What might modern folk and vernacular design be? | Eames Demetrios | TEDxSingapore

Summary

The speaker explores the concept of vernacular design, highlighting how it reflects cultural values and assumptions. Through examples like the Our River walkway, WWII innovations, and traditional Indonesian villages, they illustrate how design is shaped by practical needs and local knowledge. The talk critiques modern values like property maximization and shareholder growth, which often lead to value engineering and loss of quality. It suggests a need for humility and a reevaluation of our core assumptions to guide sustainable and meaningful design in the future.

Takeaways

• 🌳 The speaker discusses how vernacular design, or design that arises from local customs and needs, shapes the physical world and reflects cultural values.
• 🚶‍♂️ In the Alps, the speaker observed how people filled gaps in a gorge with branches and crafted boards, demonstrating a human instinct to improve and adapt the environment.
• 🛠️ War has historically driven vernacular design, with examples like the WWII jeep, showcasing how necessity and urgency can lead to innovative solutions.
• 🚢 The Vasa shipwreck is cited as an example of how traditional design practices, when not adapted, can lead to failure, emphasizing the need for balance between tradition and innovation.
• 🏞️ In Flores, Indonesia, the village square's design reflects the community's values, including respect for ancestors, showing how space can be designed to honor cultural beliefs.
• 🏡 Hopper Villa in Singapore uses modern materials to depict traditional Chinese values, illustrating the fusion of old and new in design.
• 🏘️ The speaker critiques the assumption that maximizing property value is always best, suggesting it can lead to negative outcomes like loss of farmland.
• 📈 Moore's Law, which predicts the exponential growth of computing power, is discussed as a cultural assumption that not all areas of life should adhere to, as it can lead to unrealistic expectations.
• 📉 The concept of 'value engineering' is criticized for often reducing quality in the name of shareholder value, impacting the physicality of many objects in our world.
• 🌱 The speaker suggests that Singapore could lead in developing a new vernacular design by challenging current assumptions and fostering a culture of innovation and sustainability.
• 💍 Jewelry is used as a metaphor for the enduring values and aesthetics that should be nurtured, hinting at the importance of non-material aspects of culture in design.

Q & A

What is the significance of the gaps in the gorge of the Our River mentioned in the script?

The gaps in the gorge of the Our River symbolize the human response to nature and the need to fill or bridge them, as evidenced by the branches and crafted boards placed within the gaps, illustrating vernacular design.

What does the speaker mean by 'vernacular design'?

Vernacular design refers to a design approach that is unselfconscious, committed, and addresses practical problems without the intention of self-expression. It arises from the inherent values and assumptions of a culture or community.

How does the speaker connect war to vernacular design?

The speaker connects war to vernacular design by highlighting that war often necessitates quick, practical solutions to problems, leading to designs that are a result of immediate needs and available resources, much like vernacular design.

What is the story behind the Vasa ship mentioned in the script?

The Vasa was a Swedish ship that sank on its maiden voyage in 1628 due to being top-heavy, illustrating the consequences of vernacular design when it is not adapted to changing circumstances or when it fails to consider new information.

Why does the speaker discuss the village in the highlands of Flores?

The village in the highlands of Flores is discussed to showcase how vernacular design can reflect cultural values, such as caring for both the living and the ancestors, through the physical design of community spaces.

What is the significance of Hopper Villa in Singapore as mentioned in the script?

Hopper Villa in Singapore is significant because it uses modern materials to depict traditional values, including elements from Chinese mythology, demonstrating a blend of old and new in vernacular design.

What assumptions does the speaker suggest are shaping our modern vernacular design?

The speaker suggests that assumptions such as property values, Moore's Law, shareholder value, and the drive for efficiency are shaping our modern vernacular design, influencing how we create and interact with the built environment.

Why does the speaker argue that Moore's Law has influenced the physical world?

The speaker argues that Moore's Law, which predicts the exponential growth of computing power, has led to an expectation that all areas of life should progress at a similar rate, which is not always applicable or beneficial, especially in the physical world.

What is the speaker's concern about the emphasis on shareholder value in our culture?

The speaker is concerned that the emphasis on shareholder value leads to value engineering, which can result in a reduction of quality and a focus on cost-cutting measures that may not be sustainable or beneficial in the long term.

How does the speaker view the potential of Singapore to contribute to a new vernacular design?

The speaker views Singapore as having the potential to become a model for a new vernacular design by nurturing values that are essential to culture, such as humility and aesthetic spirit, and by being a wellspring of innovative business practices.

What does the speaker suggest about the role of 3D printing in the future of materiality and design?

The speaker suggests that 3D printing has the potential to transform the conversation about materiality in design, leading to a greater respect for the physicality of objects and possibly influencing a shift towards more sustainable and thoughtful design practices.

Outlines

00:00

🏞️ Vernacular Design and Its Impact

The speaker begins by discussing the concept of vernacular design, using the example of a gorge walkway along the Our River in the Alps. They observe how people naturally fill gaps in the landscape, creating a form of design that is unselfconscious and committed to addressing a problem without the intent of self-expression. The speaker appreciates this form of design, which is deeply rooted in the local culture and practicality. They extend the discussion to how war has inadvertently led to some remarkable vernacular designs, such as the jeep, and contrast this with the Vasa, a Swedish ship from 1628, which exemplified vernacular design but sank due to its top-heavy design. The speaker also shares their experience with vernacular design in a village in Flores, Indonesia, where the village square and traditional baskets reflect the community's values and respect for ancestors.

05:04

🌐 The Hidden Assumptions in Modern Design

In the second paragraph, the speaker delves into the assumptions and values that underpin modern design, often referred to as 'folk design.' They question what these assumptions are and how they manifest in the physical world. The speaker critiques the emphasis on property values, where the most expensive use of property is seen as the best, leading to the loss of farmland and other negative consequences. They also discuss Moore's Law and its impact on expectations of exponential growth in all areas of life, which is not always applicable or beneficial. The speaker suggests that these assumptions are so ingrained that they shape our world more significantly than the work of individual designers or architectural schools.

10:06

📉 The Perils of Shareholder-Driven Design

The third paragraph focuses on the influence of shareholder value on design and the practice of value engineering, which often results in products that offer less quality or quantity while maintaining or increasing price. The speaker argues that this approach is driven by the need to show growth to shareholders, which can lead to a loss of quality and even job losses. They provide examples such as the transition from paper to digital boarding passes in airlines, which may seem like a small efficiency but represents a broader shift in how we value and engineer products. The speaker suggests that this shareholder-driven design is so pervasive that it affects our world more than the work of any single designer.

15:07

🌱 Embracing Humility and Reevaluating Values

In the final paragraph, the speaker reflects on the need for humility in design and the importance of recognizing the aesthetic spirit in all of us. They suggest that Singapore, with its unique position as both a city and a country, has the opportunity to lead in developing new values and assumptions that could shape a new vernacular design. The speaker also expresses optimism about the transformative potential of 3D printing, which has changed conversations about materiality and the physicality of objects. They conclude by emphasizing the importance of nurturing values that go beyond materialism, using the example of jewelry as a cultural universal, and call for a collective effort to build a world based on clearer and deeper assumptions.

Keywords

💡Vernacular Design

Vernacular design refers to the design practices that are native to a particular region, culture, or community, often reflecting local materials, needs, and traditions. In the video, vernacular design is exemplified by the unselfconscious, practical solutions people create to address problems in their environment, such as the makeshift bridges in the Alps. The speaker suggests that vernacular design is a reflection of deeply held assumptions and values, and it's a concept that's closely tied to the theme of how our cultural values shape our physical world.

💡Assumptions

Assumptions are the underlying beliefs or presuppositions that guide our actions and decisions without always being explicitly stated. The video discusses how certain assumptions, such as the value of property or the inevitability of technological progress, influence our design choices and cultural development. The speaker uses the example of the Vasa ship to illustrate how assumptions can lead to disastrous outcomes if not critically examined.

💡Moore's Law

Moore's Law is the observation that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles approximately every two years, leading to exponential growth in computing power. In the context of the video, Moore's Law is used to critique the assumption that all areas of life should progress at a similar exponential rate, which the speaker argues is an unrealistic and potentially harmful expectation for fields outside of technology.

💡Value Engineering

Value engineering is a systematic method to improve the value of goods or products by using an examination of functions. The video criticizes value engineering when it becomes synonymous with reducing costs at the expense of quality, often to increase shareholder value. The speaker points out that this practice has influenced the design of many objects in our culture, leading to a decline in quality that is accepted as the norm.

💡Property Values

Property values are the economic worth of a property, often driving decisions about land use and development. The video suggests that our cultural obsession with maximizing property values can lead to negative outcomes, such as the loss of farmland or the destruction of architecturally significant buildings. The speaker argues that this assumption about property values shapes our urban environments more than the designs of individual architects.

💡Incremental Improvement

Incremental improvement refers to the process of making small, gradual changes or enhancements to a product or process. The video contrasts the positive connotations of incremental improvement in fields like technology with its potentially negative impact in other areas, such as when it leads to 'value engineering' and a reduction in quality for the sake of cost-cutting.

💡Cultural Values

Cultural values are the principles, norms, and beliefs that guide behavior and decision-making within a society or group. The video explores how cultural values, such as the emphasis on property values or shareholder value, shape the physical world through design and development. The speaker encourages a reevaluation of these values to ensure they contribute positively to our world culture.

💡Humility

Humility is the quality of being modest and not thinking too highly of oneself. In the video, humility is presented as a necessary cultural value that can help guide decision-making and prevent overconfidence in our assumptions. The speaker suggests that a lack of humility can lead to being 'humbled' by unforeseen consequences, as illustrated by the sinking of the Vasa.

💡3D Printing

3D printing is a process of making three-dimensional objects from a digital model by adding materials layer by layer. The video highlights how 3D printing has the potential to transform our relationship with materiality and the physical world, offering new ways to approach design and production that could challenge existing assumptions and values.

💡Aesthetic Experience

Aesthetic experience refers to the appreciation of beauty or good taste, especially in art. The video suggests that the aesthetic experience is an essential aspect of human culture that should not be overlooked in the design process. The speaker argues for nurturing an aesthetic spirit in all of us, as seen in the example of jewelry, which is valued across many cultures.

💡Singapore

Singapore is used in the video as an example of a place that could become a model for a new kind of cultural and design thinking. The speaker points to Singapore's unique position as both a city and a country, and its potential to contribute to a new vernacular design or approach that is based on deeper and clearer assumptions about what is valuable in our world culture.

Highlights

Time and human response shape landscapes, as seen in the Our River in the Alps.

Vernacular design is a form of design that addresses problems with real commitment and without self-expression.

The evolution of filling gaps in the Our River walkway showcases the development of vernacular design.

War has historically brought out vernacular design, as seen with the Jeep from World War II.

The Vasa ship is an example of vernacular design from 1628, highlighting the importance of incremental improvements.

Vernacular design in the village of Flores, Indonesia, reflects the culture's values and respect for ancestors.

Hopper Villa in Singapore uses modern materials to depict traditional values, including Chinese mythology.

Vernacular design is often about expressing deeply held assumptions and values.

Property values as a vernacular assumption lead to the maximization of financial worth over other uses.

Moore's Law has influenced the assumption that everything should improve exponentially, including the physical world.

Value engineering, driven by shareholder value, has led to a reduction in quality in many products.

The digital world's acceleration is not always applicable to the physical world, requiring a different approach.

Singapore has the potential to become a model for a new vernacular design based on deeper assumptions.

3D printing has transformed conversations about materiality and the physicality of objects.

Jewelry as an example of an essential cultural element that transcends many societies.

The need for humility in design and assumptions to avoid being humbled by unforeseen consequences.

Transcripts

we all know that time shapes our

landscapes

you can also shave the human response to

those landscapes this is a gorge of the

our River in the it's not a pirate river

the our River Inn in the Alps and you

get it's really a beautiful walkway that

they built along there and as I walked

on it I was fascinated by the gaps and

what was interesting about the gaps is

that people clearly needed to fill them

and there were branches that start going

in there and then there were some really

more slightly more elaborate and these

really kind of art is 'le crafted you

know boards that were going in there and

then it sort of felt you know sort of

achieved a higher expression when it was

obviously mature enough to then be

enclosed by the metal and this is sort

of the the highest form of this

particular achievement and it was really

quite great and this is what I think of

as vernacular design the person who was

doing this was doing exactly what they

thought needed to be do it was very

unselfconscious though it was it was

made with real commitment and no real

idea of self-expression per se but just

trying to address this problem and we

couldn't call the spoke design or

vernacular design and it interests me

very very much war for example brings

out a lot in vernacular design I mean

nobody you know when they were designing

this nobody said hey watch out you might

cut yourself you better change it that's

the whole idea unfortunately and but

sometimes good things have come from war

efforts a lot of amazing achievements

happen in world war ii for instance and

a lot of people admire the jeep as a

designed object with many many many many

incremental authors again a form of

Dannette vernacular design this ship the

Vasa was is a Swedish ship that first

sailed in 1628 I'd sailed as far as I

can tell once at scale sails about

fourteen hundred metres and then sank in

a light wind in front of hundreds of

assembled people in Holland stockholm

harbour it was also an example of

vernacular design because the people who

were making it they made they

they were making their boats the way

they should be made there was no other

way to make them as each boat you made

you made a new one or each ship I should

say I guess I'd be in trouble with the

sailors here but each each ship that's

made was made in pretty much the same

way building on the previous knowledge

incrementally now I'll come back to that

later on the I had the privilege of

doing an installation of mine in a

village in the highlands of Flores which

is a beautiful island in Indonesia and

if you go there the town's the the

village square is designed and it

completely expresses the assumptions in

another way the values of that culture

it's good for both you know the the

modern modern times in the sense of the

kids and the people who live there but

also is designed to take good care of

the ancestors of that community and the

space completely reflects that and this

is not to say it's a matter of not

engage

you know modernity and heritage you

might say and that's also reflected in

some of the vessels they use this is a

modern vessel with a very traditional

beverage in it and yet in that same

village you see beautiful baskets that

are made the way they've been made for

for quite some time so this is another

example of vernacular design you might

say in one of my favourite places in in

in Singapore is hopper Villa and this is

this is actually using modern materials

to to depict very traditional values

including the 18 circles of hell in the

Chinese mythology as far as I can tell

almost all of them have to do with

disobeying your parents and and the bad

things like that can happen and judging

from all the people who saw it that I've

spoken to here who saw it when they are

8 years old this is a design that fully

achieves its function but what's

interesting about it is that you know

people smiled at us people in Singapore

never know where I'm going with with

when I said I want to go visit hop are

real again but the thing is that what's

beautiful about it is that it's made

with complete commitment the the the

brothers who who created it who are

writing you know real definition the

creators of it we're completely

committed to this idea and that's what

that's what vernacular design in general

has a

commitment to the the idea that is

trying to be expressed in a sense that

there was really no other way to achieve

it and that not only is there no other

way to achieve it but that they feel

that they are doing it they're not doing

anything special that it's almost a

feeling that they are not making it

there almost channeling it and that's

what vernacular design is all about and

the people who make vernacular designs

probably never think their designs would

ever be in a museum because that's not

how they think of them so folk design

vernacular design sort of got me

thinking what is our vernacular design

today

what is our folk design what are the

more to the point what are the

assumptions that we all understand as

we're creating and doing things that we

don't really challenge and they're

actually the ones that are being

expressed because all those design all

those things I showed you were

assumptions and values being transformed

into physical physical objects and you

know this is a like I said it's a

provocation this is in no way a complete

list is some of the you where we might

say is some of the values that may come

from science and things like that but it

I was really interested in the in things

that I could see

transforming into objects in a specific

way so one thing is property values

everybody understands property values

and we all understand that or we I

shouldn't say I should say that we we

live in a society a world culture this

is a place that's been in jeopardy for a

while apparently it's doing all right

now but we all understand we are we are

persuaded and we act as though that the

most expensive use of a property is de

facto the best and and so this leads to

a lot of interesting things at least to

a lot of lost farmland and things like

that and it's not in the sense

altogether a bad thing that's not just

in Singapore I take care of a modern

house the Eames house in Los Angeles

which could only exist with this similar

sort of feeling that though the the

proliferation of important modern houses

in Los Angeles is a direct result of a

feeling that if you have your own

property why can't you do what you want

and so therefore why can't you tear

things down

is that this house that devolved from

that same spirit of experimentation and

exploration is now under threat or was

under threat until the foundation was

created was under threat from this

assumption that the best use of energy

and of any property is to maximise its

financial worth and I would argue that

that attitude that that assumption has

shaped the modern city worldwide far

more than any architect or any school of

architecture and that's I think if we

were looking at some aspects of

vernacular design in our culture that

would be one of them

Moore's Law which is we we know is the

feeling that that the that the memory

the amount of memory will cut in half

every 18 months and I think what's

what's interesting about the about

Moore's Law is that it's led to an

assumption that almost everything should

be that way now clearly I think we can

agree after our talks that our health

should increase exponentially every 18

months and malaria should decrease

exponentially every 18 months but not

everything is like that and yet I think

it's become kind of a premise like

what's the matter with you physical

world you know you used to go more

quickly so why aren't you the same way

is the digital world and the in the

physical world has sort of a has a

irreducible physicality that must be

addressed and so you know for example I

think that even though for some people

you know the idea of of salaries going

to our salaries going down 50% every 18

months or even 18 years would be as a

fantasy in terms of cutting costs it

would be a catastrophe for our culture

for our world culture and so I think

that this Moore's law though has become

kind of at one of these values that were

often taking as an assumption as we look

at the world and make choices about that

world and and yet in a funny way even

though things like farming and the

traditional ways are seen as very you

know that's how they used to do it back

then excuse me that's how they used to

do it back then kind of thing I bet if

you found the right increment of time

when each of these

you know transitions of Technology

because remember this was high

technology once this all happened in

Silicon Valley and you know 5000 years

ago that if you could find the right

time frame you would see a similar sync

the acceleration as to Moore's law as

people fiddled with it made each plough

a little bit better it got better how it

joined with the with the ox or whatever

and so I think these moments of

acceleration are normal but we also have

to be prepared for them to end I'm not

sure we're fully prepared for for some

of our technological acceleration to end

then there's then there's something

that's called a shareholder value which

leads directly to value engineering now

value engineering is an old sin you can

see it at the bottom of at the bottom of

every wine bottle it's sort of in dense

it's a great way to make sure the

customer is paying the same amount but

they're getting less and and we've all

experienced the the shrinking candy bar

and you know and it's like they're

always changing the cast of characters

and those things but the end result is

that you pay the same amount or pay more

and you get less now then in a way

that's not wrong per se because maybe

things are more expensive but the thing

that we all are accepting is that one of

the reasons for that to happen is for

the shareholders to achieve growth that

the shareholder benefit is the most

important thing that drives the creation

of many objects in in in our culture and

you know again I would say that that

fact may be like a lot of you probably

take are on the airplane remember five

years ago you had a printed paper

boarding pass they wouldn't even if you

tried to go past the onto the plane you

had to hand it to them they had to look

at it examine it now if you don't

actively affirmative Lee scan it over

the put it over the scanner you're kind

of a you know a very suspect sort of

person and you're kind of a bad sport

you know if you if you don't do it and

now really that's no hardship for what

what difference does it make

but what I find interesting is that all

those incremental improvements you might

say or incremental changes or

efficiencies I think efficiency is often

quite overrated but all those

efficiencies don't actually

change they don't really I don't get the

savings and the person behind behind the

counter loses their job over time with

them what that where that goes is that I

only get those savings if the high rate

of growth that the stock market demands

of that company is achieved for that for

the shareholders and if I were a

shareholder I'd probably feel that way

too

but is that really the best way to run a

culture I mean I would argue that this

value engineering has influenced the

physicality of more objects in our

man-made world today then all the rock

star designers put together because it's

so prevalent it's so insidious we don't

even see it we don't even know it and I

think this has to do with you know this

all leads to something where you there's

all these things that the reason why it

matters is that they're plenty of places

where you can't value engineer forever

without great loss of quality and

they're people some of whom have spoken

on this stage so who who are fine there

are chefs there are there designers

there are architects there are you know

there are service people there people

around the world who are trying to

improve things and they had to fight

against the tide which is that they

almost have an arm tied behind their

back from the beginning and again I'm

not trying to say that shareholders

shouldn't be rewarded for their risk I'm

just saying that if you if I said well

we got it I'm saying that people

understand and have internalized that

this is an essential value whereas if

you say to somebody well you know it's

really cool because this product is

green now they go oh that's nice they

don't view it as essential and that's

what I mean by these these vernacular

assumptions and this is something that

really drives me crazy which is the go

paperless to simplify your life and

there's always something about the you

know how it's greener for the

environment because we won't have to

print your statements and you sort of

say but actually they're saving lots of

money by not mailing it and you sort of

say is there anything that that is

beautiful that can't be co-opted as a

way to save a little money for for the

company that's that that I am that I am

that I am patronizing I mean you look

around the world you know you know women

have joined joined the workplace in it

workforce in great numbers which is an

affirmative good and so so many ways and

yet in many countries it's led to family

still based on having the same amount of

money with two people working and it's

disguised some of the changes that are

happening in our culture in a way that

it's not healthy because if change does

happen we need to see it so we can make

it better so we can react to it and we

can improve it and that's what I mean by

these sort of core assumptions and core

values but it's not enough to say you

know but of course we have to be able to

you know change is happening we can't

prevent change I'm not against change

change is actually very valid but very

important but we also have to be able to

pivot on the way we deal with change and

I'm gonna go back to this boat this ship

sorry bad roll sorry

the going back to the ship the Vasa and

it's sank and why did it sink because

the designers of the ship

we're told continuously by the king that

it should be bigger bigger is better

that was certainly one of the

assumptions of that of that particular

culture and they made they just kept

making it bigger and bigger the exact

same way they don't always done it and

as a result it became top-heavy and in

the very light wind it sank it you know

people were killed it was devastating

blow to the to the Swedish Navy and and

my point is is that isn't it possible

that's where we are with something with

some of the some of our assumptions we

aren't we all in a big giant excites

experiment right now to see what happens

when we do the same possibly not so

smart things again and again on a scale

of millions and billions of people and

so my favorite picture in my favorite

one of my favorite vistas in Singapore

is this one National Parks to me it

expresses the beautiful potential and

the a of Singapore because it's both a

country and a city and this city this

would be a perfectly legit park and in

the in Los Angeles in fact probably big

for some of our parks but at the same

time it is a national park and that

scale I think could be part of

Singapore's undiscovered country the

opportunity to make a real contribution

to how the world addresses some of these

issues and maybe even develops new

assumptions to become the basis of a new

vernacular design or

approach this is you know Singapore

Singapore is known as the center of

business what if it became known as a

wellspring of business there's not

enough room for many centers but there's

lots of room for Wellsprings and I had

the privilege to be at honors Museum and

do and do an exhibition there last year

and a lot of two or three years ago and

it was an exhibit of the work of my

grandparents Charles and Ray Eames and

one of the exhibits the reason so many

people responded to was this one it was

about the banana leaf and basically what

Charles was saying it says here it's the

process that happened has happened

within the man that changes the banana

leaf and this is not sponsored in any

way by the restaurant here but the but

the thing the the idea was that that you

know the people that he had encountered

in India who were very poor ate off of

the banana leaf and then people made

more and more fancy stuff but then the

people who had wealth but also wisdom

went the extra step and they ate a

banana leaf and so this kind of humility

I think is very important as we move as

we move forward not everybody will

always be this enlightened to put their

money on their shirt but so be it

and one of the most heartening things

I've encountered lately in this kind of

arena has been in terms of the

physicality is that 3d printing has

really transformed the conversation I

think about materiality in fact I think

it's made many people respected more

when I was creating these object she's -

creating these objects of the makers at

a makerspace the conversations I had

about what actually things were made of

were so different than even 10 years ago

when people just figured that everything

was digital when people wrestled with

making things ringing things bringing

objects into the world it changes their

conversation so it gives me great hope

for for sort of you know Noma for that

divide between digital and and physical

and I wanted to sort of conclude with

you know something like jewelry I mean

jewelry is a product but it's also

something that's important to be one eye

and I was thinking that it you know

isn't it interesting that if you kind of

added up all the cultures in world

history I would say that more cultures

have had jewelry than have had shirts

and more cultures have had ornament than

have had clothes so which is more

essential do you think and I think that

these are the these are the kind of

values that we need to nurture

make assumptions not for fancy jewelry

but for to recognize that part of the

aesthetic experience aesthetic spirit in

all of us so Singapore could become a

model and not only a model in this

literal sense which has you know if you

can see these great little places where

the you know where the the new

regulations about the green areas of

building new buildings in Singapore I

mean more in that Singlish sense I mean

more in that sort of grassroots coming

up sense because it's a it's a it's just

it's a space I won't even say small it's

a properly scaled community to interact

with one another work out work out

issues and make them better and better

because I think that in order to be a

world cup to in order for our world

culture to take the next step we have to

decide really whether the greatest

expression of our culture should be the

fact that a snicker VAR it gets really

small or whether or whether we can we

can create a set of values that

everybody understands so we're really

firing on all the same on the cylinders

together as we try to make the things

that we think our world our world needs

and in that whole list of potential

assumptions and like I said it's a

provocation I you look forward to your

list of what you think those those

assumptions and values might be not one

of them showed very much humility and

the thing about humility is that if you

don't have humility you will be humbled

if you do have humility you'll still be

humbled but you may be better prepared

and I think that that's kind of where we

need to get to as we look at the

assumptions that we're using to build

our world building the next 50 years and

I look forward to seeing the

undiscovered country that is both

Singapore in a world based on deeper and

clearer assumptions thank you