Ted Talk 2: Ian Goldin
- Apr 15, 2017
- 2 min read
As globalization and technological advances bring us hurtling towards a new integrated future, Ian Goldin warns that not all people may benefit equally. But, he says, if we can recognize this danger, we might yet realize the possibility of improved life for everyone.
Goldin began his TED talk with a simple phrase: “The Future as we know it is very unpredictable”. He explains that even the scholars and organizations that have been specifically created to predict the future, have been wrong time and time again. And as we innovate more and more, the future will only become even more unpredictable.
This opening really reminded me of the opening Thomas Friedman frequently uses during his lectures and his premise of the chapter “What The Hell Happened in 2007?”. Both Goldin and Friedman are extremely right - no one could predict the extreme advancements we have experienced over the last 20-30 years but they happened, and that’s terrifying for the future.
Goldin’s main points throughout his talk were to connect the extreme unpredictability of the future to the extreme spike in technological advancements and globalization. With these two factors working together, our world has unleashed great potential for innovation and development. But with these factors come two achilles heels: growing inequality and complexity. How do we ensure that any medical or scientific explorations will reach all of the population? How can the rich and the poor feel the effects of the innovation? We cannot simply leave people behind - we must adapt and change as technology changes as well.
The Big Question: “How do we manage this technological change?”
How do we ensure that it creates a more inclusive technology? One that allows us to grow older and wiser and that we are able to support the populations of the future
Think about life and where it is going to be going - our innovation will be vital
Goldin closed by introducing an ideal that mirrored Friedman’s words in his book almost 8 years later: “For the first time in the history of humanity, will have the capacity, by 2030, to destroy the planet, to wreck everything”.
Reminds me of Friedman’s mention of the two choices: We have the power to destroy everyone, or to save us all (fork in the road)
"Amazing things can happen, we can create miracles. It is vital that the ideas that are nurtured in TED, that the ideas that we think about look forward, and make sure that this will be the most glorious century, and not one of eco-disaster and eco-collapse."
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