000
of the universe, the world around us.

0:09:29.000,0:09:31.000
It's our attempt to influence things,

0:09:31.000,0:09:33.000
the universe internal to ourselves

0:09:33.000,0:09:35.000
and external to us.

0:09:35.000,0:09:37.000
The sciences, to me, are manifestations

0:09:37.000,0:09:40.000
of our attempt to express

0:09:40.000,0:09:42.000
or share our understanding,

0:09:42.000,0:09:44.000
our experience, to influence the universe

0:09:44.000,0:09:47.000
external to ourselves.

0:09:47.000,0:09:49.000
It doesn't rely on us as individuals.

0:09:49.000,0:09:51.000
It's the universe, as experienced

0:09:51.000,0:09:53.000
by everyone, and the arts manifest

0:09:53.000,0:09:56.000
our desire, our attempt to share

0:09:56.000,0:09:59.000
or influence others through experiences

0:09:59.000,0:10:01.000
that are peculiar to us as individuals.

0:10:01.000,0:10:03.000
Let me say it again another way:

0:10:03.000,0:10:05.000
science provides an understanding

0:10:05.000,0:10:08.000
of a universal experience, and

0:10:08.000,0:10:11.000
arts provides a universal understanding

0:10:11.000,0:10:14.000
of a personal experience.

0:10:14.000,0:10:16.000
That's what we have to think about,

0:10:16.000,0:10:18.000
that they're all part of us, they're

0:10:18.000,0:10:20.000
all part of a continuum.

0:10:20.000,0:10:22.000
It's not just the tools, it's not just

0:10:22.000,0:10:24.000
the sciences, you know, the mathematics

0:10:24.000,0:10:26.000
and the numerical stuff and the statistics,

0:10:26.000,0:10:28.000
because we heard, very much on this

0:10:28.000,0:10:30.000
stage, people talked about music

0:10:30.000,0:10:32.000
being mathematical. Right? Arts don't just

0:10:32.000,0:10:34.000
use clay, aren't the only ones that use clay,

0:10:34.000,0:10:37.000
light and sound and movement.

0:10:37.000,0:10:40.000
They use analysis as well.

0:10:40.000,0:10:42.000
So people might say, well,

0:10:42.000,0:10:44.000
I still like that intuitive versus analytical

0:10:44.000,0:10:46.000
thing, because everybody wants to do the

0:10:46.000,0:10:48.000
right brain, left brain thing, right?

0:10:48.000,0:10:50.000
We've all been accused of being

0:10:50.000,0:10:52.000
right-brained or left-brained at some point

0:10:52.000,0:10:54.000
in time, depending on who

0:10:54.000,0:10:56.000
we disagreed with. (Laughter)

0:10:56.000,0:10:58.000
You know, people say intuitive, you know

0:10:58.000,0:11:00.000
that's like you're in touch with nature,

0:11:00.000,0:11:02.000
in touch with yourself and relationships.

0:11:02.000,0:11:04.000
Analytical: you put your mind to work, and

0:11:04.000,0:11:06.000
I'm going to tell you a little secret. You all

0:11:06.000,0:11:08.000
know this though, but sometimes people

0:11:08.000,0:11:10.000
use this analysis idea, that things are

0:11:10.000,0:11:12.000
outside of ourselves, to be, say, that this

0:11:12.000,0:11:14.000
is what we're going to elevate

0:11:14.000,0:11:17.000
as the true, most important sciences, right?

0:11:17.000,0:11:19.000
And then you have artists, and you all

0:11:19.000,0:11:21.000
know this is true as well,

0:11:21.000,0:11:24.000
artists will say things about scientists

0:11:24.000,0:11:26.000
because they say they're too concrete,

0:11:26.000,0:11:29.000
they're disconnected with the world.

0:11:29.000,0:11:31.000
But, we've even had that here on stage,

0:11:31.000,0:11:33.000
so don't act like you don't know

0:11:33.000,0:11:35.000
what I'm talking about. (Laughter)

0:11:35.000,0:11:37.000
We had folks talking about the Flat Earth

0:11:37.000,0:11:39.000
Society and flower arrangers, so there's

0:11:39.000,0:11:41.000
this whole dichotomy that we continue

0:11:41.000,0:11:44.000
to carry along, even when we know better.

0:11:44.000,0:11:47.000
And folks say we need to choose either or.

0:11:47.000,0:11:49.000
But it would really be foolish to choose

0:11:49.000,0:11:51.000
either one, right?

0:11:51.000,0:11:53.000
Intuitive versus analytical?

0:11:53.000,0:11:55.000
That's a foolish choice. It's foolish,

0:11:55.000,0:11:57.000
just like trying to choose between

0:11:57.000,0:11:59.000
being realistic or idealistic.

0:11:59.000,0:12:01.000
You need both in life. Why do people

0:12:01.000,0:12:03.000
do this? I'm just gonna quote

0:12:03.000,0:12:05.000
a molecular biologist, Sydney Brenner,

0:12:05.000,0:12:07.000
who's 70 years old so he can say this. He said,

0:12:07.000,0:12:09.000
"It's always important to distinguish

0:12:09.000,0:12:11.000
between chastity and impotence."

0:12:11.000,0:12:14.000
Now... (Laughter)

0:12:14.000,0:12:17.000
I want to share with you

0:12:17.000,0:12:20.000
a little equation, okay?

0:12:20.000,0:12:23.000
How do understanding science

0:12:23.000,0:12:25.000
and the arts fit into our lives

0:12:25.000,0:12:27.000
and what's going on and the things

0:12:27.000,0:12:29.000
that we're talking about here

0:12:29.000,0:12:31.000
at the design conference, and this is

0:12:31.000,0:12:33.000
a little thing I came up with, understanding

0:12:33.000,0:12:35.000
and our resources and our will

0:12:35.000,0:12:37.000
cause us to have outcomes.

0:12:37.000,0:12:39.000
Our understanding is our science, our arts,

0:12:39.000,0:12:41.000
our religion, how we see the universe

0:12:41.000,0:12:43.000
around us, our resources, our money,

0:12:43.000,0:12:45.000
our labor, our minerals, those things

0:12:45.000,0:12:47.000
that are out there in the world we have

0:12:47.000,0:12:49.000
to work with.

0:12:49.000,0:12:51.000
But more importantly, there's our will.

0:12:51.000,0:12:53.000
This is our vision, our aspirations

0:12:53.000,0:12:55.000
of the future, our hopes, our dreams,

0:12:55.000,0:12:57.000
our struggles and our fears.

0:12:57.000,0:12:59.000
Our successes and our failures influence

0:12:59.000,0:13:01.000
what we do with all of those, and to me,

0:13:01.000,0:13:03.000
design and engineering, craftsmanship and

0:13:03.000,0:13:05.000
skilled labor, are all the things that work on

0:13:05.000,0:13:07.000
this to have our outcome,

0:13:07.000,0:13:10.000
which is our human quality of life.

0:13:10.000,0:13:12.000
Where do we want the world to be?

0:13:12.000,0:13:14.000
And guess what?

0:13:14.000,0:13:16.000
Regardless of how we look at this, whether

0:13:16.000,0:13:18.000
we look at arts and sciences are separate

0:13:18.000,0:13:20.000
or different, they're both being influenced

0:13:20.000,0:13:22.000
now and they're both having problems.

0:13:22.000,0:13:24.000
I did a project called S.E.E.ing the Future:

0:13:24.000,0:13:26.000
Science, Engineering and Education, and

0:13:26.000,0:13:28.000
it was looking at how to shed light on

0:13:28.000,0:13:30.000
most effective use of government funding.

0:13:30.000,0:13:32.000
We got a bunch of scientists in all stages

0:13:32.000,0:13:34.000
of their careers. They came to Dartmouth

0:13:34.000,0:13:36.000
College, where I was teaching, and they

0:13:36.000,0:13:38.000
talked about with theologians and financiers,

0:13:38.000,0:13:40.000
what are some of the issues of public

0:13:40.000,0:13:42.000
funding for science and engineering

0:13:42.000,0:13:44.000
research? What's most important about it?

0:13:44.000,0:13:46.000
There are some ideas that emerged that

0:13:46.000,0:13:48.000
I think have really powerful parallels

0:13:48.000,0:13:50.000
to the arts. The first thing they said was that

0:13:50.000,0:13:52.000
the circumstances that we find ourselves in

0:13:52.000,0:13:54.000
today in the sciences and engineering that

0:13:54.000,0:13:56.000
made us world leaders is very different

0:13:56.000,0:13:59.000
than the '40s, the '50s, and the '60s

0:13:59.000,0:14:01.000
and the '70s when we emerged

0:14:01.000,0:14:03.000
as world leaders, because we're no longer

0:14:03.000,0:14:05.000
in competition with fascism, with

0:14:05.000,0:14:07.000
Soviet-style communism, and by the way

0:14:07.000,0:14:09.000
that competition wasn't just military,

0:14:09.000,0:14:11.000
it included social competition

0:14:11.000,0:14:13.000
and political competition as well,

0:14:13.000,0:14:15.000
that allowed us to look at space

0:14:15.000,0:14:17.000
as one of those platforms to prove

0:14:17.000,0:14:20.000
that our social system was better.

0:14:20.000,0:14:22.000
Another thing they talked about was the

0:14:22.000,0:14:24.000
infrastructure that supports the sciences

0:14:24.000,0:14:26.000
is becoming obsolete. We look at

0:14:26.000,0:14:29.000
universities and colleges, small, mid-sized

0:14:29.000,0:14:31.000
community colleges across the country,

0:14:31.000,0:14:34.000
their laboratories are becoming obsolete,

0:14:34.000,0:14:36.000
and this is where we train most of our

0:14:36.000,0:14:38.000
science workers and our researchers,

0:14:38.000,0:14:40.000
and our teachers, by the way,

0:14:40.000,0:14:42.000
and then that there's a media that doesn't

0:14:42.000,0:14:44.000
support the dissemination of any more than

0:14:44.000,0:14:46.000
the most mundane and inane of information.

0:14:46.000,0:14:48.000
There's pseudo-science, crop circles,

0:14:48.000,0:14:50.000
alien autopsy, haunted houses,

0:14:50.000,0:14:53.000
or disasters. And that's what we see.

0:14:53.000,0:14:55.000
And this isn't really the information

0:14:55.000,0:14:57.000
you need to operate in everyday life

0:14:57.000,0:14:59.000
and figure out how to participate in this

0:14:59.000,0:15:01.000
democracy and determine what's going on.

0:15:01.000,0:15:03.000
They also said that there's a change

0:15:03.000,0:15:05.000
in the corporate mentality. Whereas

0:15:05.000,0:15:07.000
government money had always been there

0:15:07.000,0:15:09.000
for basic science and engineering research,

0:15:09.000,0:15:11.000
we also counted on some companies to do

0:15:11.000,0:15:13.000
some basic research, but what's happened

0:15:13.000,0:15:15.000
now is companies put more energy into

0:15:15.000,0:15:17.000
short-term product development

0:15:17.000,0:15:19.000
than they do in basic engineering

0:15:19.000,0:15:22.000
and science research.

0:15:22.000,0:15:25.000
And education is not keeping up.

0:15:25.000,0:15:28.000
In K through 12, people are taking out

0:15:28.000,0:15:30.000
wet labs. They think if we put a computer

0:15:30.000,0:15:32.000
in the room it's going to take the place

0:15:32.000,0:15:34.000
of actually, we're mixing the acids,

0:15:34.000,0:15:36.000
we're growing the potatoes.

0:15:36.000,0:15:38.000
And government funding is decreasing

0:15:38.000,0:15:40.000
in spending and then they're saying,

0:15:40.000,0:15:42.000
let's have corporations take over,

0:15:42.000,0:15:44.000
and that's not true. Government funding

0:15:44.000,0:15:46.000
should at least do things like recognize

0:15:46.000,0:15:48.000
cost-benefits of basic science and

0:15:48.000,0:15:50.000
engineering research. We have to know

0:15:50.000,0:15:52.000
that we have a responsibility

0:15:52.000,0:15:54.000
as global citizens in this world.

0:15:54.000,0:15:56.000
We have to look at the education

0:15:56.000,0:15:58.000
of humans. We need to build our resources

0:15:58.000,0:16:00.000
today to make sure that they're trained so

0:16:00.000,0:16:02.000
that they understand the importance of

0:16:02.000,0:16:04.000
these things, and we have to support

0:16:04.000,0:16:06.000
the vitality of science, and that doesn't

0:16:06.000,0:16:08.000
mean that everything has to have one thing

0:16:08.000,0:16:10.000
that's going to go on, or we know

0:16:10.000,0:16:12.000
exactly what's going to be the outcome of it,

0:16:12.000,0:16:14.000
but that we support the vitality and the

0:16:14.000,0:16:16.000
intellectual curiosity that goes along,

0:16:16.000,0:16:18.000
and if you think about those parallels

0:16:18.000,0:16:20.000
to the arts, the competition

0:16:20.000,0:16:22.000
with the Bolshoi Ballet spurred

0:16:22.000,0:16:24.000
the Joffrey and the New York City Ballet

0:16:24.000,0:16:26.000
to become better.

0:16:26.000,0:16:28.000
Infrastructure museums, theaters,

0:16:28.000,0:16:30.000
movie houses across the country

0:16:30.000,0:16:32.000
are disappearing. We have more

0:16:32.000,0:16:34.000
television stations with less to watch,

0:16:34.000,0:16:37.000
we have more money spent on

0:16:37.000,0:16:40.000
rewrites to get old television programs

0:16:40.000,0:16:42.000
in the movies.

0:16:42.000,0:16:44.000
We have corporate funding now that,

0:16:44.000,0:16:46.000
when it goes to some company, when it

0:16:46.000,0:16:48.000
goes to support the arts, it almost requires

0:16:48.000,0:16:50.000
that the product be part of the picture

0:16:50.000,0:16:53.000
that the artist draws, and we have

0:16:53.000,0:16:55.000
stadiums that are named over and over

0:16:55.000,0:16:57.000
again by corporations.

0:16:57.000,0:16:59.000
In Houston, we're trying to figure out

0:16:59.000,0:17:01.000
what to do with that Enron Stadium thing.

0:17:01.000,0:17:03.000
(Laughter) And fine arts and education

0:17:03.000,0:17:05.000
in the schools is disappearing, and we have

0:17:05.000,0:17:07.000
a government that seems like it's gutting

0:17:07.000,0:17:09.000
the NEA and other programs,

0:17:09.000,0:17:11.000
so we have to really stop and think,

0:17:11.000,0:17:13.000
what are we trying to do

0:17:13.000,0:17:15.000
with the sciences and the arts?

0:17:15.000,0:17:17.000
There's a need to revitalize them.

0:17:17.000,0:17:19.000
We have to pay attention to it. I just want

0:17:19.000,0:17:21.000
to tell you really quickly what I'm doing.

0:17:21.000,0:17:27.000
(Applause)

0:17:27.000,0:17:29.000
I want to tell you what I've been doing

0:17:29.000,0:17:33.000
a little bit since... I feel this need

0:17:33.000,0:17:35.000
to sort of integrate some of the ideas

0:17:35.000,0:17:37.000
that I've had and run across over time.

0:17:37.000,0:17:40.000
One of the things that I found out

0:17:40.000,0:17:42.000
is that there's a need to repair

0:17:42.000,0:17:44.000
the dichotomy between the mind and body

0:17:44.000,0:17:46.000
as well. My mother always told me,

0:17:46.000,0:17:48.000
you have to be observant, know what's

0:17:48.000,0:17:50.000
going on in your mind and your body,

0:17:50.000,0:17:52.000
and as a dancer I had this tremendous

0:17:52.000,0:17:54.000
faith in my ability to know my body,

0:17:54.000,0:17:56.000
just as I knew how to sense colors.

0:17:56.000,0:17:58.000
Then I went to medical school, and I was

0:17:58.000,0:18:00.000
supposed to just go on

0:18:00.000,0:18:02.000
what the machine said about bodies.

0:18:02.000,0:18:04.000
You know, you would ask patients

0:18:04.000,0:18:06.000
questions and some people would tell you,

0:18:06.000,0:18:08.000
"Don't, don't, don't listen to what

0:18:08.000,0:18:10.000
the patients said." We know that patients

0:18:10.000,0:18:12.000
know and understand their bodies better,

0:18:12.000,0:18:14.000
but these days we're trying to divorce them

0:18:14.000,0:18:16.000
from that idea. We have to reconcile the

0:18:16.000,0:18:18.000
patient's knowledge of their body

0:18:18.000,0:18:20.000
with physician's measurements.

0:18:20.000,0:18:22.000
We had someone talk about

0:18:22.000,0:18:24.000
measuring emotions and getting machines

0:18:24.000,0:18:26.000
to figure out what, to keep us

0:18:26.000,0:18:28.000
from acting crazy. Right?

0:18:28.000,0:18:30.000
No, we shouldn't measure,

0:18:30.000,0:18:32.000
we shouldn't use machines

0:18:32.000,0:18:34.000
to measure road rage and then do

0:18:34.000,0:18:36.000
something to keep us from engaging in it.

0:18:36.000,0:18:38.000
Maybe we can have machines help us

0:18:38.000,0:18:40.000
to recognize that we have road rage and

0:18:40.000,0:18:42.000
then we need to know how to control that

0:18:42.000,0:18:44.000
without the machines. We even need to be

0:18:44.000,0:18:46.000
able to recognize that without the machines.

0:18:46.000,0:18:48.000
What I'm very concerned about

0:18:48.000,0:18:50.000
is how do we bolster our self-awareness

0:18:50.000,0:18:53.000
as humans, as biological organisms?

0:18:53.000,0:18:55.000
Michael Moschen spoke of having to teach

0:18:55.000,0:18:57.000
and learn how to feel with my eyes,

0:18:57.000,0:19:00.000
to see with my hands.

0:19:00.000,0:19:03.000
We have all kinds of possibilities to use

0:19:03.000,0:19:05.000
our senses by, and that's

0:19:05.000,0:19:07.000
what we have to do.

0:19:07.000,0:19:09.000
That's what I want to do, is to try to use

0:19:09.000,0:19:12.000
bioinstrumentation, those kind of things

0:19:12.000,0:19:14.000
to help our senses in what we do,

0:19:14.000,0:19:17.000
and that's the work I've been doing now as

0:19:17.000,0:19:19.000
a company called BioSentient Corporation.

0:19:19.000,0:19:21.000
I figured I'd have to do that ad, because

0:19:21.000,0:19:23.000
I'm an entrepreneur, because entrepreneur

0:19:23.000,0:19:25.000
says that that's somebody who does what

0:19:25.000,0:19:27.000
they want to do because they're not broke

0:19:27.000,0:19:29.000
enough that they have to get a real job.

0:19:29.000,0:19:31.000
(Laughter) But that's the work I'm doing

0:19:31.000,0:19:33.000
with BioSentient Corporation trying to figure

0:19:33.000,0:19:35.000
out how do we integrate these things?

0:19:35.000,0:19:37.000
Let me finish by saying that

0:19:37.000,0:19:40.000
my personal design issue for the future

0:19:40.000,0:19:42.000
is really about integrating, to think about

0:19:42.000,0:19:45.000
that intuitive and that analytical.

0:19:45.000,0:19:49.000
The arts and sciences are not separate.

0:19:49.000,0:19:51.000
High school physics lesson before you

0:19:51.000,0:19:53.000
leave. High school physics teacher used to

0:19:53.000,0:19:55.000
hold up a ball. She would say this ball

0:19:55.000,0:19:57.000
has potential energy, but nothing

0:19:57.000,0:19:59.000
will happen to it, it can't do any work

0:19:59.000,0:20:01.000
until I drop it and it changes states.

0:20:01.000,0:20:04.000
I like to think of ideas as potential energy.

0:20:04.000,0:20:06.000
They're really wonderful, but nothing

0:20:06.000,0:20:09.000
will happen until we risk

0:20:09.000,0:20:11.000
putting them into action.

0:20:11.000,0:20:13.000
This conference is filled

0:20:13.000,0:20:15.000
with wonderful ideas.

0:20:15.000,0:20:17.000
We're going to share lots of things

0:20:17.000,0:20:19.000
with people, but nothing's going to happen

0:20:19.000,0:20:22.000
until we risk putting those ideas into action.

0:20:22.000,0:20:24.000
We need to revitalize the arts and sciences

0:20:24.000,0:20:26.000
of today, we need to take responsibility

0:20:26.000,0:20:28.000
for the future. We can't hide behind saying

0:20:28.000,0:20:31.000
it's just for company profits,

0:20:31.000,0:20:33.000
or it's just a business, or I'm an artist

0:20:33.000,0:20:35.000
or an academician.

0:20:35.000,0:20:37.000
Here's how you judge what you're doing.

0:20:37.000,0:20:39.000
I talked about that balance between

0:20:39.000,0:20:41.000
intuitive, analytical.

0:20:41.000,0:20:44.000
Fran Lebowitz, my favorite cynic,

0:20:44.000,0:20:46.000
she said the three questions

0:20:46.000,0:20:48.000
of greatest concern, now I'm going to

0:20:48.000,0:20:50.000
add on to design, is,

0:20:50.000,0:20:52.000
"Is it attractive?"

0:20:52.000,0:20:54.000
That's the intuitive.

0:20:54.000,0:20:57.000
"Is it amusing?" The analytical.

0:20:57.000,0:20:59.000
"And does it know its place?"

0:20:59.000,0:21:02.000
The balance. Thank you very much.

0:21:02.000,0:21:04.000
(Applause)