WEBVTT 00:00:00.395 --> 00:00:04.047 What I want to do today is spend some time talking about some stuff 00:00:04.071 --> 00:00:07.656 that's giving me a little bit of existential angst, 00:00:07.680 --> 00:00:08.976 for lack of a better word, 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:11.086 over the past couple of years. 00:00:11.110 --> 00:00:16.338 And basically, these three quotes tell what's going on. 00:00:16.362 --> 00:00:19.626 "When God made the color purple, God was just showing off," 00:00:19.650 --> 00:00:22.169 Alice Walker wrote in "The Color Purple." 00:00:22.193 --> 00:00:25.976 And Zora Neale Hurston wrote in "Dust Tracks On A Road," 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:28.826 "Research is a formalized curiosity. 00:00:28.850 --> 00:00:31.502 It's poking and prying with a purpose." 00:00:31.944 --> 00:00:34.437 And then finally, when I think about the near future, 00:00:34.461 --> 00:00:37.743 we have this attitude, "Well, whatever happens, happens." 00:00:37.767 --> 00:00:38.928 Right? 00:00:38.952 --> 00:00:41.490 So that goes along with the Cheshire Cat saying, 00:00:41.514 --> 00:00:43.872 "If you don't care much where you want to get to, 00:00:43.896 --> 00:00:46.038 it doesn't much matter which way you go." NOTE Paragraph 00:00:46.062 --> 00:00:50.356 But I think it does matter which way we go and what road we take, 00:00:50.380 --> 00:00:53.224 because when I think about design in the near future, 00:00:53.248 --> 00:00:55.555 what I think are the most important issues, 00:00:55.579 --> 00:00:57.552 what's really crucial and vital, 00:00:57.576 --> 00:01:02.362 is that we need to revitalize the arts and sciences right now, 00:01:02.386 --> 00:01:03.890 in 2002. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:04.343 --> 00:01:07.034 (Applause) NOTE Paragraph 00:01:08.852 --> 00:01:13.218 If we describe the near future as 10, 20, 15 years from now, 00:01:13.242 --> 00:01:17.061 that means that what we do today is going to be critically important, 00:01:17.085 --> 00:01:21.066 because in the year 2015, in the year 2020, 2025, 00:01:21.090 --> 00:01:23.760 the world our society is going to be building on, 00:01:23.784 --> 00:01:26.256 the basic knowledge and abstract ideas, 00:01:26.280 --> 00:01:29.381 the discoveries that we came up with today, 00:01:29.405 --> 00:01:32.369 just as all these wonderful things we're hearing about 00:01:32.393 --> 00:01:33.649 here at the TED conference 00:01:33.673 --> 00:01:36.460 that we take for granted in the world right now, 00:01:36.484 --> 00:01:39.047 were really knowledge and ideas that came up 00:01:39.071 --> 00:01:41.398 in the 50s, the 60s and the 70s. 00:01:41.846 --> 00:01:44.227 That's the substrate that we're exploiting today. 00:01:44.251 --> 00:01:45.575 Whether it's the internet, 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:47.442 genetic engineering, laser scanners, 00:01:47.466 --> 00:01:50.715 guided missiles, fiber optics, high-definition television, 00:01:51.654 --> 00:01:55.835 remote sensing from space and the wonderful remote-sensing photos 00:01:55.859 --> 00:02:00.666 that we see in 3D weaving, TV programs like Tracker and Enterprise, 00:02:00.690 --> 00:02:05.085 CD-rewrite drives, flat-screen, Alvin Ailey's "Suite Otis," 00:02:05.109 --> 00:02:08.690 or Sarah Jones's "Your Revolution Will Not [Happen] Between These Thighs," 00:02:08.714 --> 00:02:10.684 which, by the way, was banned by the FCC, 00:02:10.708 --> 00:02:11.859 or ska -- 00:02:11.883 --> 00:02:16.159 all of these things, without question, almost without exception, 00:02:16.183 --> 00:02:19.939 are really based on ideas and abstract and creativity 00:02:19.963 --> 00:02:21.554 from years before. 00:02:21.578 --> 00:02:23.048 So we have to ask ourselves: 00:02:23.072 --> 00:02:26.081 What are we contributing to that legacy right now? NOTE Paragraph 00:02:26.105 --> 00:02:27.658 And when I think about it, 00:02:27.682 --> 00:02:28.836 I'm really worried. 00:02:28.860 --> 00:02:30.989 To be quite frank, I'm concerned. 00:02:31.013 --> 00:02:33.832 I'm skeptical that we're doing very much of anything. 00:02:34.263 --> 00:02:36.026 We're, in a sense, 00:02:36.050 --> 00:02:38.676 failing to act in the future. 00:02:38.700 --> 00:02:41.859 We're purposefully, consciously being laggards. 00:02:41.883 --> 00:02:43.318 We're lagging behind. 00:02:43.767 --> 00:02:46.725 Frantz Fanon, who was a psychiatrist from Martinique, said, 00:02:46.749 --> 00:02:49.671 "Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, 00:02:49.695 --> 00:02:51.389 discover its mission 00:02:51.413 --> 00:02:53.474 and fulfill or betray it." 00:02:55.303 --> 00:02:57.333 What is our mission? What do we have to do? NOTE Paragraph 00:02:57.357 --> 00:03:00.829 I think our mission is to reconcile, to reintegrate 00:03:00.853 --> 00:03:03.202 science and the arts, 00:03:03.226 --> 00:03:07.953 because right now, there's a schism that exists in popular culture. 00:03:07.977 --> 00:03:12.223 People have this idea that science and the arts are really separate; 00:03:12.247 --> 00:03:14.600 we think of them as separate and different things. 00:03:14.624 --> 00:03:17.809 And this idea was probably introduced centuries ago, 00:03:17.833 --> 00:03:19.890 but it's really becoming critical now, 00:03:20.780 --> 00:03:25.237 because we're making decisions about our society every day 00:03:25.261 --> 00:03:30.470 that, if we keep thinking that the arts are separate from the sciences, 00:03:30.494 --> 00:03:32.351 and we keep thinking it's cute to say, 00:03:32.375 --> 00:03:34.447 "I don't understand anything about this one, 00:03:34.471 --> 00:03:36.852 I don't understand anything about the other one," 00:03:36.876 --> 00:03:38.528 then we're going to have problems. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:38.552 --> 00:03:40.591 Now, I know no one here at TED thinks this. 00:03:40.615 --> 00:03:43.231 All of us, we already know that they're very connected. 00:03:43.255 --> 00:03:46.450 But I'm going to let you know that some folks in the outside world, 00:03:46.474 --> 00:03:48.818 believe it or not, think it's neat when they say, 00:03:48.842 --> 00:03:52.112 "Scientists and science is not creative. 00:03:52.136 --> 00:03:55.002 Maybe scientists are ingenious, but they're not creative." 00:03:55.473 --> 00:03:56.966 And then we have this tendency, 00:03:56.990 --> 00:03:59.514 the career counselors and various people say things 00:03:59.538 --> 00:04:02.151 like, "Artists are not analytical. 00:04:02.175 --> 00:04:03.846 They're ingenious, perhaps, 00:04:04.779 --> 00:04:06.117 but not analytical." 00:04:07.071 --> 00:04:09.453 And when these concepts underlie our teaching 00:04:09.477 --> 00:04:11.373 and what we think about the world, 00:04:11.397 --> 00:04:12.723 then we have a problem, 00:04:12.747 --> 00:04:14.857 because we stymie support for everything. 00:04:14.881 --> 00:04:16.501 By accepting this dichotomy, 00:04:16.525 --> 00:04:18.636 whether it's tongue-in-cheek, 00:04:18.660 --> 00:04:21.201 when we attempt to accommodate it in our world, 00:04:21.225 --> 00:04:23.580 and we try to build our foundation for the world, 00:04:23.604 --> 00:04:25.142 we're messing up the future, 00:04:25.166 --> 00:04:27.534 because: Who wants to be uncreative? 00:04:28.064 --> 00:04:29.754 Who wants to be illogical? 00:04:29.778 --> 00:04:31.842 Talent would run from either of these fields 00:04:31.866 --> 00:04:33.639 if you said you had to choose either. 00:04:33.663 --> 00:04:35.876 Then they'll go to something where they think, 00:04:35.900 --> 00:04:38.506 "Well, I can be creative and logical at the same time." NOTE Paragraph 00:04:38.530 --> 00:04:41.193 Now, I grew up in the '60s and I'll admit it -- 00:04:41.217 --> 00:04:44.269 actually, my childhood spanned the '60s, 00:04:44.293 --> 00:04:45.943 and I was a wannabe hippie, 00:04:45.967 --> 00:04:50.492 and I always resented the fact that I wasn't old enough to be a hippie. 00:04:50.516 --> 00:04:53.387 And I know there are people here, the younger generation, 00:04:53.411 --> 00:04:54.875 who want to be hippies. 00:04:54.899 --> 00:04:56.953 People talk about the '60s all the time. 00:04:56.977 --> 00:04:59.184 And they talk about the anarchy that was there. 00:04:59.208 --> 00:05:00.804 But when I think about the '60s, 00:05:00.828 --> 00:05:04.566 what I took away from it was that there was hope for the future. 00:05:04.590 --> 00:05:06.640 We thought everyone could participate. 00:05:06.664 --> 00:05:10.689 There were wonderful, incredible ideas that were always percolating, 00:05:10.713 --> 00:05:13.751 and so much of what's cool or hot today 00:05:13.775 --> 00:05:15.823 is really based on some of those concepts, 00:05:15.847 --> 00:05:19.387 whether it's people trying to use the Prime Directive from Star Trek, 00:05:19.411 --> 00:05:21.258 being involved in things, 00:05:21.282 --> 00:05:24.348 or, again, that three-dimensional weaving and fax machines 00:05:24.372 --> 00:05:26.230 that I read about in my weekly readers 00:05:26.254 --> 00:05:29.181 that the technology and engineering was just getting started. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:29.205 --> 00:05:30.961 But the '60s left me with a problem. 00:05:30.985 --> 00:05:35.630 You see, I always assumed I would go into space, 00:05:35.654 --> 00:05:37.320 because I followed all of this. 00:05:37.344 --> 00:05:40.143 But I also loved the arts and sciences. 00:05:40.167 --> 00:05:43.291 You see, when I was growing up as a little girl and as a teenager, 00:05:43.315 --> 00:05:45.770 I loved designing and making doll clothes 00:05:45.794 --> 00:05:47.585 and wanting to be a fashion designer. 00:05:47.609 --> 00:05:48.907 I took art and ceramics. 00:05:48.931 --> 00:05:54.523 I loved dance: Lola Falana, Alvin Ailey, Jerome Robbins. 00:05:55.112 --> 00:05:59.257 And I also avidly followed the Gemini and the Apollo programs. 00:05:59.281 --> 00:06:02.648 I had science projects and tons of astronomy books. 00:06:02.672 --> 00:06:04.282 I took calculus and philosophy. 00:06:04.306 --> 00:06:08.042 I wondered about infinity and the Big Bang theory. 00:06:08.066 --> 00:06:11.273 And when I was at Stanford, I found myself, my senior year, 00:06:11.297 --> 00:06:12.603 chemical engineering major, 00:06:12.627 --> 00:06:16.159 half the folks thought I was a political science and performing arts major, 00:06:16.183 --> 00:06:19.422 which was sort of true, because I was Black Student Union President, 00:06:19.446 --> 00:06:21.223 and I did major in some other things. 00:06:21.247 --> 00:06:22.931 And I found myself the last quarter 00:06:22.955 --> 00:06:25.360 juggling chemical engineering separation processes, 00:06:25.384 --> 00:06:28.562 logic classes, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, 00:06:28.586 --> 00:06:32.107 and also producing and choreographing a dance production. 00:06:32.680 --> 00:06:35.260 And I had to do the lighting and the design work, 00:06:35.284 --> 00:06:37.568 and I was trying to figure out: 00:06:37.592 --> 00:06:40.827 Do I go to New York City to try to become a professional dancer, 00:06:40.851 --> 00:06:42.509 or to go to medical school? 00:06:42.533 --> 00:06:44.770 Now, my mother helped me figure that one out. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:44.794 --> 00:06:47.889 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:06:47.913 --> 00:06:52.567 But when I went into space, I carried a number of things up with me. 00:06:52.591 --> 00:06:54.369 I carried a poster by Alvin Ailey -- 00:06:54.393 --> 00:06:56.836 you can figure out now, I love the dance company -- 00:06:56.860 --> 00:07:00.240 an Alvin Ailey poster of Judith Jamison performing the dance "Cry," 00:07:00.264 --> 00:07:02.301 dedicated to all black women everywhere; 00:07:02.325 --> 00:07:06.064 a Bundu statue, which was from the women's society in Sierra Leone; 00:07:06.088 --> 00:07:08.727 and a certificate for the Chicago Public School students 00:07:08.751 --> 00:07:11.904 to work to improve their science and math. 00:07:12.589 --> 00:07:13.865 And folks asked me, 00:07:14.486 --> 00:07:16.736 "Why did you take up what you took up?" 00:07:17.375 --> 00:07:18.533 And I had to say, 00:07:18.557 --> 00:07:21.110 "Because it represents human creativity; 00:07:21.134 --> 00:07:23.581 the creativity that allowed us, 00:07:23.605 --> 00:07:26.531 that we were required to have to conceive and build and launch 00:07:26.555 --> 00:07:27.721 the space shuttle, 00:07:27.745 --> 00:07:30.853 which springs from the same source as the imagination and analysis 00:07:30.877 --> 00:07:32.974 that it took to carve a Bundu statue, 00:07:32.998 --> 00:07:38.314 or the ingenuity it took to design, choreograph and stage "Cry." 00:07:38.790 --> 00:07:42.512 Each one of them are different manifestations, incarnations, 00:07:42.536 --> 00:07:46.332 of creativity -- avatars of human creativity. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:46.784 --> 00:07:49.138 And that's what we have to reconcile in our minds, 00:07:49.162 --> 00:07:50.616 how these things fit together. 00:07:50.640 --> 00:07:55.014 The difference between arts and sciences is not analytical versus intuitive. 00:07:55.038 --> 00:07:56.189 Right? 00:07:56.213 --> 00:08:00.005 E = mc2 required an intuitive leap, 00:08:00.029 --> 00:08:02.369 and then you had to do the analysis afterwards. 00:08:03.184 --> 00:08:04.502 Einstein said, in fact, 00:08:04.526 --> 00:08:06.690 "The most beautiful thing we can experience 00:08:06.714 --> 00:08:08.018 is the mysterious. 00:08:08.042 --> 00:08:10.844 It is the source of all true art and science." 00:08:11.343 --> 00:08:14.288 Dance requires us to express and want to express 00:08:14.312 --> 00:08:15.479 the jubilation in life, 00:08:15.503 --> 00:08:17.082 but then you have to figure out: 00:08:17.106 --> 00:08:18.523 Exactly what movement do I do 00:08:18.547 --> 00:08:20.664 to make sure it comes across correctly? 00:08:20.688 --> 00:08:22.628 The difference between arts and sciences 00:08:22.652 --> 00:08:26.169 is also not constructive versus deconstructive. 00:08:26.193 --> 00:08:28.852 A lot of people think of the sciences as deconstructive, 00:08:28.876 --> 00:08:30.477 you have to pull things apart. 00:08:30.501 --> 00:08:33.563 And yeah, subatomic physics is deconstructive -- 00:08:33.587 --> 00:08:36.191 you literally try to tear atoms apart 00:08:36.215 --> 00:08:38.251 to understand what's inside of them. 00:08:38.275 --> 00:08:41.826 But sculpture, from what I understand from great sculptors, 00:08:41.850 --> 00:08:43.031 is deconstructive, 00:08:43.055 --> 00:08:46.376 because you see a piece and you remove what doesn't need to be there. 00:08:46.400 --> 00:08:48.167 Biotechnology is constructive. 00:08:48.676 --> 00:08:51.127 Orchestral arranging is constructive. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:51.151 --> 00:08:54.262 So, in fact, we use constructive and deconstructive techniques 00:08:54.286 --> 00:08:55.441 in everything. 00:08:55.790 --> 00:08:59.409 The difference between science and the arts 00:08:59.433 --> 00:09:02.864 is not that they are different sides of the same coin, even, 00:09:02.888 --> 00:09:05.186 or even different parts of the same continuum, 00:09:05.210 --> 00:09:08.581 but rather, they're manifestations of the same thing. 00:09:09.169 --> 00:09:11.967 Different quantum states of an atom? 00:09:11.991 --> 00:09:14.038 Or maybe if I want to be more 21st century, 00:09:14.062 --> 00:09:17.470 I could say that they're different harmonic resonances of a superstring. 00:09:17.494 --> 00:09:18.838 But we'll leave that alone. 00:09:18.862 --> 00:09:20.540 They spring from the same source. 00:09:21.054 --> 00:09:24.272 The arts and sciences are avatars of human creativity. 00:09:24.296 --> 00:09:25.772 It's our attempt as humans 00:09:25.796 --> 00:09:29.273 to build an understanding of the universe, the world around us. 00:09:29.297 --> 00:09:31.803 It's our attempt to influence things, 00:09:31.827 --> 00:09:33.958 the universe internal to ourselves 00:09:33.982 --> 00:09:35.477 and external to us. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:35.501 --> 00:09:41.107 The sciences, to me, are manifestations of our attempt to express or share 00:09:41.131 --> 00:09:43.819 our understanding, our experience, 00:09:43.843 --> 00:09:46.677 to influence the universe external to ourselves. 00:09:47.082 --> 00:09:49.813 It doesn't rely on us as individuals. 00:09:49.837 --> 00:09:52.647 It's the universe, as experienced by everyone. 00:09:53.247 --> 00:09:55.576 The arts manifest our desire, 00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:57.907 our attempt to share or influence others 00:09:57.931 --> 00:10:01.545 through experiences that are peculiar to us as individuals. 00:10:02.389 --> 00:10:03.937 Let me say it again another way: 00:10:03.961 --> 00:10:08.386 science provides an understanding of a universal experience, 00:10:08.410 --> 00:10:11.626 and arts provide a universal understanding 00:10:11.650 --> 00:10:13.549 of a personal experience. 00:10:14.502 --> 00:10:16.537 That's what we have to think about, 00:10:16.561 --> 00:10:19.471 that they're all part of us, they're all part of a continuum. 00:10:19.495 --> 00:10:22.697 It's not just the tools, it's not just the sciences, 00:10:22.721 --> 00:10:25.695 the mathematics and the numerical stuff and the statistics, 00:10:25.719 --> 00:10:27.764 because we heard, very much on this stage, 00:10:27.788 --> 00:10:30.207 people talked about music being mathematical. 00:10:31.593 --> 00:10:33.216 Arts don't just use clay, 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:36.421 aren't the only ones that use clay, light and sound and movement. 00:10:37.446 --> 00:10:41.167 They use analysis as well. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:41.643 --> 00:10:42.806 So people might say, 00:10:42.830 --> 00:10:45.713 "Well, I still like that intuitive versus analytical thing," 00:10:45.737 --> 00:10:48.768 because everybody wants to do the right brain, left brain thing. 00:10:48.792 --> 00:10:51.681 We've all been accused of being right-brained or left-brained 00:10:51.705 --> 00:10:52.865 at some point in time, 00:10:52.889 --> 00:10:54.709 depending on who we disagreed with. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:54.733 --> 00:10:56.057 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:10:56.081 --> 00:10:57.975 You know, people say "intuitive" -- 00:10:57.999 --> 00:10:59.934 that's like you're in touch with nature, 00:10:59.958 --> 00:11:01.943 in touch with yourself and relationships; 00:11:01.967 --> 00:11:04.200 analytical, you put your mind to work. 00:11:04.224 --> 00:11:07.293 I'm going to tell you a little secret. You all know this, though. 00:11:07.317 --> 00:11:09.416 But sometimes people use this analysis idea, 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:11.272 that things are outside of ourselves, 00:11:11.296 --> 00:11:14.750 to say, this is what we're going to elevate 00:11:14.774 --> 00:11:17.828 as the true, most important sciences, right? 00:11:17.852 --> 00:11:21.311 Then you have artists -- and you all know this is true as well -- 00:11:21.335 --> 00:11:24.646 artists will say things about scientists 00:11:24.670 --> 00:11:28.706 because they say they're too concrete, they're disconnected from the world. 00:11:28.730 --> 00:11:31.308 But, we've even had that here on stage, 00:11:31.332 --> 00:11:34.073 so don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:34.097 --> 00:11:35.291 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:11:35.315 --> 00:11:37.655 We had folks talking about the Flat Earth Society 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:38.854 and flower arrangers, 00:11:38.878 --> 00:11:40.792 so there's this whole dichotomy 00:11:40.816 --> 00:11:43.753 that we continue to carry along, even when we know better. 00:11:44.511 --> 00:11:47.114 And folks say we need to choose either-or. 00:11:48.162 --> 00:11:51.068 But it would really be foolish to choose either one, 00:11:51.092 --> 00:11:53.106 intuitive versus analytical. 00:11:53.130 --> 00:11:54.317 That's a foolish choice. 00:11:54.341 --> 00:11:58.844 It's foolish just like trying to choose between being realistic or idealistic. 00:11:58.868 --> 00:12:00.413 You need both in life. 00:12:00.837 --> 00:12:01.993 Why do people do this? 00:12:02.017 --> 00:12:04.722 I'm going to quote a molecular biologist, Sydney Brenner, 00:12:04.746 --> 00:12:06.629 who's 70 years old, so he can say this. 00:12:06.653 --> 00:12:09.866 He said, "It's always important to distinguish between chastity 00:12:09.890 --> 00:12:11.114 and impotence." 00:12:11.500 --> 00:12:12.685 Now -- NOTE Paragraph 00:12:12.709 --> 00:12:14.812 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:12:14.836 --> 00:12:20.646 I want to share with you a little equation, OK? 00:12:20.670 --> 00:12:25.867 How does understanding science and the arts fit into our lives 00:12:25.891 --> 00:12:27.046 and what's going on 00:12:27.070 --> 00:12:30.173 and the things we're talking about here at the design conference? 00:12:30.197 --> 00:12:32.275 And this is a little thing I came up with: 00:12:32.299 --> 00:12:33.466 understanding 00:12:33.490 --> 00:12:35.333 and our resources and our will 00:12:35.844 --> 00:12:37.155 cause us to have outcomes. 00:12:37.179 --> 00:12:40.263 Our understanding is our science, our arts, our religion; 00:12:40.287 --> 00:12:42.622 how we see the universe around us; 00:12:42.646 --> 00:12:45.343 our resources, our money, our labor, our minerals -- 00:12:45.367 --> 00:12:48.531 those things that are out there in the world we have to work with. 00:12:48.555 --> 00:12:50.531 But more importantly, there's our will. 00:12:51.202 --> 00:12:52.371 This is our vision, 00:12:52.395 --> 00:12:54.984 our aspirations of the future, our hopes, our dreams, 00:12:55.008 --> 00:12:56.389 our struggles and our fears. 00:12:56.413 --> 00:13:00.112 Our successes and our failures influence what we do with all of those. 00:13:00.136 --> 00:13:04.257 And to me, design and engineering, craftsmanship and skilled labor, 00:13:04.281 --> 00:13:07.455 are all the things that work on this to have our outcome, 00:13:07.479 --> 00:13:09.287 which is our human quality of life. 00:13:10.067 --> 00:13:12.043 Where do we want the world to be? 00:13:12.446 --> 00:13:13.613 And guess what? 00:13:13.637 --> 00:13:15.285 Regardless of how we look at this, 00:13:15.309 --> 00:13:18.266 whether we look at arts and sciences as separate or different, 00:13:18.290 --> 00:13:21.515 they're both being influenced now and they're both having problems. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:21.539 --> 00:13:23.628 I did a project called S.E.E.ing the Future: 00:13:23.652 --> 00:13:25.349 Science, Engineering and Education. 00:13:25.373 --> 00:13:27.079 It was looking at how to shed light 00:13:27.103 --> 00:13:29.372 on the most effective use of government funding. 00:13:29.396 --> 00:13:32.262 We got a bunch of scientists in all stages of their careers. 00:13:32.286 --> 00:13:34.784 They came to Dartmouth College, where I was teaching. 00:13:34.808 --> 00:13:37.444 And they talked about, with theologians and financiers: 00:13:37.468 --> 00:13:39.593 What are some of the issues of public funding 00:13:39.617 --> 00:13:41.441 for science and engineering research? 00:13:41.465 --> 00:13:43.066 What's most important about it? 00:13:43.738 --> 00:13:45.342 There are some ideas that emerged 00:13:45.366 --> 00:13:48.014 that I think have really powerful parallels to the arts. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:48.038 --> 00:13:50.538 The first thing they said was that the circumstances 00:13:50.562 --> 00:13:53.960 that we find ourselves in today in the sciences and engineering 00:13:53.984 --> 00:13:55.563 that made us world leaders 00:13:55.587 --> 00:14:00.844 are very different than the '40s, the '50s, and the '60s and the '70s, 00:14:00.868 --> 00:14:02.480 when we emerged as world leaders, 00:14:02.504 --> 00:14:04.957 because we're no longer in competition with fascism, 00:14:04.981 --> 00:14:06.376 with Soviet-style communism. 00:14:06.400 --> 00:14:09.772 And by the way, that competition wasn't just military; 00:14:09.796 --> 00:14:14.229 it included social competition and political competition as well, 00:14:14.253 --> 00:14:17.861 that allowed us to look at space as one of those platforms 00:14:17.885 --> 00:14:20.226 to prove that our social system was better. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:20.250 --> 00:14:23.567 Another thing they talked about was that the infrastructure 00:14:23.591 --> 00:14:24.936 that supports the sciences 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:26.258 is becoming obsolete. 00:14:26.282 --> 00:14:28.778 We look at universities and colleges -- 00:14:28.802 --> 00:14:31.960 small, mid-sized community colleges across the country -- 00:14:31.984 --> 00:14:34.398 their laboratories are becoming obsolete. 00:14:34.422 --> 00:14:37.072 And this is where we train most of our science workers 00:14:37.096 --> 00:14:40.330 and our researchers -- and our teachers, by the way. 00:14:40.354 --> 00:14:45.107 And there's a media that doesn't support the dissemination of any more than 00:14:45.131 --> 00:14:48.019 the most mundane and inane of information. 00:14:48.043 --> 00:14:51.461 There's pseudoscience, crop circles, alien autopsy, haunted houses, 00:14:51.485 --> 00:14:52.703 or disasters. 00:14:52.727 --> 00:14:54.101 And that's what we see. 00:14:54.125 --> 00:14:57.448 This isn't really the information you need to operate in everyday life 00:14:57.472 --> 00:14:59.864 and figure out how to participate in this democracy 00:14:59.888 --> 00:15:01.590 and determine what's going on. NOTE Paragraph 00:15:01.614 --> 00:15:04.379 They also said there's a change in the corporate mentality. 00:15:04.403 --> 00:15:06.565 Whereas government money had always been there 00:15:06.589 --> 00:15:08.680 for basic science and engineering research, 00:15:08.704 --> 00:15:12.466 we also counted on some companies to do some basic research. 00:15:12.490 --> 00:15:15.311 But what's happened now is companies put more energy 00:15:15.335 --> 00:15:17.870 into short-term product development 00:15:18.637 --> 00:15:21.845 than they do in basic engineering and science research. 00:15:23.408 --> 00:15:26.083 And education is not keeping up. 00:15:26.107 --> 00:15:29.766 In K through 12, people are taking out wet labs. 00:15:29.790 --> 00:15:31.866 They think if we put a computer in the room, 00:15:31.890 --> 00:15:35.162 it's going to take the place of actually mixing the acids 00:15:35.186 --> 00:15:36.685 or growing the potatoes. 00:15:36.709 --> 00:15:39.017 And government funding is decreasing in spending, 00:15:39.041 --> 00:15:41.836 and then they're saying, let's have corporations take over, 00:15:41.860 --> 00:15:43.016 and that's not true. 00:15:43.040 --> 00:15:46.226 Government funding should at least do things 00:15:46.250 --> 00:15:50.181 like recognize cost benefits of basic science and engineering research. 00:15:50.205 --> 00:15:53.298 We have to know that we have a responsibility as global citizens 00:15:53.322 --> 00:15:54.480 in this world. 00:15:54.504 --> 00:15:56.550 We have to look at the education of humans. 00:15:56.574 --> 00:15:59.909 We need to build our resources today to make sure that they're trained 00:15:59.933 --> 00:16:02.307 so they understand the importance of these things. 00:16:02.331 --> 00:16:05.555 And we have to support the vitality of science. 00:16:05.579 --> 00:16:09.502 That doesn't mean that everything has to have one thing that's going to go on, 00:16:09.526 --> 00:16:12.400 or that we know exactly what's going to be the outcome of it, 00:16:12.424 --> 00:16:15.483 but that we support the vitality and the intellectual curiosity 00:16:15.507 --> 00:16:16.755 that goes along [with it]. NOTE Paragraph 00:16:16.779 --> 00:16:19.302 And if you think about those parallels to the arts -- 00:16:19.326 --> 00:16:23.396 the competition with the Bolshoi Ballet spurred 00:16:23.420 --> 00:16:26.669 the Joffrey and the New York City Ballet to become better. 00:16:26.693 --> 00:16:30.895 Infrastructure, museums, theaters, movie houses across the country 00:16:30.919 --> 00:16:32.071 are disappearing. 00:16:32.095 --> 00:16:34.534 We have more television stations with less to watch, 00:16:34.558 --> 00:16:38.317 we have more money spent on rewrites 00:16:38.341 --> 00:16:40.226 to get old television programs 00:16:40.250 --> 00:16:41.607 in the movies. 00:16:42.401 --> 00:16:44.773 We have corporate funding now that, 00:16:44.797 --> 00:16:48.158 when it goes to support the arts, 00:16:48.182 --> 00:16:51.361 it almost requires that the product be part of the picture 00:16:51.385 --> 00:16:52.682 that the artist draws. 00:16:52.706 --> 00:16:56.611 We have stadiums that are named over and over again by corporations. 00:16:56.635 --> 00:17:00.417 In Houston, we're trying to figure out what to do with that Enron Stadium thing. NOTE Paragraph 00:17:00.441 --> 00:17:01.460 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:17:01.484 --> 00:17:04.365 Fine arts and education in the schools is disappearing, 00:17:04.389 --> 00:17:08.119 And we have a government that seems like it's gutting the NEA 00:17:08.143 --> 00:17:09.306 and other programs. 00:17:09.330 --> 00:17:11.429 So we have to really stop and think: 00:17:11.453 --> 00:17:14.485 What are we trying to do with the sciences and the arts? 00:17:14.509 --> 00:17:16.382 There's a need to revitalize them. 00:17:16.406 --> 00:17:17.977 We have to pay attention to it. 00:17:18.001 --> 00:17:20.758 I just want to tell you quickly what I'm doing -- NOTE Paragraph 00:17:21.091 --> 00:17:26.971 (Applause) NOTE Paragraph 00:17:28.039 --> 00:17:31.447 I want to tell you what I've been doing a little bit since ... 00:17:31.988 --> 00:17:35.430 I feel this need to sort of integrate some of the ideas 00:17:35.454 --> 00:17:37.854 that I've had and run across over time. NOTE Paragraph 00:17:37.878 --> 00:17:42.226 One of the things that I found out is that there's a need to repair 00:17:42.250 --> 00:17:44.813 the dichotomy between the mind and body as well. 00:17:44.837 --> 00:17:47.486 My mother always told me, you have to be observant, 00:17:47.510 --> 00:17:49.752 know what's going on in your mind and your body. 00:17:49.776 --> 00:17:53.450 And as a dancer, I had this tremendous faith in my ability to know my body, 00:17:53.474 --> 00:17:55.450 just as I knew how to sense colors. 00:17:55.956 --> 00:17:57.615 Then I went to medical school, 00:17:58.297 --> 00:18:02.488 and I was supposed to just go on what the machine said about bodies. 00:18:02.512 --> 00:18:06.060 You know, you would ask patients questions and some people would tell you, 00:18:06.084 --> 00:18:07.992 "Don't listen to what the patient said." 00:18:08.016 --> 00:18:10.960 We know that patients know and understand their bodies better, 00:18:10.984 --> 00:18:14.494 but these days we're trying to divorce them from that idea. 00:18:14.518 --> 00:18:18.410 We have to reconcile the patient's knowledge of their body 00:18:18.434 --> 00:18:20.027 with physicians' measurements. NOTE Paragraph 00:18:21.328 --> 00:18:24.245 We had someone talk about measuring emotions 00:18:24.269 --> 00:18:28.226 and getting machines to figure out what to keep us from acting crazy. 00:18:29.030 --> 00:18:30.415 No, we shouldn't measure. 00:18:30.439 --> 00:18:32.748 We shouldn't use machines to measure road rage 00:18:32.772 --> 00:18:35.281 and then do something to keep us from engaging in it. 00:18:35.305 --> 00:18:39.273 Maybe we can have machines help us to recognize that we have road rage, 00:18:39.297 --> 00:18:42.478 and then we need to know how to control that without the machines. 00:18:42.502 --> 00:18:45.763 We even need to be able to recognize that without the machines. 00:18:45.787 --> 00:18:48.289 What I'm very concerned about is: 00:18:48.313 --> 00:18:53.962 How do we bolster our self-awareness as humans, as biological organisms? 00:18:53.986 --> 00:18:56.795 Michael Moschen spoke of having to teach 00:18:56.819 --> 00:19:01.396 and learn how to feel with my eyes, to see with my hands. 00:19:01.420 --> 00:19:05.407 We have all kinds of possibilities to use our senses by, 00:19:05.431 --> 00:19:07.580 and that's what we have to do. 00:19:07.604 --> 00:19:09.435 That's what I want to do -- 00:19:09.459 --> 00:19:12.836 to try to use bioinstrumentation, those kind of things, 00:19:12.860 --> 00:19:15.945 to help our senses in what we do. NOTE Paragraph 00:19:15.969 --> 00:19:17.688 That's the work I've been doing now, 00:19:17.712 --> 00:19:19.774 as a company called BioSentient Corporation. 00:19:19.798 --> 00:19:22.721 I figured I'd have to do that ad, because I'm an entrepreneur, 00:19:22.745 --> 00:19:26.896 and "entrepreneur" says "somebody who does what they want to do, 00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:30.097 because they're not broke enough that they have to get a real job." NOTE Paragraph 00:19:30.121 --> 00:19:31.123 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:19:31.147 --> 00:19:33.737 But that's the work I'm doing, BioSentient Corporation, 00:19:33.761 --> 00:19:36.357 trying to figure out: How do we integrate these things? 00:19:36.381 --> 00:19:41.058 Let me finish by saying that my personal design issue for the future 00:19:41.082 --> 00:19:43.044 is really about integrating; 00:19:43.068 --> 00:19:45.885 to think about that intuitive and that analytical. 00:19:45.909 --> 00:19:48.214 The arts and sciences are not separate. NOTE Paragraph 00:19:49.090 --> 00:19:51.530 High school physics lesson before you leave: 00:19:51.554 --> 00:19:53.944 high school physics teacher used to hold up a ball. 00:19:53.968 --> 00:19:56.688 She would say, "This ball has potential energy. 00:19:56.712 --> 00:19:59.215 But nothing will happen to it, it can't do any work, 00:19:59.239 --> 00:20:01.286 until I drop it and it changes states." 00:20:02.081 --> 00:20:04.738 I like to think of ideas as potential energy. 00:20:04.762 --> 00:20:06.598 They're really wonderful, 00:20:06.622 --> 00:20:10.892 but nothing will happen until we risk putting them into action. NOTE Paragraph 00:20:10.916 --> 00:20:14.707 This conference is filled with wonderful ideas. 00:20:15.122 --> 00:20:17.629 We're going to share lots of things with people. 00:20:17.653 --> 00:20:19.366 But nothing's going to happen 00:20:19.390 --> 00:20:22.508 until we risk putting those ideas into action. 00:20:22.532 --> 00:20:25.260 We need to revitalize the arts and sciences today. 00:20:25.284 --> 00:20:27.779 We need to take responsibility for the future. 00:20:27.803 --> 00:20:31.427 We can't hide behind saying it's just for company profits, 00:20:31.451 --> 00:20:32.678 or it's just a business, 00:20:32.702 --> 00:20:34.947 or I'm an artist or an academician. NOTE Paragraph 00:20:35.709 --> 00:20:37.741 Here's how you judge what you're doing: 00:20:37.765 --> 00:20:41.226 I talked about that balance between intuitive, analytical. 00:20:42.270 --> 00:20:45.058 Fran Lebowitz, my favorite cynic, 00:20:45.082 --> 00:20:47.665 said, "The three questions of greatest concern ..." -- 00:20:47.689 --> 00:20:49.556 now I'm going to add on to design -- 00:20:49.580 --> 00:20:51.756 "... are: Is it attractive?" 00:20:52.969 --> 00:20:54.663 That's the intuitive. 00:20:54.687 --> 00:20:57.278 "Is it amusing?" -- the analytical, 00:20:57.302 --> 00:20:59.987 and, "Does it know its place?" -- the balance. NOTE Paragraph 00:21:00.011 --> 00:21:01.183 Thank you very much. NOTE Paragraph 00:21:01.207 --> 00:21:03.865 (Applause)