The Sustainable Solution to Our World’s Pressing Problems | Aisa Mijeno | TEDxiACADEMY

Summary

The speaker discusses the exponential growth of technology over the past decades, highlighting the invention of transistors and the birth of the Information Age. Despite technological advancements, there remains a significant disparity in access to basic needs like clean water, electricity, and internet connectivity, particularly in developing economies. The speaker questions whether technology alone is the solution to the world's pressing problems, referencing the Industrial Revolution and its environmental impact. They share personal experiences of witnessing simple machinery improve the lives of communities in Vietnam and the Philippines, emphasizing the role of creativity and innovation in addressing challenges. The speaker introduces a 14-year-old from Malawi who built a windmill from scrap materials, and their own invention of a salt lamp system, both born out of necessity and creativity. They conclude that human values are the key drivers for using technology to solve global issues, advocating for a holistic approach that addresses basic human needs and empowers communities to take charge of their own development.

Takeaways

• 📈 **Exponential Growth**: The rapid technological advancement in recent decades, especially since the invention of transistors and the birth of Moore's Law, has led to an exponential growth in computational power and data access.
• 🌐 **Digital Divide**: Despite technological progress, there is a significant disparity in technology access, with many people in developing economies lacking basic infrastructure like clean water, electricity, and internet connectivity.
• 🏭 **Industrial Revolutions**: The speaker reflects on the progression of industrial revolutions, noting the environmental and social costs, and questioning whether technology is ultimately destructive to the planet.
• 🔨 **Ned Ludd's Legacy**: Reference to Ned Ludd, who symbolizes resistance to industrialization, suggesting a need to consider the human and environmental impacts of technological change.
• 🌟 **Positive Impacts**: Technology has also brought about numerous positive changes, such as megastructures, moon landings, improved literacy, increased life expectancy, and enhanced logistics.
• 🍜 **Local Innovation**: Simple machinery and local innovations, like a rice noodle machine made from recycled materials, can significantly improve productivity and quality of life in rural communities.
• 🧵 **Grassroots Creativity**: Creativity, as seen in traditional weaving and other crafts, is a powerful human expression that can be a key to solving problems, suggesting that technology is just one aspect of human ingenuity.
• 💡 **Human-Centered Solutions**: The founder of an NGO from Bangladesh emphasizes the importance of human values in addressing core problems, suggesting that technology should be used to support and amplify these values.
• 🌱 **Sustainable Innovation**: The speaker shares their own experience of creating a salt lamp system, motivated by the challenges faced by people without access to electricity, highlighting the role of innovation in sustainable solutions.
• 🌍 **Global Connectivity**: The power of technology is seen in its ability to connect people globally, as evidenced by the Egyptian revolution, which was facilitated by social media.
• 🏆 **Beyond Trophies**: The speaker argues that human values should be prioritized over accolades and credentials, as they are the true drivers of altruistic goals and the most compelling force for positive change.
• 📖 **Education and Experience**: A young innovator from Malawi, despite limited formal education, was able to create a windmill using local resources, demonstrating how creativity can be molded by experience and necessity.

Q & A

What is the significance of the 'hockey stick' growth mentioned in the transcript?

The 'hockey stick' growth refers to the exponential technological advancement that occurred in recent decades, particularly following the invention of transistors and the establishment of Moore's Law. It symbolizes a rapid increase in technological capabilities and their widespread impact on society.

What marked the beginning of the Information Age according to the speaker?

The beginning of the Information Age was marked by the successful communication between a client and a server by Tim Berners-Lee, which led to the revolution of the World Wide Web.

What are some of the problems that developing economies are facing despite technological progress?

Developing economies are facing problems such as lack of access to clean water, inadequate infrastructure for communication and data sharing, and limited access to electricity and lighting.

How many people worldwide are reported by the World Bank to not have access to clean water?

According to the World Bank, approximately 780 million people worldwide do not have access to clean water.

What is the speaker's perspective on the role of technology in solving the world's pressing problems?

The speaker believes that while technology has the potential to solve many of the world's problems, it is not the sole solution. Human values and creativity play a significant role in addressing these issues, and technology should be used in conjunction with these values.

What is the historical reference to Ned Ludd and its relevance to the speaker's discussion?

Ned Ludd was a figure from the 18th century who famously smashed a stocking frame, leading to a revolt against machinery. The speaker uses this reference to illustrate the historical tension between technological advancement and its impact on society.

How did the speaker's experience in Lao Cai province, North Vietnam, influence their views on technology?

The speaker witnessed a simple machine made from recycled materials that significantly improved the productivity and quality of life for a community of 50 households. This experience demonstrated the transformative power of simple technology and innovation in addressing local needs.

What is the 'salt lamp' lighting system that the speaker created?

The 'salt lamp' is an innovative lighting system that uses ocean water or salt water as a medium to activate and power up LEDs. It can also charge low-power mobile devices and was inspired by the challenges faced by people in obtaining kerosene for light.

What does the speaker believe is the key to solving the world's most pressing problems?

The speaker believes that human values are the key to solving the world's most pressing problems. They argue that technology should be used in conjunction with these values to create a scalable solution that can bring about positive change.

How does the speaker describe the importance of human values in the context of technological development?

The speaker emphasizes that human values should be at the center of technological development. They argue that values such as self-respect, dignity, and community empowerment are crucial for sustainable development and should be integrated with technological solutions.

What is the speaker's final message regarding the direction of innovation?

The speaker's final message is that innovation is accelerating at an exponential rate and it needs to be directed with human values. They stress the importance of ensuring that technological advancements align with and serve to enhance human values for the betterment of society.

Outlines

00:00

📈 Exponential Technological Growth and Socioeconomic Disparities

The first paragraph discusses the exponential growth of technology, particularly over the past few decades, with significant milestones such as the invention of the transistor, the establishment of Moore's Law, and the advent of the World Wide Web. Despite these advancements, there is a stark contrast in the availability of technology, especially in developing countries, where issues like lack of access to clean water, electricity, and internet persist. The speaker reflects on the role of technology in solving global challenges, referencing the Industrial Revolution and the need for a shift in focus towards human values as a driving force for positive change.

05:02

🌱 Grassroots Innovation and the Power of Human Values

The second paragraph emphasizes the inspiring role of technology in transforming lives, from a small community in rural Vietnam to the broader societal changes catalyzed by social media in Egypt. The speaker questions whether creativity, rather than technology alone, is the key to solving the world's problems. They share personal experiences and stories, such as the innovative windmill built by a young Malawian and the development of a salt lamp lighting system, to illustrate how creativity, molded by experiences and hardships, can lead to impactful solutions. The paragraph concludes with the assertion that human values are paramount, and when combined with technology, they can serve as a powerful tool for positive global change.

Keywords

💡Technological Growth

Technological growth refers to the increase in the capabilities of technology over time. In the video, it is depicted through a powerful slide that shows the exponential growth in technology, particularly in the past few decades with the invention of transistors and the advent of Moore's Law. This growth is central to the video's theme, illustrating the rapid advancements that have been made and their impact on society.

💡Moore's Law

Moore's Law is the observation that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles about every two years, leading to an increase in computational power and a decrease in costs. It is mentioned in the script as a pivotal moment in technological advancement that has contributed to the exponential growth of technology, which is a key point in the discussion of how technology has evolved and its implications.

💡Information Age

The Information Age is a period in human history characterized by the shift from traditional industry to an economy based on information technology. The script refers to the successful communication between a client and a server by Tim Berners-Lee as marking the beginning of this era. This concept is integral to the video's narrative as it sets the stage for discussing the digital divide and the disparities in access to technology across the globe.

💡Digital Divide

The digital divide refers to the gap between those who have ready access to computers and the internet, and those who do not. In the video, the digital divide is highlighted by the statistics of people without access to clean water, electricity, and internet, emphasizing the disparities in technology access, particularly in developing economies. This keyword is central to the video's message about the need for equitable distribution of technological advancements.

💡Innovation

Innovation is the process of translating an idea or invention into a good or service that creates value. The video discusses innovation in the context of technology and its role in solving global problems. It is exemplified by the creation of a rice noodle machine from recycled materials in Vietnam, which increased productivity and brought about significant local benefits, showcasing how innovation can have a profound impact on communities.

💡Human Values

Human values are the moral principles or standards that guide behavior and decision-making. The video speaker argues that human values should be at the center of technological development and are the key motivators for altruistic goals. The founder of an NGO from Bangladesh is mentioned as an example of someone who embodies these values, emphasizing the importance of human values in addressing global challenges.

💡Grassroots Innovation

Grassroots innovation refers to innovations that are developed by and for the people at the local level, often using local resources and knowledge. The video mentions grassroots innovation in the context of the Philippines, where a weaver uses a wooden machine to create intricate fabric patterns and a wooden bicycle is paraded by a native. These examples illustrate how local, community-based innovations can be a source of creativity and problem-solving.

💡World Wide Web

The World Wide Web (WWW) is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the internet. The script refers to the revolution of the World Wide Web as a significant technological milestone that has shaped the modern world. It is part of the discussion on how technology has grown exponentially and its role in the information age.

💡Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution refers to a period of significant technological, economic, and social change that began in the 18th century. The video mentions the Industrial Revolution to provide historical context for the technological transitions that have occurred since then, leading up to the present day where technology is seen as both a solution and a potential problem.

💡Environmental Catastrophe

An environmental catastrophe refers to a sudden, severe, and widespread environmental disaster. The video discusses the potential negative impact of technology on the environment, suggesting that the exploitation of resources for technological advancement can lead to environmental catastrophe. This keyword is used to raise awareness about the need for sustainable technological development.

💡Luddite Movement

The Luddites were a group of 19th-century British textile artisans who protested against the use of labor-saving machinery, believing it threatened their jobs. The video references Ned Ludd, who is associated with the Luddite movement, to illustrate the historical tension between technology and human labor. This concept is used to draw parallels with current concerns about technology's impact on jobs and society.

💡Salt Lamp

A salt lamp, as mentioned in the video, is an innovative lighting system that uses saltwater to activate and power up LEDs, and even charge low-power mobile devices. The speaker was inspired to create this system after witnessing the challenges people faced in obtaining kerosene for lighting. The salt lamp is an example of how technology can be harnessed to address basic human needs in a sustainable and innovative way.

Highlights

The exponential growth in technology over the past few decades is highlighted by the invention of transistors and the birth of Moore's Law.

The successful communication between a client and a server by Tim Berners-Lee marked the beginning of the Information Age and the World Wide Web revolution.

Despite technological advancements, there is a disparity in technology access, particularly in developing economies.

780 million people lack access to clean water, 1.4 billion are not connected to the power grid, and four billion people are without internet access according to the World Bank.

The speaker questions whether technology is truly the key to solving the world's most pressing problems.

The Industrial Revolution and its subsequent transitions have led to rapid development but also environmental catastrophe and economic disparity.

The speaker shares a personal story of witnessing the impact of simple machinery on a rural community in North Vietnam, which improved productivity and quality of life.

Technology has brought about significant improvements in literacy, lifespan, and declining mortality rates.

The role of technology is evident in changing lives, from small communities to large-scale social revolutions, such as the Egyptian awakening through social media.

The speaker visited Sagada, Philippines, and observed the intricate craft of weaving on a wooden machine, highlighting the importance of grassroots innovation.

Creativity, as a human expression, may be the key to solving pressing problems, with technology being a tool for implementation.

The story of a 14-year-old from Malawi who built a windmill from scrap materials exemplifies creativity born out of necessity.

The speaker's own innovation, a salt lamp lighting system, was inspired by the challenges faced by people in obtaining kerosene for light.

Human values are identified as the most profound motivator for using technology to attain altruistic goals and change the world for the better.

The founder of an NGO from Bangladesh emphasizes the importance of providing basic human needs to marginalized communities as a holistic approach to development.

The speaker concludes that innovation should be directed with human values to ensure technology is used for the betterment of society.

Transcripts

okay so let me start by showing you this

one powerful slide here which I believe

summarizes the technological growth and

an advancement that happened over the

past centuries but what's even more

compelling about this slide if you try

to notice the hockey stick is the

exponential growth that happened only a

few decades ago with the invention of

transistors the birth of Moore's law

that the successful communication

between a client and a server of 13

berners-lee which marked the Information

Age and the revolution of the World Wide

Web and the rest was history we even

have a more powerful computational

device and access to data now that what

we had with a space shuttle which landed

on the moon almost 50 years ago given

this send a technological transition

that happened over the past decades it

is tremendously surprising and quite

bothering to see the disparity of

technology particularly in developing

economies like ours that despite the

amazing progress in science and

technology unfortunately we are still

experiencing problems ranging from lack

of access to clean water infrastructure

that supports communication and data

sharing and a problem that our

organization is trying to help address

people's lack of access to electricity

and lighting according to World Bank

they're about 780 million people who

don't have access to clean water 1.4

billion people are not connected to the

power grid four billion people without

internet access and makes up the world's

poor and because of this in my recent

participation from a forum I realized

and I've started asking myself this

question its technology really the key

to solving the world's most pressing

problems it has almost been three

centuries since the beginning of the

Industrial Revolution this transition

included going from hand to

dachshund methods to machines new

chemical manufacturing and iron

production processes the increasing use

of steam power the development of

machine tools and the rise of factory

system which paved the way for rapid

development and the Second Industrial

Revolution which enabled the third

Industrial Revolution and now we're

coming to the fourth exploiting massive

resources which cost environmental

catastrophe disparity among economies

until we finally admit to ourselves that

technology is actually destroying this

planet but before we transform into a

nearly died as reference to Ned Ludd if

you're familiar with Ned Ludd who

smashed a - stacking frame in license to

England in 1779 which led to the

revolution of men against machine let me

also tell you that technology did

several wonderful amazing things

technology that we could have never

imagined or achieved from megastructures

two men on the moon improving our

well-being from the increase in literacy

the longer lifespan the declining

mortality rate

not to mention logistics the growing

efficiency in the transportation

communication and data access this this

only tells us one thing technology is

not a problem going back almost a decade

ago I was fortunate enough enough to be

part of a volunteer program in Lao Cai

province North Vietnam and their how to

get to Lao Cai province takes about

eight hours by train and then you have

to go on foot two hours more and then we

had to traverse mount fansipan which is

the highest mountain in Indochina to set

up a camp which is going to be our

dwelling for the next three weeks and

there I saw this very interesting piece

of machinery here I asked one of the

villagers what the machine was for and

then I learned that the machine was for

creating rice noodles so being naturally

curious I spent some time and ham around

the place and observed the people every

single day and I noticed that this

of machinery here made out of Buddha

mentoring materials actually feeds the

entire community of 50 households this

piece of machinery here made out of

recycled materials bring about 25%

productivity because people no longer

need to travel to the nearest town to

buy themselves rice noodles they get 50%

savings because people harvest and

create their own rice noodles and yield

more crops because there are more people

in the village who can work day in and

day out in the farm so the unforeseen

impact of simple machinery simple

innovations such as this one is truly

inspiring the role of Technology clearly

seen from my new things changing the

lives of a small community in rural

Vietnam to the Egyptians awakening its

people with a revolution that was

created through social media there is no

doubt the power of technology is

inevitable yet I still find myself

asking the same question when I went

home to the Philippines I visited Sagada

and I watched a Weaver and I wondered

how she does this intricate the science

on a fabric using a wooden machine as

she pushed and pulled a wooden stick and

match it with her foot on the pedal

colorful thread start popping up as a

pattern of the fabric was formed no

matter how I concentrate full side full

consciousness and as she wave our arms

and foot around I still wasn't able to

grasp how the fabric was made it was

just amazing and then I went out and saw

a wooden bicycle on the street being

paraded by a native of the area and as

someone making all Istanbul and there I

realized that the Philippines has even

more of this grassroots innovation there

I started asking myself if the key could

be creativity its technology just one of

the creative human expressions it's

creativity alone the key to solving the

world's most pressing problems and if so

where does creativity come from the

first time I read about this 14 year old

from Malawi I was really inspired by him

he never went to school only read books

from a random library created by the

missionaries yet he was able to build a

a windmill enough to power up appliances

using blue gum trees bicycle parts and

metal materials that are collected from

the local scrapyard now this is

creativity creativity molded by

experiences and his was relevant and

significant because the motivation to

create was out of difficulties hardships

and deprivation living in a small island

or a small village in rural Africa and I

believe it was the same creative process

that I had experienced when I went up to

the mountains which inspired me to

create salt lamp a lighting system that

makes use of ocean water salt water as a

way as a medium to activate and power up

LEDs and even charge low-power mobile

devices like your cell phones and

smartphones so this is a video clip that

you can see on how a salt one works and

I was motivated and inspired to do this

after learning the challenges of the

people just to get kerosene for to have

light at night but there is this one

thing that I have observed and recently

realized that creativity is just a

product of something more profound and

this should be the center of how we do

things this should have more values than

the awards trophies academic credential

certificates that we have this should

this we should take advantage of because

together with technology its scalable

and these are human values human values

are the biggest motivation to move

forward it brings everything together

it's the most compelling drive for

people to attain altruistic goals and

weak technology it's going to be the

greatest tool to change the world for

the better when I met a founder of an

NGO from Bangladesh it occurred to me

how human values are the key to solving

the world's most pressing problems her

stories were testimonials

of this the NGO she found this is a

value based organization with a holistic

approach towards development because

without providing the marginalized the

isolated communities with basic human

needs such as food water lighting

sanitation you are not making them part

of the system we need to give this

people self-respect we need to give

these people human dignity because only

they can help themselves out of poverty

only the community can be the guardians

of the environment they live in

addressing the problem right from the

very core which something that has been

innate and already within us is the most

logical approach and with technology the

movement will be even more intensified

so I'm going to leave you with a code a

principle and a matter of mine

innovation is accelerating at an

exponential rate and we need to ensure

that it is given direction with human

values thank you for listening and maybe

have a wonderful afternoon

[Applause]