“You’ve gotta figure out what the $%@# your passion is!”
This is how Singularity University co-founder Peter Diamandis started his mind-blowing keynote on Wednesday, after a show of hands revealed that very few of us know with 100% certainty why we are here at #GSP16. We’re here because we love technology and want to make a positive impact on the world. But how?
“If there is anything, anything, you learn this summer, it has to be to figure out what the fuck your passion is” –Peter Diamandis
I’ll describe the first week based on the three characteristics that stand out.
Inspiration. Pressure. Acclimating.
It continues. No blog post can accurately describe the quality of content that we are fed each day. We’ve been introduced to subjects such as computing and networking, getting a taste of how the world will look when everything and anything is connected to the internet. How smart systems will enable us to live sustainably and seamlessly. How, according to Moore’s law, the number of transistors on integrated circuits will continue to double every 18 months, effectively meaning that personal computers and other electronic devices can do twice as many new, innovative, and unexpected things every two years while the cost per transistor drops relatively.
It’s impossible not to reflect on how fast our behaviours and day to day lives have changed since the mass adoption of computers, smartphones, search engines and social networks. The change we have observed comes despite the fact that humans are inherently reluctant to change, which makes me think that change will exponentially accelerate as digital natives grow up and cement the new normal.
Take self-driving cars. Most of the people I talk to cannot imagine trusting their lives in the hands of a computer, despite the fact that self-driving cars are poised to save 10 million lives per decade globally from the reduction of car accidents alone (not to mention the reduction in pollution as cars will be interconnected, shared and optimized for traffic and parking). The thought of not being in control scares us. Why? Because we were taught how to drive and taught that we decide how to drive it.
But I got yet another revelation when our program director told us that he had just taken his 3-year old son to visit one of Google’s self-driving cars and was baffled as his son naturally got in the back seat, intuitively inserted the directions into the car’s GPS, and leaned back as if there was nothing more natural than expecting that this car would autonomously take him to his destination.
His son represents the generation growing up, the generation which perceive our generation’s “new, uncertain normal” as simply “normal.” It’s their behaviours that will shape the world, and as we age it’s going to be our challenge to accept and adapt.
The speakers are truly top notch. Luckily. We are sitting down and focused for nearly nine hours a day listening to mind-blowing ideas, sciences and technologies that are possible, on the verge of mass adoption or completely futuristic. Procrastination is occasionally hard to avoid, the concepts presented make our minds wonder to their unique applications and implications. Its the same panic that catches up with me every time I fall back into focus; “What did I just miss? Did I potentially just miss the key to solving the worlds biggest challenge!?” Shit.
This week has consisted of tantalizing introduction to a variety of topics, ranging from simple digital medicine apps, to the possibility of reaching the technological singularity by 2045, meaning that machine intelligence will outperform all of human intelligence combined. Following Ray Kurzweil’s keynote speech, I posed the question;
“If we do reach the technological singularity in 2045 and machines are essentially able to perform any current human job exponentially better than us, what should I tell my children to study? Which jobs will be in demand?”
Kurzweil’s answer was simple.
“We simply don’t know yet, but we’ve figured it out before and we’ll figure it out again.”
He is pointing to the fact that the majority of jobs that drove the economy in the past century are largely eliminated today, while new jobs and entirely new industries have blossomed, creating demand for new skill sets and continuously raised the bar for quality in jobs for humans.
There’s no doubt that in the immediate future and next couple of decades there will be high demand for engineers and computer scientists, but what happens when machines are effectively able to code, troubleshoot and innovate themselves? I dare to argue that demand for creativity, originality and interpersonal relationship expertise (like psychologists) is going to spike.
A few of the highlights this week
Intro to robotics workshop
We were taught how to build a robot car out of LEGOs and then prompted to program software on our computers that would later enable us to command the robot to do a variety of actions. I won’t claim to be a robotics expert at this point, but learning something hands on is way more effective than passively listening to theory. Key take-aways: any robot requires three components: a computer/controller, an actuator and a sensor.
2. Intro to microcontrollers
Thursday night we got introduced to micro controllers and got to assemble the various components required to make a micro controller work, after which we did some basic coding commanding the controller to play sounds and beam lights in set rhythms. The workshop was held in Singularity’s iLab which literally resembles any nerds wet dream. The iLab is open to everyone and allows us to test virtual reality (Oculus Rift), 3D printers, robots, scanners and basically build whatever our imagination drives.
3. Exponential Empathy evening
Friday night we spent alone together; or physically together in virtual worlds. On our mission to solve the world’s greatest challenges, developing understanding and empathy is important. We were all divided into groups and got to virtually transcend ourselves with the help of virtual reality headsets into several problem prone areas in the world, such as Congo, Gaza and Syria. If you have access to VR or have a Google Cardboard you can try it for yourself using the apps; Within, GoPro VR, UNVR, NYT VR and www.360syria.com.
4. Human Performance Workshop
We were warned the night before to eat a light breakfast and to get enough sleep, because Saturday we would learn how to optimise our mental and physical performance by non other than Red Bull, Cirque du Soleil and the Navy Seals; and some of the activities would be dangerous.
At the dawn of Saturday morning, we were each given an egg, and asked to protect it with our lives and never lose sight of it, in hopes that we would realise how to cooperate and appreciate responsibilities and burdens when we are under pressure (which as I reflected on it, it became clear the egg-exercise could be translated to handling a fragile team dynamic, someone you care about, a personal issue or an insecurity under pressure in real life).
Our first workshop was held by the free diving team at Red Bull, who taught us how to expand our minds and accepting that we can hold our breaths for at least three minutes. By learning specific relaxation tools, breathing techniques and mindsets nearly everyone was able to double the time they thought they would be able to hold their breath. Our second practice focused on a core workout, in which we received the hard message:
“Unless you are growing a human being inside your body you better power through. No excuses.”
At this point we’re not even at lunch yet, and are taken through “Extreme Memory Training” by a former member of the CIA. After learning how to memorise up to 20 numbers in a row, we are challenged to spend lunch consolidated in our own heads to effectively process the information we have received, banned of all communication with each other and the outside world. We are also encouraged to give our eggs (who at this point we have grown quite attached) to a person we trust, an exercise which turns out to be both an emotional gift and burden. We’re all contemplating the balance of burdening someone we care about with the responsibility of taking care of our egg and the gesture of showing them we appreciate and trust them.
For a whole hour, we sit silently eating a vegan meal based on ancient indian recipes, shyly sending each other smiles and curious looks. It feels awkward at first, but we quickly learn to appreciate the mutual respect for silence and head space.
The rest of the day consists of several fascinating talks about the individual importance of nutrition, stress release, headspace (download this app to try it yourself), human connection and physical movement to optimize our potential as human beings.
Finally, the day wraps up by being divided into groups of four in which we are encouraged to tell each other about our deepest fear. I’m normally quite open about my thoughts and feelings, but found myself in an uneasy space as I felt the genuine ache in my body while I opened up to three strangers about my truest fear in life. The exercise reinforced the underlying value of the day’s content- “if we want to go fast; go alone, if we want to go far; go together”.
Learning how to truly connect and trust other people is the key to building lasting, genuine relationships.
