Alan Kay Presentation at HP Tech Con (2003)
1 00:00:02,449 --> 00:00:06,930 ladies and gentlemen please welcome dick
2 00:00:05,069 --> 00:00:10,790 Lampman senior vice president of
3 00:00:06,930 --> 00:00:10,790 research and directors of HP labs
4 00:00:16,940 --> 00:00:23,279 earning I hope you all had a great day
5 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:27,090 yesterday for me it was pretty exciting
6 00:00:23,279 --> 00:00:29,250 to see the full power of HP's technology
7 00:00:27,090 --> 00:00:31,679 team all in one place something we
8 00:00:29,250 --> 00:00:33,270 haven't been able to do for a long time
9 00:00:31,679 --> 00:00:35,100 and as you heard yesterday something
10 00:00:33,270 --> 00:00:38,579 that we're gonna make a regular event so
11 00:00:35,100 --> 00:00:40,890 it's great day so I have the pleasure
12 00:00:38,579 --> 00:00:42,950 today of introducing Alan Kay
13 00:00:40,890 --> 00:00:46,289 you heard that very briefly yesterday
14 00:00:42,950 --> 00:00:48,410 but Alan's a difficult guy to introduce
15 00:00:46,289 --> 00:00:51,840 to be honest he's certainly well known
16 00:00:48,410 --> 00:00:54,629 for his ideas on personal computing the
17 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:57,000 intimate laptop computer the now
18 00:00:54,629 --> 00:00:58,920 ubiquitous overlapping Windows interface
19 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:59,609 which I hope I don't see running out
20 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:02,850 there right now
21 00:00:59,609 --> 00:01:06,299 and and of course modern object-oriented
22 00:01:02,850 --> 00:01:08,159 programming as Shane master'd mentioned
23 00:01:06,299 --> 00:01:09,650 yesterday he is one of the founders it
24 00:01:08,159 --> 00:01:11,610 was one of the founders of Xerox PARC
25 00:01:09,650 --> 00:01:12,840 earlier he was a member of the
26 00:01:11,610 --> 00:01:16,920 University Utah
27 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:20,430 ARPA team that developed the original 3d
28 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:23,189 computer graphics he has a very eclectic
29 00:01:20,430 --> 00:01:26,009 background he was the chief scientist at
30 00:01:23,189 --> 00:01:28,799 Atari a fellow at Apple Computer
31 00:01:26,009 --> 00:01:31,829 then a VP of R&D at Walt Disney Company
32 00:01:28,799 --> 00:01:33,840 and we're delighted now that he is a
33 00:01:31,829 --> 00:01:37,530 senior fellow and a member of our
34 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:39,810 technical staff at HP Labs at the same
35 00:01:37,530 --> 00:01:43,229 time he's continuing as the president
36 00:01:39,810 --> 00:01:45,899 and co-founder of viewpoint viewpoints
37 00:01:43,229 --> 00:01:48,810 Research Institute it is an institute
38 00:01:45,899 --> 00:01:51,659 that is dedicated to improving general
39 00:01:48,810 --> 00:01:54,810 education and also understanding complex
40 00:01:51,659 --> 00:01:56,790 systems and especially using new
41 00:01:54,810 --> 00:02:00,840 inventions in interactive constructive
42 00:01:56,790 --> 00:02:03,780 computing to do this Allen is and has
43 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:06,180 always been a disruptive thinker and
44 00:02:03,780 --> 00:02:08,750 today we asked him to talk about
45 00:02:06,180 --> 00:02:12,480 creativity and the title of his talk is
46 00:02:08,750 --> 00:02:13,800 the difference in creativity between
47 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:16,650 children and adults
48 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:18,120 and when I heard the title I thought to
49 00:02:16,650 --> 00:02:19,530 myself I guess at the end of the talk
50 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:21,450 I'll have to decide which group I'd
51 00:02:19,530 --> 00:02:22,530 rather be in so I'll leave that
52 00:02:21,450 --> 00:02:25,650 challenge to you too
53 00:02:22,530 --> 00:02:35,190 anyway with that I am pleased to
54 00:02:25,650 --> 00:02:35,640 introduce Alan Kay thank you thanks very
55 00:02:35,190 --> 00:02:36,870 much
56 00:02:35,640 --> 00:02:39,870 first I'd like to say it's just an
57 00:02:36,870 --> 00:02:43,080 absolute pleasure and a privilege to be
58 00:02:39,870 --> 00:02:45,720 part of hewlett-packard I've admired the
59 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:49,500 company over the years almost came here
60 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:53,190 in the early 80s after Xerox PARC and
61 00:02:49,500 --> 00:02:56,910 I'm really glad to be here now this
62 00:02:53,190 --> 00:03:00,390 particular title and and talk came out
63 00:02:56,910 --> 00:03:03,630 of a couple of remarks I made it the HP
64 00:03:00,390 --> 00:03:07,280 Berkeley citrus meeting where I was
65 00:03:03,630 --> 00:03:11,790 describing a one of those encounters
66 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:14,370 with children that gives you a sense of
67 00:03:11,790 --> 00:03:17,310 the difference between the way adults
68 00:03:14,370 --> 00:03:20,880 and children look at the world and this
69 00:03:17,310 --> 00:03:23,610 happened in in Toronto I thought I'd
70 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:26,030 give you a little sense of what that was
71 00:03:23,610 --> 00:03:29,640 was actually like so we're up in Toronto
72 00:03:26,030 --> 00:03:34,470 it's an eighth grade classroom wonderful
73 00:03:29,640 --> 00:03:38,190 teacher and that day visiting was also a
74 00:03:34,470 --> 00:03:41,970 group of fifth graders who have been
75 00:03:38,190 --> 00:03:44,610 marked as learning disabled learning
76 00:03:41,970 --> 00:03:48,900 disabilities who had also been trying
77 00:03:44,610 --> 00:03:51,750 the sweet stuff and so the question I
78 00:03:48,900 --> 00:03:54,870 got asked by the by the eighth grade
79 00:03:51,750 --> 00:03:59,580 teacher was he said well we've been
80 00:03:54,870 --> 00:04:00,990 exploring random notion of randomness
81 00:03:59,580 --> 00:04:02,780 and stuff and one of the ways we did
82 00:04:00,990 --> 00:04:09,170 this was to make one of these little
83 00:04:02,780 --> 00:04:09,170 squeak cars kind of like this
84 00:04:13,620 --> 00:04:21,510 so make a little little object here put
85 00:04:18,730 --> 00:04:21,510 some tires on it
86 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:31,060 and when I get done I have a little
87 00:04:28,010 --> 00:04:34,580 thing that's both a graphics object and
88 00:04:31,060 --> 00:04:37,370 something that's programmable so I can
89 00:04:34,580 --> 00:04:43,120 make it a little bit smaller here I can
90 00:04:37,370 --> 00:04:45,590 call it a car I can look inside of it I
91 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,570 can drag out some stuff to make a little
92 00:04:45,590 --> 00:04:50,090 script here
93 00:04:46,570 --> 00:04:55,820 so if card forward by five car turn by
94 00:04:50,090 --> 00:05:00,320 five and if I just say do that over and
95 00:04:55,820 --> 00:05:02,300 over again I get a little circle these
96 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:07,690 things are sort of secretly logo turtles
97 00:05:02,300 --> 00:05:11,810 with costumes so I can put a pin down
98 00:05:07,690 --> 00:05:14,660 see the circle drawn and then the
99 00:05:11,810 --> 00:05:18,020 teacher said when we couldn't figure out
100 00:05:14,660 --> 00:05:25,190 how to do is although we could change
101 00:05:18,020 --> 00:05:30,650 the color of the of the pan so for
102 00:05:25,190 --> 00:05:38,480 instance we could click on this and we
103 00:05:30,650 --> 00:05:40,700 can make the pen trails green here there
104 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:46,010 wasn't seem to be a way of selecting
105 00:05:40,700 --> 00:05:48,350 colors using random and he had this
106 00:05:46,010 --> 00:05:50,540 notion and in fact it's true in the
107 00:05:48,350 --> 00:05:52,820 underlying language that one of the ways
108 00:05:50,540 --> 00:05:55,970 of thinking about color is a kind of a
109 00:05:52,820 --> 00:05:57,380 vector space of primaries and you should
110 00:05:55,970 --> 00:05:59,090 be able to assign random to each one of
111 00:05:57,380 --> 00:06:01,040 those and generate a lot of different
112 00:05:59,090 --> 00:06:08,090 colors and we've forgotten to put that
113 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:11,590 in the kids system so when they did the
114 00:06:08,090 --> 00:06:15,550 the random stuff they did it like this
115 00:06:11,590 --> 00:06:19,520 they would get a random number tile and
116 00:06:15,550 --> 00:06:22,400 so that's random 180 so it's turning all
117 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:23,720 over the place and this one I have
118 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:27,590 learned that I'd better turn it off
119 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:33,500 before I toss in here so I'll change
120 00:06:27,590 --> 00:06:34,900 this random 180 to random 80 and started
121 00:06:33,500 --> 00:06:36,670 going again it
122 00:06:34,900 --> 00:06:40,000 it's what they wanted to do is to do
123 00:06:36,670 --> 00:06:43,090 this but to have different colors so I
124 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:46,930 said okay here's here's one way to do it
125 00:06:43,090 --> 00:06:49,270 you can make little get little ellipses
126 00:06:46,930 --> 00:06:51,160 out and you can change their color and
127 00:06:49,270 --> 00:06:55,360 put them into a little holder and change
128 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:59,680 the color like this let me make this a
129 00:06:55,360 --> 00:07:02,200 lighter gray here and we can put random
130 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:04,090 on the what the cursor does and then we
131 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:06,190 can pick the colors out while I was
132 00:07:04,090 --> 00:07:08,320 going through this a 10 year old from
133 00:07:06,190 --> 00:07:10,030 the learning-disabled class came up and
134 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:16,030 said oh I know a much better way to do
135 00:07:10,030 --> 00:07:20,530 this and he said look you can just pull
136 00:07:16,030 --> 00:07:24,130 a copy of that palette right out of
137 00:07:20,530 --> 00:07:28,150 there like this and you can start
138 00:07:24,130 --> 00:07:34,480 stretching it in here so if I do
139 00:07:28,150 --> 00:07:37,960 something like this he says I've got a
140 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:42,280 little thing of all the colors there and
141 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:45,910 I can just copy this car here using the
142 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:50,410 green button and now I've got two cars
143 00:07:45,910 --> 00:07:58,330 and all I have to do is to take the
144 00:07:50,410 --> 00:07:59,830 color that's under this car color under
145 00:07:58,330 --> 00:08:04,390 this car and see if you move this car
146 00:07:59,830 --> 00:08:07,990 around that value changes and so if I
147 00:08:04,390 --> 00:08:12,180 just drop this into the script here like
148 00:08:07,990 --> 00:08:12,180 this and I make them both go
149 00:08:13,630 --> 00:08:18,000 and I looked at and I said holy shit
150 00:08:19,860 --> 00:08:25,480 it's kind of a perfect illustration of
151 00:08:22,740 --> 00:08:27,940 the teacher only wanted to do it one way
152 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:32,289 and that way wasn't available so he
153 00:08:27,940 --> 00:08:35,500 couldn't do it so I reverted back to my
154 00:08:32,289 --> 00:08:37,570 pre object data structure common-sense
155 00:08:35,500 --> 00:08:40,270 way and made a little data structure
156 00:08:37,570 --> 00:08:44,320 that doesn't do the full job whereas the
157 00:08:40,270 --> 00:08:49,420 kid just took the system directly and
158 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:52,690 the irony of the thing to me was that I
159 00:08:49,420 --> 00:08:54,580 had actually made everything in this
160 00:08:52,690 --> 00:08:57,700 system D constructible so the kid could
161 00:08:54,580 --> 00:08:59,770 take it apart but I'd forgotten because
162 00:08:57,700 --> 00:09:03,040 this this color palette that I got from
163 00:08:59,770 --> 00:09:04,510 here looked like a thing to me and I
164 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:07,960 forgot well of course it's it's just
165 00:09:04,510 --> 00:09:10,660 made out of parts here I can I can pull
166 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:13,690 out anything that I want but the kid
167 00:09:10,660 --> 00:09:16,090 just went took it as it came went with
168 00:09:13,690 --> 00:09:18,850 what it could do and immediately saw
169 00:09:16,090 --> 00:09:22,540 that the problem was actually the same
170 00:09:18,850 --> 00:09:24,550 in both things that this car was walking
171 00:09:22,540 --> 00:09:26,440 randomly around all you needed to do is
172 00:09:24,550 --> 00:09:28,240 have a copy of that car walking handling
173 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:31,720 me around over here on top of the colors
174 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:34,840 and you're done so that's the difference
175 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:37,330 between children and adults is that we
176 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:39,610 tend to think in patterns even when we
177 00:09:37,330 --> 00:09:42,760 were trying not to and the kids don't
178 00:09:39,610 --> 00:09:44,620 have that many patterns yet and so
179 00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:48,400 they're much more able to deal with with
180 00:09:44,620 --> 00:09:50,560 the world that's put in front of them so
181 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:55,020 here's another example of a beautiful
182 00:09:50,560 --> 00:09:58,690 little solution completely solved by
183 00:09:55,020 --> 00:10:01,660 children these two girls the class was
184 00:09:58,690 --> 00:10:04,000 given the the challenge to figure out a
185 00:10:01,660 --> 00:10:06,190 robot car that could go down the center
186 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:09,910 of the road and so they decided to make
187 00:10:06,190 --> 00:10:12,730 a road that was blue and it had curbs
188 00:10:09,910 --> 00:10:15,250 that were yellow and green and after
189 00:10:12,730 --> 00:10:17,010 much talking amongst themselves they
190 00:10:15,250 --> 00:10:20,050 decided it was actually a very simple
191 00:10:17,010 --> 00:10:22,210 problem only make the car go forward
192 00:10:20,050 --> 00:10:24,480 when you see the middle of the road the
193 00:10:22,210 --> 00:10:26,700 sensor on the car
194 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:29,100 turn one way when you see a curb and
195 00:10:26,700 --> 00:10:32,670 turn the other way so to them goes just
196 00:10:29,100 --> 00:10:34,440 three cases and if you notice the car
197 00:10:32,670 --> 00:10:37,380 will actually stop and turn when it
198 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:40,440 comes to a particularly sharp turn there
199 00:10:37,380 --> 00:10:41,820 and when questioned the girl said and of
200 00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:43,829 course it will work even if we don't
201 00:10:41,820 --> 00:10:46,649 draw the road very well because the plus
202 00:10:43,829 --> 00:10:48,480 four and the minus four cancel out so
203 00:10:46,649 --> 00:10:51,000 that these things are just can run
204 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:53,100 separately and this car will always stay
205 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:57,300 on the road and will stop as soon as it
206 00:10:53,100 --> 00:10:59,880 gets off the road like there there's
207 00:10:57,300 --> 00:11:04,050 another example of the kinds of things
208 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:06,060 that children can do and in fact in many
209 00:11:04,050 --> 00:11:11,579 different ways
210 00:11:06,060 --> 00:11:15,480 six-year-olds have the most ability in
211 00:11:11,579 --> 00:11:17,940 many many different areas sometimes even
212 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:23,310 in absolute terms here's a quick example
213 00:11:17,940 --> 00:11:26,250 of first graders with a teacher who not
214 00:11:23,310 --> 00:11:27,990 only loved children but also was kind of
215 00:11:26,250 --> 00:11:30,870 an intuitive mathematician so this is
216 00:11:27,990 --> 00:11:32,279 one of the few instances ever in the
217 00:11:30,870 --> 00:11:35,160 last 30 years of working with children
218 00:11:32,279 --> 00:11:37,199 we're going to an elementary school and
219 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:40,050 find a teacher who actually has a real
220 00:11:37,199 --> 00:11:41,820 sense of mathematics this is about four
221 00:11:40,050 --> 00:11:45,120 months into their first grade she has
222 00:11:41,820 --> 00:11:49,740 them take different shaped blocks and to
223 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:52,709 make entities of the same shape each
224 00:11:49,740 --> 00:11:55,860 size larger so here's the one with
225 00:11:52,709 --> 00:11:58,170 Diamonds trapezoids are quite a
226 00:11:55,860 --> 00:12:00,959 challenge so you have to turn them
227 00:11:58,170 --> 00:12:05,630 around and then what she did was to have
228 00:12:00,959 --> 00:12:08,730 the children write down off separately
229 00:12:05,630 --> 00:12:11,130 what it is they did by making a little
230 00:12:08,730 --> 00:12:13,199 construction project out of cardboard
231 00:12:11,130 --> 00:12:16,980 and then writing down a table so this
232 00:12:13,199 --> 00:12:19,319 child Lauren said well the first one had
233 00:12:16,980 --> 00:12:21,569 one block in it and then I have to add
234 00:12:19,319 --> 00:12:23,519 three more and it had four total blocks
235 00:12:21,569 --> 00:12:25,949 and then I had to add five and it had
236 00:12:23,519 --> 00:12:28,260 nine total and I had to add seven so
237 00:12:25,949 --> 00:12:30,300 they wrote these things down and they
238 00:12:28,260 --> 00:12:34,170 could see that this one differs just by
239 00:12:30,300 --> 00:12:37,800 two here all the way along
240 00:12:34,170 --> 00:12:38,970 and then they compared them and they
241 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:41,370 discovered something really wonderful
242 00:12:38,970 --> 00:12:45,209 and that is that every single growth
243 00:12:41,370 --> 00:12:46,890 rule was exactly the same and this is a
244 00:12:45,209 --> 00:12:49,440 great crowd to show this example too
245 00:12:46,890 --> 00:12:51,930 because of surely you recognize the
246 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:54,930 second-order differential equation or if
247 00:12:51,930 --> 00:12:57,750 you're an old old computer jock like me
248 00:12:54,930 --> 00:13:00,000 it's a two-stage digital differential
249 00:12:57,750 --> 00:13:02,579 analyzer this is the kind of thing that
250 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:06,149 Babbage made the difference engine to
251 00:13:02,579 --> 00:13:09,000 compute that computes all the squares of
252 00:13:06,149 --> 00:13:12,149 the numbers driven by this constant
253 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:16,170 difference of two here also a model of
254 00:13:12,149 --> 00:13:18,450 acceleration and this is also an example
255 00:13:16,170 --> 00:13:20,540 of the kind of things that children can
256 00:13:18,450 --> 00:13:23,399 generate and the way they form
257 00:13:20,540 --> 00:13:26,760 abstractions which is not by bundling
258 00:13:23,399 --> 00:13:29,190 them up the way we do into a term but by
259 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:38,550 thinking of them as a bunch of cases
260 00:13:29,190 --> 00:13:40,529 that go together now what happens to us
261 00:13:38,550 --> 00:13:44,310 as we get older as we start forming this
262 00:13:40,529 --> 00:13:47,040 goldfish bowl made out of an invisible
263 00:13:44,310 --> 00:13:48,209 fluid that we can't see anymore so
264 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:50,670 McLuhan statement I don't know who
265 00:13:48,209 --> 00:13:53,730 discovered water but it wasn't a fish he
266 00:13:50,670 --> 00:13:57,630 really meant we were the fish and this
267 00:13:53,730 --> 00:14:00,029 pink fluid in here is all the things
268 00:13:57,630 --> 00:14:01,380 that we've internalized to the point
269 00:14:00,029 --> 00:14:03,600 that we can't remember that we did it
270 00:14:01,380 --> 00:14:05,399 anymore and these are these invisible
271 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:08,120 things are the things that rule our
272 00:14:05,399 --> 00:14:12,209 lives much more than almost anything and
273 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:16,170 kids learn this very early so up to
274 00:14:12,209 --> 00:14:19,170 around the age of seven children are at
275 00:14:16,170 --> 00:14:21,959 their best and after most imaginative
276 00:14:19,170 --> 00:14:23,670 with featureless blocks blocks that have
277 00:14:21,959 --> 00:14:28,730 nothing on them and you could take a
278 00:14:23,670 --> 00:14:30,959 little square block oblong block and
279 00:14:28,730 --> 00:14:32,310 suggest to the child boy this looks like
280 00:14:30,959 --> 00:14:34,740 a really wonderful truck and they'll
281 00:14:32,310 --> 00:14:38,610 play with it as a truck and then you can
282 00:14:34,740 --> 00:14:42,240 say no it also looks kind of like like a
283 00:14:38,610 --> 00:14:44,880 little baby and they'll look at it and
284 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:46,810 start cradling it because they're
285 00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:49,540 basically their powers of imagine
286 00:14:46,810 --> 00:14:55,120 Asian are able to be projected on the
287 00:14:49,540 --> 00:14:56,560 world around them and then by around the
288 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:58,180 age of seven and actually it's going
289 00:14:56,560 --> 00:15:01,930 earlier people who've been studying this
290 00:14:58,180 --> 00:15:06,490 see a huge influence of television but
291 00:15:01,930 --> 00:15:11,080 it's also partly biological to go away
292 00:15:06,490 --> 00:15:13,690 from that kind of external imposition of
293 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:16,930 imagination which characterizes the
294 00:15:13,690 --> 00:15:19,450 young child to taking in images and
295 00:15:16,930 --> 00:15:23,740 forms from the outside and conventional
296 00:15:19,450 --> 00:15:27,310 izing them till they start wanting much
297 00:15:23,740 --> 00:15:31,240 much more detail in their toys in
298 00:15:27,310 --> 00:15:35,290 various various ways and they give you
299 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:46,120 an example of how strong this is this is
300 00:15:35,290 --> 00:15:48,790 a famous video done it NSF that went
301 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:51,490 went to a Harvard graduation right after
302 00:15:48,790 --> 00:15:53,410 the seniors toss their tassels and ask
303 00:15:51,490 --> 00:15:55,839 them a couple of simple questions about
304 00:15:53,410 --> 00:15:57,850 the seasons and about the phases of the
305 00:15:55,839 --> 00:16:00,400 Moon so you can see what the Harvard
306 00:15:57,850 --> 00:16:02,170 graduates think about this to test how a
307 00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:04,120 lifetime of Education affects our
308 00:16:02,170 --> 00:16:05,650 understanding of science we ask these
309 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:09,010 recent graduates some simple questions
310 00:16:05,650 --> 00:16:10,780 in astronomy consider for example that
311 00:16:09,010 --> 00:16:12,820 the causes of the seasons is a topic
312 00:16:10,780 --> 00:16:15,070 taught in every standard curriculum ok I
313 00:16:12,820 --> 00:16:17,410 think the seasons happens because as the
314 00:16:15,070 --> 00:16:21,040 earth travels around the Sun it gets
315 00:16:17,410 --> 00:16:22,420 nearer to the Sun which produces warmer
316 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:24,760 weather and gets farther away which
317 00:16:22,420 --> 00:16:26,680 produces colder weather and then hence
318 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:28,330 the seasons how hot it is or how cold it
319 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:31,240 is in any given time of the year has to
320 00:16:28,330 --> 00:16:33,699 do with the the closeness of the earth
321 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:38,079 to the Sun during the seasonal
322 00:16:33,699 --> 00:16:39,309 the earth goes around the Sun and and it
323 00:16:38,079 --> 00:16:40,419 gets hotter when we get closer to the
324 00:16:39,309 --> 00:16:41,769 Sun and it gets colder when we get
325 00:16:40,419 --> 00:16:44,290 further away from the Sun these
326 00:16:41,769 --> 00:16:46,119 graduates like many of us think of the
327 00:16:44,290 --> 00:16:48,730 Earth's orbit as a highly exaggerated
328 00:16:46,119 --> 00:16:51,339 ellipse even though the Earth's orbit is
329 00:16:48,730 --> 00:16:53,049 very nearly circular with distance
330 00:16:51,339 --> 00:16:55,839 producing virtually no effect on the
331 00:16:53,049 --> 00:16:58,749 seasons we carry with us the strong
332 00:16:55,839 --> 00:17:01,419 incorrect belief that changing distance
333 00:16:58,749 --> 00:17:04,049 is responsible for the seasons I took
334 00:17:01,419 --> 00:17:08,980 physics and planetary motion and
335 00:17:04,049 --> 00:17:10,720 relativity I've never really had a
336 00:17:08,980 --> 00:17:12,159 scientific background whatsoever and I
337 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:13,990 and I got through school without having
338 00:17:12,159 --> 00:17:16,959 it I've gotten very far without having
339 00:17:13,990 --> 00:17:20,649 it I had quite a bit of science in high
340 00:17:16,959 --> 00:17:22,529 school yeah through physics want first
341 00:17:20,649 --> 00:17:26,169 year in two years of chemistry
342 00:17:22,529 --> 00:17:28,690 regardless of their science education 21
343 00:17:26,169 --> 00:17:30,840 of the 23 randomly selected students
344 00:17:28,690 --> 00:17:33,639 faculty and alumni of Harvard University
345 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:36,250 revealed misconceptions when asked to
346 00:17:33,639 --> 00:17:38,070 explain either the seasons or the phases
347 00:17:36,250 --> 00:17:42,240 of the Moon when it's further away from
348 00:17:38,070 --> 00:17:45,309 the Sun then it gets colder the earth
349 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:51,850 position interferes with the reflection
350 00:17:45,309 --> 00:17:53,860 of the Sun against the moon so I think
351 00:17:51,850 --> 00:17:55,990 you can see that the main curriculum at
352 00:17:53,860 --> 00:17:59,990 Harvard is confidence 101
353 00:17:55,990 --> 00:17:59,990 [Laughter]
354 00:18:00,220 --> 00:18:06,559 and if you if you know about what the
355 00:18:04,730 --> 00:18:08,390 color of the Harvard ph.d robe is you
356 00:18:06,559 --> 00:18:13,130 can see whether this Harvard professor
357 00:18:08,390 --> 00:18:15,620 got his ph.d so I kept on waiting on
358 00:18:13,130 --> 00:18:18,590 this video for NSF to ask the most
359 00:18:15,620 --> 00:18:20,809 logical next questions but they never
360 00:18:18,590 --> 00:18:22,549 did they had a different idea of what to
361 00:18:20,809 --> 00:18:26,690 do with the video so a couple of weeks
362 00:18:22,549 --> 00:18:30,730 later I and was giving a class at talk
363 00:18:26,690 --> 00:18:33,350 at UCLA and the audience were mostly
364 00:18:30,730 --> 00:18:35,029 graduating seniors and I asked a bunch
365 00:18:33,350 --> 00:18:37,070 of them to come out on the law and after
366 00:18:35,029 --> 00:18:40,010 the talk and went through exactly the
367 00:18:37,070 --> 00:18:44,299 same questions and I got roughly the
368 00:18:40,010 --> 00:18:47,059 same result about 95% of these UCLA
369 00:18:44,299 --> 00:18:48,970 graduate graduating seniors had serious
370 00:18:47,059 --> 00:18:51,860 misconceptions about one or both of
371 00:18:48,970 --> 00:18:56,779 these ideas but then I got to ask the
372 00:18:51,860 --> 00:18:58,610 obvious next question so to the ones who
373 00:18:56,779 --> 00:19:00,740 thought proximity of the earth to the
374 00:18:58,610 --> 00:19:03,500 Sun had something to do with the seasons
375 00:19:00,740 --> 00:19:04,520 I said well tell me this when it's
376 00:19:03,500 --> 00:19:06,679 summer up here in the northern
377 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:12,169 hemisphere do you know what season it is
378 00:19:06,679 --> 00:19:14,570 in the southern hemisphere and every
379 00:19:12,169 --> 00:19:19,549 single one of them did of course they
380 00:19:14,570 --> 00:19:21,380 didn't know why but what was interesting
381 00:19:19,549 --> 00:19:25,700 that there was about a thirty after they
382 00:19:21,380 --> 00:19:27,740 had said well it's winter then there's a
383 00:19:25,700 --> 00:19:29,230 30-second pause while I slowly realized
384 00:19:27,740 --> 00:19:31,610 that what they had just said
385 00:19:29,230 --> 00:19:33,679 contradicted their proximity theory and
386 00:19:31,610 --> 00:19:39,679 it's very important to realize here
387 00:19:33,679 --> 00:19:42,140 cognitively that those two ideas were
388 00:19:39,679 --> 00:19:45,289 indexed by the same terms they both had
389 00:19:42,140 --> 00:19:48,020 seasons in them and yet what happened
390 00:19:45,289 --> 00:19:50,870 was that the students could not retrieve
391 00:19:48,020 --> 00:19:53,270 anything that they knew as part of their
392 00:19:50,870 --> 00:19:56,000 thinking process so they just fell back
393 00:19:53,270 --> 00:19:57,289 on their common sense and it's warmer
394 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:59,659 when you're nearer the stove and so
395 00:19:57,289 --> 00:20:01,340 forth and for the students who are like
396 00:19:59,659 --> 00:20:03,380 this guy who thought that the earth had
397 00:20:01,340 --> 00:20:05,470 something to do with the phases of the
398 00:20:03,380 --> 00:20:07,789 Moon I asked them have you ever seen the
399 00:20:05,470 --> 00:20:10,880 Sun and the moon in the sky at the same
400 00:20:07,789 --> 00:20:11,410 time and they all had and I said well is
401 00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:14,350 the
402 00:20:11,410 --> 00:20:16,870 moon sometimes in phase and yeah it's
403 00:20:14,350 --> 00:20:19,059 often in phase unless they're the
404 00:20:16,870 --> 00:20:20,980 opposite ends of the horizon the moon is
405 00:20:19,059 --> 00:20:22,929 always in phase and then again a
406 00:20:20,980 --> 00:20:25,390 30-second pause while I realize there is
407 00:20:22,929 --> 00:20:26,830 no pseudopod sticking out from the earth
408 00:20:25,390 --> 00:20:29,290 you know they could see both of them up
409 00:20:26,830 --> 00:20:31,900 there so this is something they'd seen
410 00:20:29,290 --> 00:20:33,640 dozens and dozens of times but it was
411 00:20:31,900 --> 00:20:35,230 again stored in another little
412 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:38,020 compartment that you could illicit it
413 00:20:35,230 --> 00:20:41,350 through questioning but it wasn't part
414 00:20:38,020 --> 00:20:45,030 of their thinking process so this what
415 00:20:41,350 --> 00:20:48,850 we're seeing here is actually a normal
416 00:20:45,030 --> 00:20:50,890 completely normal kind of behavior and
417 00:20:48,850 --> 00:20:52,330 it's funny because technical and
418 00:20:50,890 --> 00:20:53,530 scientific people always laugh when they
419 00:20:52,330 --> 00:20:55,240 see the students doing that but what
420 00:20:53,530 --> 00:20:57,240 they don't realize is that they do it
421 00:20:55,240 --> 00:21:00,520 themselves in a different area
422 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:02,650 because this is one of the key notes the
423 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:08,530 keys to think thinking about human
424 00:21:02,650 --> 00:21:10,600 thinking Mircea Eliade is basically a
425 00:21:08,530 --> 00:21:12,549 mat an anthropologist who's interested
426 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:15,720 in belief systems it's written many
427 00:21:12,549 --> 00:21:18,820 interesting books as a particularly
428 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:22,419 interesting anecdote in this book called
429 00:21:18,820 --> 00:21:25,200 the myth of the eternal return and this
430 00:21:22,419 --> 00:21:27,460 was in the 30s he and a bunch of other
431 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:29,890 anthropologists were going through
432 00:21:27,460 --> 00:21:34,780 Eastern Europe writing down and
433 00:21:29,890 --> 00:21:36,490 recording folk songs and stories and so
434 00:21:34,780 --> 00:21:39,070 forth and they came to a village that
435 00:21:36,490 --> 00:21:42,790 had a particularly beautiful song about
436 00:21:39,070 --> 00:21:44,290 a young bride and a handsome groom who
437 00:21:42,790 --> 00:21:47,770 are on their way to their wedding and
438 00:21:44,290 --> 00:21:51,429 the fairies swooped down jealously and
439 00:21:47,770 --> 00:21:54,640 took the groom away and the wedding
440 00:21:51,429 --> 00:21:56,140 never happened and it was such a
441 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:59,200 beautiful song that they questioned the
442 00:21:56,140 --> 00:22:01,690 villagers more about it and they said
443 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:04,360 well how long ago did it happen Oh a
444 00:22:01,690 --> 00:22:08,830 long time ago well how long it going
445 00:22:04,360 --> 00:22:10,299 they said Oh about 50 years ago and they
446 00:22:08,830 --> 00:22:15,130 questioned them more and discovered that
447 00:22:10,299 --> 00:22:17,590 the bride-to-be was still living so they
448 00:22:15,130 --> 00:22:22,450 went to talk to her she said no no that
449 00:22:17,590 --> 00:22:24,700 song we were walking along the side of a
450 00:22:22,450 --> 00:22:26,080 hill and he tripped on a root
451 00:22:24,700 --> 00:22:29,200 fell down the hill and broke his neck
452 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:31,800 and you know it was very sad but that's
453 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:33,880 what happened so they went back to the
454 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:36,190 villagers and said well she said he
455 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:41,850 tripped on a root and they said no no
456 00:22:36,190 --> 00:22:45,040 the fairies came down and so basically
457 00:22:41,850 --> 00:22:47,260 almost everything we know and think
458 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:51,010 about even when we're trying to do
459 00:22:47,260 --> 00:22:52,720 better are in the form of stories the
460 00:22:51,010 --> 00:22:55,210 stories are usually better than what
461 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:58,960 happened in the sense of their tidiness
462 00:22:55,210 --> 00:23:00,760 the stories are hermetic so if you see a
463 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:03,310 movie that you like last week that's
464 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:05,440 very very different and even
465 00:23:03,310 --> 00:23:07,570 contradictory to the movie you saw today
466 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:09,490 and liked there's no feeling of
467 00:23:07,570 --> 00:23:11,650 dissonance at all because it's the
468 00:23:09,490 --> 00:23:16,300 purpose of these stories to be
469 00:23:11,650 --> 00:23:19,840 compartmentalized and hole in themselves
470 00:23:16,300 --> 00:23:24,780 and so we have this compartmentalization
471 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:28,570 system that is also very very case based
472 00:23:24,780 --> 00:23:31,360 so nothing resembling what we would call
473 00:23:28,570 --> 00:23:35,080 modern thinking is actually built into
474 00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:39,040 our nervous systems so one way of
475 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:40,780 thinking about this stuff is if we take
476 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:43,330 the pink stuff in the goldfish bowl and
477 00:23:40,780 --> 00:23:44,920 flatten it out we have Arthur kessler's
478 00:23:43,330 --> 00:23:48,460 model of thinking which is kind of an
479 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:50,140 ant crawling along a plane and again
480 00:23:48,460 --> 00:23:52,750 it's blissfully unaware that the plane
481 00:23:50,140 --> 00:23:56,620 is pink and the ant can have the
482 00:23:52,750 --> 00:23:58,780 illusion of progress so I can point
483 00:23:56,620 --> 00:24:02,350 itself at a goal and try to get to it
484 00:23:58,780 --> 00:24:03,970 and it can problem solve and get around
485 00:24:02,350 --> 00:24:10,180 the goal but everything that's doing is
486 00:24:03,970 --> 00:24:13,240 is actually pink but if you ant like us
487 00:24:10,180 --> 00:24:16,000 maybe taking a shower out for a run
488 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:17,680 getting up in the morning a little
489 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:22,080 unguarded thing a little blue thought
490 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:22,080 might poke up but
491 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:30,860 we've spent years with our parents
492 00:24:26,020 --> 00:24:35,750 school our culture going to church of
493 00:24:30,860 --> 00:24:37,970 various kinds learning the pink and it's
494 00:24:35,750 --> 00:24:40,580 good reason for it this is one of these
495 00:24:37,970 --> 00:24:42,140 cases where the first order theory is a
496 00:24:40,580 --> 00:24:43,700 good one and it's opposite from the
497 00:24:42,140 --> 00:24:44,030 second order theory which is also a good
498 00:24:43,700 --> 00:24:45,590 one
499 00:24:44,030 --> 00:24:49,010 first order theory is if you're a
500 00:24:45,590 --> 00:24:51,890 subsistence Society don't try to make
501 00:24:49,010 --> 00:24:56,060 too many experiments you can't afford to
502 00:24:51,890 --> 00:24:58,640 lose and so our basic approach to things
503 00:24:56,060 --> 00:25:03,800 is to be relatively conservative and to
504 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:05,980 improve slowly on the fringes but every
505 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:10,220 once in a while in spite of all of this
506 00:25:05,980 --> 00:25:13,150 you get a full-fledged blue idea it's an
507 00:25:10,220 --> 00:25:15,590 outlaw idea it's outside the confines of
508 00:25:13,150 --> 00:25:17,300 common sense and so how many people here
509 00:25:15,590 --> 00:25:21,740 have had one of those ideas betcha
510 00:25:17,300 --> 00:25:23,300 everybody has had a weird idea now the
511 00:25:21,740 --> 00:25:25,490 problem with these weird ideas like all
512 00:25:23,300 --> 00:25:31,550 ideas is almost all of them are mediocre
513 00:25:25,490 --> 00:25:33,200 down to bad even the blue ones now often
514 00:25:31,550 --> 00:25:36,820 when people had a blue idea in the past
515 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:36,820 they'd go out and start a religion
516 00:25:37,870 --> 00:25:41,720 because if you've had one of these blue
517 00:25:40,010 --> 00:25:44,570 ideas you know it seems to come from the
518 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:46,130 heavens you weren't really thinking
519 00:25:44,570 --> 00:25:49,520 about this and all of a sudden you have
520 00:25:46,130 --> 00:25:50,990 this weird thought so one of the most
521 00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:53,330 important things that Benny Landa
522 00:25:50,990 --> 00:25:54,800 pointed out yesterday is you have to be
523 00:25:53,330 --> 00:25:56,770 very careful with these blue ideas
524 00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:58,820 because they seem to be manifestly true
525 00:25:56,770 --> 00:26:01,310 and you have to make sure that the blue
526 00:25:58,820 --> 00:26:05,300 ideas above some special kind of
527 00:26:01,310 --> 00:26:07,760 threshold before because it's going to
528 00:26:05,300 --> 00:26:09,050 take a lot of work to first work it out
529 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:11,450 it's going to take a lot more work to
530 00:26:09,050 --> 00:26:18,740 convince anybody that's a reasonable
531 00:26:11,450 --> 00:26:20,870 idea and this is because for the really
532 00:26:18,740 --> 00:26:25,240 unusual ideas it takes almost as much
533 00:26:20,870 --> 00:26:28,550 creative effort to understand and learn
534 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:30,500 as it did to originally invent it and
535 00:26:28,550 --> 00:26:33,230 this is what what is tough because when
536 00:26:30,500 --> 00:26:37,400 we have one of these ideas we work it
537 00:26:33,230 --> 00:26:41,060 out and it works out beautifully at some
538 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:42,620 point we forget what happened before we
539 00:26:41,060 --> 00:26:44,390 have that idea what we were like because
540 00:26:42,620 --> 00:26:47,930 we're now a new kind of person because
541 00:26:44,390 --> 00:26:50,870 of this idea and we cannot believe that
542 00:26:47,930 --> 00:26:52,880 other people can't understand it because
543 00:26:50,870 --> 00:26:58,810 it's so manifestly true and here's the
544 00:26:52,880 --> 00:27:02,570 demo so how do we get in the way of this
545 00:26:58,810 --> 00:27:04,540 as I talked about two things already
546 00:27:02,570 --> 00:27:07,490 case based reasoning and
547 00:27:04,540 --> 00:27:10,460 compartmentalization and the third one
548 00:27:07,490 --> 00:27:12,920 which is very related to this is called
549 00:27:10,460 --> 00:27:15,650 instrumental reasoning built into all
550 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:17,390 human nervous systems is the tendency to
551 00:27:15,650 --> 00:27:21,920 get really interested in our current
552 00:27:17,390 --> 00:27:24,680 goals and to judge new ideas and new
553 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:29,990 tools solely by their ability to deal
554 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:31,580 with our current goals so there's a few
555 00:27:29,990 --> 00:27:34,940 percentage of people who are much better
556 00:27:31,580 --> 00:27:37,940 at transforming themselves in the
557 00:27:34,940 --> 00:27:39,920 presence of a new idea in the presence
558 00:27:37,940 --> 00:27:42,170 of a new tool they change themselves
559 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:44,960 they don't try and change the idea and
560 00:27:42,170 --> 00:27:47,090 the tool into them but this is very rare
561 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:50,090 and so one way of thinking about this is
562 00:27:47,090 --> 00:27:53,600 that instrumental reasoning prevents
563 00:27:50,090 --> 00:27:55,580 this little blue hop over the fence of
564 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:58,610 your goal structure even to a new pink
565 00:27:55,580 --> 00:28:01,010 idea something that's part of the
566 00:27:58,610 --> 00:28:03,680 conventional way of doing things but we
567 00:28:01,010 --> 00:28:06,800 can't get to it because we're focused on
568 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:09,500 this and this accounts in many many
569 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:11,420 parts for why the last the
570 00:28:09,500 --> 00:28:15,650 commercialization of the PC has been so
571 00:28:11,420 --> 00:28:18,850 boring exceptions are interesting but
572 00:28:15,650 --> 00:28:21,380 generally speaking most business people
573 00:28:18,850 --> 00:28:25,220 are very goal-oriented they're very
574 00:28:21,380 --> 00:28:28,700 instrumental they look at new ideas and
575 00:28:25,220 --> 00:28:29,570 new technology as and judge it as to
576 00:28:28,700 --> 00:28:30,740 whether it is
577 00:28:29,570 --> 00:28:33,200 similar to what they're doing but a
578 00:28:30,740 --> 00:28:36,950 little bit better and the people who
579 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:40,160 have had a exquisite rhythm we're just
580 00:28:36,950 --> 00:28:42,800 staying a couple of epsilon ahead of the
581 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:45,050 slow pace of business learning have been
582 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:47,810 tremendously successful people like
583 00:28:45,050 --> 00:28:51,800 Engelbart who actually understood in one
584 00:28:47,810 --> 00:28:53,390 fell swoop in the 60s one large part of
585 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:55,310 what computers were really good for and
586 00:28:53,390 --> 00:28:57,410 how they should be used by people who
587 00:28:55,310 --> 00:29:00,680 are working have not to this day been
588 00:28:57,410 --> 00:29:03,320 understood or adopted so that's a little
589 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:08,350 discouraging and in fact there's a few
590 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:08,350 more discouraging things to add here
591 00:29:08,980 --> 00:29:15,620 another one that we will recognize in
592 00:29:11,930 --> 00:29:17,240 our own technical lives as well as
593 00:29:15,620 --> 00:29:21,440 elsewhere as when the sub goals become
594 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:23,510 the goals so you usually start off doing
595 00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:25,760 something that has a grand purpose and
596 00:29:23,510 --> 00:29:27,800 after two or three years of solving sub
597 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:32,990 goals you can't remember what the grand
598 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:38,330 purpose is anymore so originally trains
599 00:29:32,990 --> 00:29:41,570 railroads were set up to deal with Trant
600 00:29:38,330 --> 00:29:45,230 transportation but by the 30s the
601 00:29:41,570 --> 00:29:47,030 railroad companies only invested in
602 00:29:45,230 --> 00:29:51,350 improving railroads and they completely
603 00:29:47,030 --> 00:29:53,180 missed the idea of the other dimension
604 00:29:51,350 --> 00:29:56,420 this is code of a perfect analog to the
605 00:29:53,180 --> 00:29:59,660 pink plane blue plane and what's even
606 00:29:56,420 --> 00:30:00,860 better is many many years after this was
607 00:29:59,660 --> 00:30:04,340 almost a fait accompli
608 00:30:00,860 --> 00:30:08,150 Fred Smith's professors that I believe
609 00:30:04,340 --> 00:30:10,040 Harvard gave him a D or an F on his
610 00:30:08,150 --> 00:30:12,350 essay explaining why a company like
611 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:15,280 FedEx would be a really great idea
612 00:30:12,350 --> 00:30:18,380 fortunately he didn't listen to them and
613 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:20,510 was able to work out why this is a
614 00:30:18,380 --> 00:30:23,630 really much better way of doing many
615 00:30:20,510 --> 00:30:25,310 many forms of Transportation so we see
616 00:30:23,630 --> 00:30:27,860 this happening to us all the time in our
617 00:30:25,310 --> 00:30:29,450 technical field we start doing some
618 00:30:27,860 --> 00:30:33,550 grand thing and then three years later
619 00:30:29,450 --> 00:30:33,550 we're still working on the compiler
620 00:30:36,820 --> 00:30:43,490 we've all done it another really
621 00:30:40,550 --> 00:30:45,380 important invisible thing that we
622 00:30:43,490 --> 00:30:50,740 completely ignore is the importance of
623 00:30:45,380 --> 00:30:55,060 the ambient environment so here's a
624 00:30:50,740 --> 00:31:05,240 somewhat recognizable work area and
625 00:30:55,060 --> 00:31:10,150 cubicles do have their place it's a
626 00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:12,050 certain form of efficiency here but Mike
627 00:31:10,150 --> 00:31:14,510 when I was trying to figure out what's
628 00:31:12,050 --> 00:31:19,130 what should I put in here I was thinking
629 00:31:14,510 --> 00:31:23,120 about well gee uh an alfresco bistro in
630 00:31:19,130 --> 00:31:24,620 Paris the outdoors if you buy a cup of
631 00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:29,960 coffee they'll let you stay there all
632 00:31:24,620 --> 00:31:34,850 day perfect place to get stuff done but
633 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:37,930 I thought that this garden and lily pond
634 00:31:34,850 --> 00:31:40,490 that Monet built himself at Giovanni
635 00:31:37,930 --> 00:31:42,140 would be a pretty good thing we just
636 00:31:40,490 --> 00:31:44,450 don't think and that this thing does not
637 00:31:42,140 --> 00:31:50,090 cost a lot of money it's basically water
638 00:31:44,450 --> 00:31:52,760 and plants set up in a way that reminded
639 00:31:50,090 --> 00:31:56,180 him everyday of the difference between
640 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:58,370 art and problem-solving art includes
641 00:31:56,180 --> 00:32:04,340 problem solving the problem solving very
642 00:31:58,370 --> 00:32:06,140 often doesn't include art there's the
643 00:32:04,340 --> 00:32:11,210 famous error thirty-three from Xerox
644 00:32:06,140 --> 00:32:13,280 PARC that like catch-22 area 33 is
645 00:32:11,210 --> 00:32:20,380 putting somebody else's project in your
646 00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:22,700 critical path could even be your friends
647 00:32:20,380 --> 00:32:26,570 many acrimonious things have happened
648 00:32:22,700 --> 00:32:29,090 from that often it's a vendor you decide
649 00:32:26,570 --> 00:32:32,300 well I'm going to do X Y & Z but I need
650 00:32:29,090 --> 00:32:36,170 son to cooperate or Microsoft to
651 00:32:32,300 --> 00:32:37,640 cooperate you could be in deep stew so
652 00:32:36,170 --> 00:32:39,230 generally speaking if you can roll your
653 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:41,180 own this is the second order thing if
654 00:32:39,230 --> 00:32:43,160 you can roll your own tools and get away
655 00:32:41,180 --> 00:32:44,990 with it you're much much better off
656 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:45,770 because then you have control of your
657 00:32:44,990 --> 00:32:47,950 own destiny
658 00:32:45,770 --> 00:32:50,140 then finally
659 00:32:47,950 --> 00:32:56,400 the last way of avoiding this is just
660 00:32:50,140 --> 00:33:00,580 being a reasonable adult responsible
661 00:32:56,400 --> 00:33:03,720 immune to frivolous side paths non
662 00:33:00,580 --> 00:33:09,640 distractible and so forth
663 00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:15,430 now of course we can reverse all of
664 00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:20,770 those here's an interesting sort of last
665 00:33:15,430 --> 00:33:22,510 idea here is that people who have gotten
666 00:33:20,770 --> 00:33:25,450 through this and for one reason or
667 00:33:22,510 --> 00:33:27,880 another if they're a paradigm shifter
668 00:33:25,450 --> 00:33:30,910 type thinkers they tended to do their
669 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:32,400 work before they were thirty quick was a
670 00:33:30,910 --> 00:33:34,780 little bit older than that
671 00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:37,030 Watson was quite a bit younger than that
672 00:33:34,780 --> 00:33:41,080 Newton was about twenty-six and so was
673 00:33:37,030 --> 00:33:42,670 Einstein in our field John McCarthy did
674 00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:44,860 his paradigm shift when he was quite
675 00:33:42,670 --> 00:33:47,740 young and but if you're a systems person
676 00:33:44,860 --> 00:33:49,560 this is a really comforting thought for
677 00:33:47,740 --> 00:33:52,120 those of us who have gray and are here
678 00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:56,190 often your best work is done later and
679 00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:58,480 this is because systems have so many
680 00:33:56,190 --> 00:34:01,300 things that you have to learn about and
681 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:03,850 think about and have experience with so
682 00:34:01,300 --> 00:34:06,010 Monet himself did some of his best work
683 00:34:03,850 --> 00:34:10,300 when he was in his late 70s and 80s and
684 00:34:06,010 --> 00:34:14,290 so did Bach in his late in his late 50s
685 00:34:10,300 --> 00:34:17,100 and early 60s Bertrand Russell and our
686 00:34:14,290 --> 00:34:19,480 field our newest HP fellow David Reed
687 00:34:17,100 --> 00:34:22,480 who's one of the to his repast systems
688 00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:25,060 people I know is in his 50s now and I
689 00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:27,790 think thinking about systems in a deeper
690 00:34:25,060 --> 00:34:32,470 way than ever and he's been great since
691 00:34:27,790 --> 00:34:36,070 he was a in graduate school now what can
692 00:34:32,470 --> 00:34:38,530 we do it was it get older to deal with
693 00:34:36,070 --> 00:34:40,990 this and I think that there are many
694 00:34:38,530 --> 00:34:44,190 things that are possible the simplest
695 00:34:40,990 --> 00:34:47,890 and last idea I leave with you is that
696 00:34:44,190 --> 00:34:50,080 thinking of design as the center of what
697 00:34:47,890 --> 00:34:53,500 you're doing rather than science
698 00:34:50,080 --> 00:34:56,110 technology engineering or math I think
699 00:34:53,500 --> 00:35:00,010 is a better metaphor because design
700 00:34:56,110 --> 00:35:05,079 involves people it involves aesthetics
701 00:35:00,010 --> 00:35:08,619 it's possible to get even adults really
702 00:35:05,079 --> 00:35:10,180 in touch with their six-year-old by
703 00:35:08,619 --> 00:35:12,660 getting them to work on a very tough
704 00:35:10,180 --> 00:35:15,070 design project that's out of their field
705 00:35:12,660 --> 00:35:17,380 and one that is serious to them this one
706 00:35:15,070 --> 00:35:21,180 is a city design project and we found
707 00:35:17,380 --> 00:35:23,410 that this works extremely well for
708 00:35:21,180 --> 00:35:26,170 children as they start building their
709 00:35:23,410 --> 00:35:28,210 pink goldfish bowl and for adults who
710 00:35:26,170 --> 00:35:30,400 have already built their pink goldfish
711 00:35:28,210 --> 00:35:33,280 bowl is to get them design a large
712 00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:36,609 complex system that people have to live
713 00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:40,230 in so the the difference between
714 00:35:36,609 --> 00:35:43,630 children and adults is the children are
715 00:35:40,230 --> 00:35:46,839 more open but have less knowledge to
716 00:35:43,630 --> 00:35:48,190 work with adults have more knowledge to
717 00:35:46,839 --> 00:35:49,839 work with but it's our double-edged
718 00:35:48,190 --> 00:35:53,670 sword the more knowledge we have the
719 00:35:49,839 --> 00:35:56,890 more of a tendency we have to use it so
720 00:35:53,670 --> 00:35:58,450 what I try to do and not always
721 00:35:56,890 --> 00:36:00,550 successfully as you can tell from the
722 00:35:58,450 --> 00:36:02,410 story is try and learn as much as
723 00:36:00,550 --> 00:36:04,329 possible and then try to forget it and
724 00:36:02,410 --> 00:36:06,339 only be able to smell the perfume of
725 00:36:04,329 --> 00:36:08,109 that knowledge so if you can
726 00:36:06,339 --> 00:36:10,569 successfully forget what you know except
727 00:36:08,109 --> 00:36:12,160 for the perfume then you have a chance
728 00:36:10,569 --> 00:36:14,020 of doing a little bit more of what a
729 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:16,280 six-year-old does so easily
730 00:36:14,020 --> 00:36:22,069 thank you
731 00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:22,069 [Applause]
732 00:36:26,049 --> 00:36:29,809 nobody told me what I should do next but
733 00:36:28,279 --> 00:36:31,959 I think getting off the stage is a good
734 00:36:29,809 --> 00:36:31,959 idea
735 00:36:36,090 --> 00:37:04,699 [Music]
