The word responsible is incredibly hard to define. It has a different meaning for each and every person that gets asked the question. Different cultures think of it differently, different communities think of it differently, even two sisters would answer think of it differently. According to Ronald Wright, in his book A Short History of Progress , the world responsible means sharing. Responsible citizens would take their wealth, both physical and metaphorical, and share it with the world.
The smartest people in the world would share their knowledge with people who may not be so smart, or have the means to be as smart, and the wealthiest people in the world would take all of that hard-earned cash, and share it with poverties across the world. This idea is slightly flawed, and relies on human generosity, something that is not exactly easy to come by. In the opinion of this author we need to rely on human ingenuity. We need to rely on the ability for humans to innovate and evolve, before it is too late. At the same time, we need to share that innovation.
Not by force, but by choice. People need to understand that their selfish gain could also make an impact in this global community. While there might be some reason to this theory, it is flawed. Wright has a great idea, there is no denying that. But, a lot of people have great ideas. A large problem with Wright’s idea is that he is relying on humanity to be full of good people. This as most people know, is not exactly practical. If somebody works hard to make a lot of money, they are going to be very proud of that; so proud that they do not want anybody else to take that money away.
They will be so proud that they want all of that money to go into things that will make them even more money. The same goes for knowledge. People who are really smart and who work the hardest are not the first to willingly give that knowledge away. That knowledge is what makes them different from the rest of civilization. That knowledge is who they are. The idea that somebody wants to share that is very unreasonable, at least on a large scale. There are people like Bill Gates, Elon Musk, or Mark Zuckerberg that are more than willing to share their fortunes.
Their wealth is constantly shared and talked about, and some of their money is contractually obligated to be given to charity. This is where the ideas of Ramez Naam come into play. In his article, “How Innovation Could Save the Planet” , Naam talks about innovation. Not just innovation, but thought. Each individual should think about what they can do to make the world around them better. If everyone is trying to make the world around them better, then there is nothing that is out of reach. The problems people face in their daily lives are the problems that lots of other people have.
So even being selfish would lead to advances. Solving a problem for one person, could mean solving a problem for a large quantity of people. This is where I stand. Innovation. Leaders like Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Sean Parker, and Elon Musk. Innovation will lead the future. Innovation will make things possible we may have never imagined. Innovation can theoretically solve any problems that we face. Innovation can replenish resources, develop new ideologies, it could even eventually create new resources.
In a Ted Talk titled, “The Surprising Habits of Original Thinkers” , Adam Grant (author of The Originals) analyzes the thoughts of original thinkers. While the talk focuses on what original thinkers do to be productive, it takes a lot of hints at innovation, how special these people are, and how much good they can do for the world. One of the best stats that he talks about is start-up failure rates. 47% of creators fail, but only 8% of improvers do. To many, this stat may seem very counter intuitive to my thesis. How can start-ups failing result in more innovation?
But that is just it. The second number is more important. 8% of improvers fail. That means that 92% of people who try to make something better succeed. And lots of times those improvers are actually the people who created in the first place. Their first start-up failed, or their product was a dud, or they could not find investors. So after a little period of time, they try again. When they try again, that business, product, or idea succeeds. So without the first number, there can be no second. Even though they failed, the 47% of creators that failed started something.
They started an idea, or a dream, or the solution to a common problem. That caused somebody else to think about how they could make that even better, which caused somebody else to do the same. A perfect example of innovation is from Uncharted Play . One of the products that the company created is a soccer ball that they call, “Socket”. Socket is a soccer ball that harnesses the kinetic energy produced from its motion, and transfers it into usable real-world energy. The ball is powered simply by playing with it. They claim that a half an hour of play can generate up to three hours of energy to power a simple LED lamp.
In places with no access to artificial light, a simple LED light, about the size of the light on most smartphones, is amazing. With access to artificial light, less fortunate companies can do more. They can work during the night, they can continue education past sunset, and they can use light to help them solve problems. Not only does this ball provide energy to power these lamps, it provides energy in general. It is called Socket because it can use its energy to power anything that can be plugged into it. Small generators, small appliances, heaters, air conditioning, the possibilities are endless.
And they have plans to grow. They have plans to use these balls as part of a system, and to be able to link them together to power larger appliances, and even buildings. Not only did they create this soccer ball, but they are also very charitable. Every time that somebody buys one of these soccer balls they donate one to a household in a country that has no power. The reason this works is because they innovated. They went to under-privileged, African countries and they saw how awful it was. They saw how terrible it was to not have access to power. How fortunate life is with power.
Lots of people have tried to power these kinds of places. Even Barack Obama and the United States of America tried to power Africa. In 2013 Obama took his first trip to Kenya. During that trip he announced his plan to quote “bring light to where there currently is darkness. ” Unfortunately that plan failed, because it was too political. Obama claimed it was a win-win because Africa would gain power, and that power would create business, and that business would communicate well with the United States. The problem with this is that there were lots and lots of metaphorical hoops to jump through.
There is a lot of paper work to sort, budgets to set, laws to govern, rules to trade, lots and lots of red tape. With Socket, there is none of that. They simply take the ball, play with the ball and provide power. They saw an opportunity and they acted. They did something better. They were the improvers. Socket is a perfect example of what I think the world needs. Not only did they create a genius solution to a wide-spread problem, but they shared it. They are making money yes. Their lives got better yes. But they are still innovating.
They are not just selling the ball for profit they are giving them away. People who think that they are cool, and think that the message is worth spreading are buying the soccer balls. Every time that somebody capable of buying a ball does it, somebody who is not able to buy one gets one. That means that not only are people in fortunate buying the balls because they think that they are cool, but people in less-fortunate countries are receiving them because they help them live better. Everybody in this situation wins. It also helps them keep innovating.
Uncharted Play has also since developed a jump rope that does the same thing. It is a more usable alternative that accomplishes the same goal. Not only did they make themselves an improver one time, but they made themselves an improver again, on their own creation. This jump rope is easier to make, easier to ship, and easier to use. It is something that has made an improvement on an already innovative idea. But it involved sharing. It took that innovation and it gave it to people that needed it most, while giving the owners enough benefit to stand on their own two feet.
The best part is that the tool is something that the under-privileged countries can actually use. It is not just something that they can take and use in whatever way they want, or can take and do something else with. It is something that serves a purpose. This is my biggest problem with Wright’s plan of action. Money and knowledge is great but, there is no control over those resources. If somebody is given money, they can do whatever they want with it. Give somebody money to buy themselves energy resources and they might spend it on something else.
Give them something to use and they have to use it. It is their choice to use it or not, but that is not up to the creator. That is up to the user. See, I can give my friend $20 and tell him to go buy me a case of Dr. Pepper. But that $20 could be spent on a lot of things. He could even come back with some mediocre Mr. Pibb, or better yet, generic Dr. Thunder. The point is that sharing wealth is great in theory, but once it is shared; there is no guarantee that the desired outcome will be achieved. However with innovation there is no stopping.
A single person can innovate and dream, and when that dream gets picked up by the rest of the world, it skyrockets. Take Tesla for example. They took the very simple concept of an electric car and they ran with it. Just this week (April 2016) Tesla released their newest model; a new electric sedan that looks like a Porsche and stings like a BMW. They call it the Model 3. Since Tesla was founded they have made 100,000 cars. They had limited runs due to factory size and ability, and they sold all of them. The Model 3 has gotten over two hundred and thirty thousand pre-orders in 4 days .
That number is pre-orders. Not estimated revenue, but actual pre-orders. And why? Because this newest Model 3 is coming to market at $35,000. Compared to other standard vehicles this is a very reasonable price point, and compared to other luxury cars it beat prices sometimes by 50%. Above all else, Tesla is cool. People buy it because Tesla is cool. To them it is just an added benefit that they help the environment. This is what the world needs. There are countless examples of innovation in the world, but lots of them are for their own self benefit.
They have no intention of sharing their knowledge, and they have no intention of it benefitting anything but their own self interests. Ronald Wright says that we are following history’s path and we are “fowling our nest”. While I do not disagree with him, I also do not agree with him. I think that we are going to build a new nest, a better nest. Not on Mars, not in a new place, and not in conjunction with the one that we already have. Our new nest will flourish. There will be an abundance of trees, not because we need them, but because we can have them and not have to constantly rip them down.
Everyone will get together and charge their cars at the local bar while they have a beer. There is a chance for our future to be great. There is a chance for our future to be clean, and safe. We need innovators to make this happen. Having wealthy people give their money to other people is not the answer. Having countries try to force other countries into new habits is not the answer. Make something cool that has the chance to help the world. That is what we need. Innovate and then share. What is more fun? Driving one Tesla really fast or driving down the highway and seeing one hundred Teslas driving really fast?