Always a highlight of the OYR High Performance Rodeo, The Walrus Talks are 8 x 7 minute thought provoking talks from a wide range of speakers from many disciplines. Missed it? Be sure to get your tickets early next year for this sold out event at the Jack Singer!
While the talks are not coordinated with each other in any way, they all revolve around a theme, and this year it was "Tomorrow". It is said that the sign of a great intellect is to be able to hold two equal yet opposite ideas in one's mind at the same time. Upon reflection, there were certainly dichotomous viewpoints in the Walrus Talks. At the same time, surely thought-provoking talks are meant to spur on transformative action. Here's what I gleaned from the speakers, about how we as audience members (and now you as readers) can take action to transform the future...
Neil Turok had the Herculean task of explaining to laymen the implications of moving from the digital age to the quantum age in the next 15-20 years. The benefit will be that our capacity for computation and memory will not grow exponentially, but virtually infinitely.
At the other end of the scale, author Joseph Boyden warns us to pay attention to all the incremental changes we are subjected to. "Creeping normalcy" lends us to accepting situations we would have found intolerable if presented to us all at once (e.g. the Canadian government's singular focus on being a petro-state).
Dual-citizen Diane Francis explained that the US is our natural partner, with whom we should forge an ever closer union to fend off foreign interests. The world won't let us sit on our under exploited natural resources for much longer. We must exploit them before others do.
Survivorman Les Stroud in contrast contended that we are in a state of environmental slavery, and it will be as unethical to our grandchildren as human servitude is today. A palpable shudder emanated from the audience as he challenged us to take our garbage cans away for a month. As he explained that everyone leaving their packaging at the store counter would cause businesses to transform their distribution model, a lot of LED bulbs went off in people's heads.
The amazing Shad closed with free versed...
The future is uncertain, and we fear what we don't know. Don't be afraid to act though: it's less important that we take the right actions, and more important that we know they come from a pure place. "Intelligence is not a virtue...I never regret the stupid things I've done, but I do regret the cowardly and selfish things that I've done."
While the talks are not coordinated with each other in any way, they all revolve around a theme, and this year it was "Tomorrow". It is said that the sign of a great intellect is to be able to hold two equal yet opposite ideas in one's mind at the same time. Upon reflection, there were certainly dichotomous viewpoints in the Walrus Talks. At the same time, surely thought-provoking talks are meant to spur on transformative action. Here's what I gleaned from the speakers, about how we as audience members (and now you as readers) can take action to transform the future...
Neil Turok had the Herculean task of explaining to laymen the implications of moving from the digital age to the quantum age in the next 15-20 years. The benefit will be that our capacity for computation and memory will not grow exponentially, but virtually infinitely.
A real "quantum leap".
At the other end of the scale, author Joseph Boyden warns us to pay attention to all the incremental changes we are subjected to. "Creeping normalcy" lends us to accepting situations we would have found intolerable if presented to us all at once (e.g. the Canadian government's singular focus on being a petro-state).
Ad guru Terry O'Reilly makes us aware of how The Internet of Things is incrementally becoming a reality: there are billions of two-way devices (including cars) right now that not only tell you information, but also send it back to The Mothership. Some of this is about better customer service, but nefarious uses are all too easy to imagine as well.
Ace app developer Michael Sikorsky is more sanguine, sure that innovations will eliminate the need for people to have singular focus on their handheld devices (e.g. the awkward silence at dinner tables everywhere these days as people type away). Throughout history, as devices improve in scale and speed, they allow us to communicate more easily.
Dual-citizen Diane Francis explained that the US is our natural partner, with whom we should forge an ever closer union to fend off foreign interests. The world won't let us sit on our under exploited natural resources for much longer. We must exploit them before others do.
Survivorman Les Stroud in contrast contended that we are in a state of environmental slavery, and it will be as unethical to our grandchildren as human servitude is today. A palpable shudder emanated from the audience as he challenged us to take our garbage cans away for a month. As he explained that everyone leaving their packaging at the store counter would cause businesses to transform their distribution model, a lot of LED bulbs went off in people's heads.
The amazing Shad closed with free versed...
The future is uncertain, and we fear what we don't know. Don't be afraid to act though: it's less important that we take the right actions, and more important that we know they come from a pure place. "Intelligence is not a virtue...I never regret the stupid things I've done, but I do regret the cowardly and selfish things that I've done."
Did the Walrus talks give me a definitive answer about the future? No, but I am less afraid to act.
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