[Music]
[Applause]
those of you here who have gone to name
our schools you guys who remember
writing those weird English essays like
myself even if I don’t want to talk
about myself right but one of my
favorite teacher I don’t have one I just
have distinct lover right well one of my
most traumatic childhood experiences was
with one of those English essays I was
in my eighth grade English class and we
had to write down or more correctly copy
the essay that our teacher wrote on the
blackboard the title a visit to my
favorite place the first sentence went
like this last summer I went to Napoli
or P only how did we go to the police or
PA anyone who has some basic knowledge
of hamaji or birth would immediately say
then the Polly and viewer actually very
very far like hundreds of kilometers
apart across mountains or rivers and
balance there’s no more about it so I
held my hand up and I asked the
seemingly innocent question of why why
are we using or here’s Emma her answer
was the curve it’s okay to use board hmm
well obviously not very satisfied with
her answer or the lack of the answer
really a hosta again why it was okay to
use or
slightly agitated she said well
sometimes or can mean end oh not that
satisfied either I asked it how did
those two words come to have the same
name before I knew it they I was in
front of the entire class asked to pull
my pants down soon a few key meshes land
on my bare buttocks because I asked me
why and home questions a reward for my
childhood critical thinking of course as
you can imagine I hated that teacher
back then but rather than hating or not
I’ve learned to analyze her feelings why
was she so angry
perhaps she felt threatened a when did
she feel wreck right the answer is
actually deeper than it looks
the spirit of a dictatorial regime that
permeated every fabric of our society is
that spirit that made questioning a
rebellious act is that spirit that made
curiosity and undesirable trade in fact
our education system never escaped the
touch of that spirit there was a little
boy asking so many questions of course
she was going to feel really threatened
or embarrassed this is not a
condescending this is my understanding
now that I’ve learned it to understand
the way she felt on that particular
rainy day now I’ve learned to work with
people like her who themselves were
products of the broken education system
I have faith in the power for you and
which is why I came back particularly in
this day and age I think hope only in
are you and I believe that our hood can
look past all those grievances that they
have or are having like I did so that
they could change the course of history
for abassin Emma but they need
empowerment and we need to make sure
that our youth for them too
computing leaders of this country to
have two basic key skills which are two
sides of the same coin reading we need
to educate so that they can not only
think about issues critically but also
work with other people empathetically a
world today is technologically advanced
more so than ever
artificial intelligence robotics and
automation on the horizon when unleashed
disruptive power on the job market
two-thirds of today’s job market a
two-thirds of today’s job position will
disappear a decade from now we’ve got
lubob banking that threatens to replace
that many people and out of jobs we’ve
got apples theory that is poised to
replace person assistance I get
sometimes are scared when my smartphone
starts telling me you have new memories
or you have memories from data that I’ve
already forgotten now that information
is a little later fingertips in this age
of smartphone the real challenge of this
century is not whether we have
technological access to the right
information it is whether you have
intellectual access to the right
information and we need to make sure
that our youth have these skills and are
relevant for the notice for the next
five years but also for the next 20 30
40 years so how can we nurture our youth
so that they are ready for the next
century we need to make sure that our
youth have both skills critical thinking
empathetic again we are bombarded with
so much information objective facts as
well as subjective feelings opinions and
biases and to think critically we have
to analyze all the information that we
receive a daily and we have to ask
ourselves what are the facts in this
gigantic whoo
of information from these factor
withdrawal conclusions and that this
process happens in the left side of the
brain by thinking empathetically we
focus on the other side subjective
feelings opinions and biases and how
they come about and this process happens
in the right side of the brain so first
how do we hold critical thinking in our
you many people would say just make them
asked a lot of questions but I would say
make them last alone why and how
questions because it’s why and how
questions that make us think of cause
and effect I went to a small abroad
college in the United States and I’ll
never forget that this path that I had
to take in my senior year it’s the kind
of class that that the love hate or
perhaps will correctly hate love
relationship and the course ad infinitum
controversy paradox perplexity and the
idea of the infinite or God was there
but right was that about vengers
infinity war or star wars infinities it
would have been fun but it was none of
these it was actually about the actual
concept of infinity which was so elusive
that all of us have struggled even in
our own imagination it was kind of like
a smorgasbord class with concepts of
infinity from various fields like a
Zeno’s paradox as an ancient Greek
philosophy calculus and mathematics and
for the ultimate infinite universe and
space in astronomy we were asked to
argue and defend all formulations of
infinity
yeah the fan of all formulations of
infinity we are we discussed why this
argument and how that argument and to be
honest most of the time I had no
freaking clue what the heck we were
talking about
no freaking clue so I got to press there
now I’m like why the heck I’m taking
this class for God’s sake
so then Tamina came to me right the
point of that class was thinking
critically by asking Laura why and how
questions which are of course hallmarks
of critical thinking equally important
to critical thinking is empathetic
thinking which unfortunately is much
less emphasized in all schools in a
diverse country like dear MA
we need to make sure that nation
building since the nation building
requires us to work together with many
people from diverse backgrounds races
religions ethnicity isn’t respected we
empathetic understanding why people feel
the way they do white people think the
way they do is crucial to building peace
and harmony Jaime empathetic thinking
however requires us to move from oh I
have experienced that before
so I understand you – oh I experienced
that before but I understand you at
Fermi Institute which I founded with a
group of my friends we have a week-long
research field trip to some villages
near Cologne and such a great excuse to
get out of this lovely city we’re
usually hiking miles stop in some
villages here and there then we talk to
villagers once the group of my friends
and I went to the house of the family
and the father was out and about the
mother was cooking dinner with her
daughter and we started chatting in the
chilly air and I asked her how many
children do you have
she said two other boys on earth without
seeing the
after where the boys the younger is out
with his dad with a slight pause she
said the older boy is in the city
working as a waiter I later learned that
the older boy was not even 13 yet and
these cases are not isolated cases this
is actually quite common throughout Nima
I for one had a thought and judge them
as short-sighted villagers but one
actually sat down and listened to his
ears in hopes we got to see a fuller
picture with fewer opportunities
available in villages they felt the
city’s provided a wider network and
older siblings working in cities meant
younger siblings would go to school and
many other reasons about I’m not trying
to justify child labor here on the
contrary a very act of exploring these
years in hopes help our students
understand the feelings behind it and
this led to constructive approaches
towards addressing child and labor field
trips and human interactions are vital
to cultivating empathetic thinking
Nelson Mandela once said that a good
head and a good heart are always
formidable combination and we need to
make sure that our youth have both so
that they could become future leaders of
this country critical thinking and
empathetic thinking of course are quite
different but yet they have quite
complementary as well critical thinking
in the left side of the brain and
empathetic thinking in the right side of
the brain must work together only a
brave there is hope it’s useful enough
to address challenges that are facing
our you thank you
[Applause]
those of you here who have gone to name
our schools you guys who remember
writing those weird English essays like
myself even if I don’t want to talk
about myself right but one of my
favorite teacher I don’t have one I just
have distinct lover right well one of my
most traumatic childhood experiences was
with one of those English essays I was
in my eighth grade English class and we
had to write down or more correctly copy
the essay that our teacher wrote on the
blackboard the title a visit to my
favorite place the first sentence went
like this last summer I went to Napoli
or P only how did we go to the police or
PA anyone who has some basic knowledge
of hamaji or birth would immediately say
then the Polly and viewer actually very
very far like hundreds of kilometers
apart across mountains or rivers and
balance there’s no more about it so I
held my hand up and I asked the
seemingly innocent question of why why
are we using or here’s Emma her answer
was the curve it’s okay to use board hmm
well obviously not very satisfied with
her answer or the lack of the answer
really a hosta again why it was okay to
use or
slightly agitated she said well
sometimes or can mean end oh not that
satisfied either I asked it how did
those two words come to have the same
name before I knew it they I was in
front of the entire class asked to pull
my pants down soon a few key meshes land
on my bare buttocks because I asked me
why and home questions a reward for my
childhood critical thinking of course as
you can imagine I hated that teacher
back then but rather than hating or not
I’ve learned to analyze her feelings why
was she so angry
perhaps she felt threatened a when did
she feel wreck right the answer is
actually deeper than it looks
the spirit of a dictatorial regime that
permeated every fabric of our society is
that spirit that made questioning a
rebellious act is that spirit that made
curiosity and undesirable trade in fact
our education system never escaped the
touch of that spirit there was a little
boy asking so many questions of course
she was going to feel really threatened
or embarrassed this is not a
condescending this is my understanding
now that I’ve learned it to understand
the way she felt on that particular
rainy day now I’ve learned to work with
people like her who themselves were
products of the broken education system
I have faith in the power for you and
which is why I came back particularly in
this day and age I think hope only in
are you and I believe that our hood can
look past all those grievances that they
have or are having like I did so that
they could change the course of history
for abassin Emma but they need
empowerment and we need to make sure
that our youth for them too
computing leaders of this country to
have two basic key skills which are two
sides of the same coin reading we need
to educate so that they can not only
think about issues critically but also
work with other people empathetically a
world today is technologically advanced
more so than ever
artificial intelligence robotics and
automation on the horizon when unleashed
disruptive power on the job market
two-thirds of today’s job market a
two-thirds of today’s job position will
disappear a decade from now we’ve got
lubob banking that threatens to replace
that many people and out of jobs we’ve
got apples theory that is poised to
replace person assistance I get
sometimes are scared when my smartphone
starts telling me you have new memories
or you have memories from data that I’ve
already forgotten now that information
is a little later fingertips in this age
of smartphone the real challenge of this
century is not whether we have
technological access to the right
information it is whether you have
intellectual access to the right
information and we need to make sure
that our youth have these skills and are
relevant for the notice for the next
five years but also for the next 20 30
40 years so how can we nurture our youth
so that they are ready for the next
century we need to make sure that our
youth have both skills critical thinking
empathetic again we are bombarded with
so much information objective facts as
well as subjective feelings opinions and
biases and to think critically we have
to analyze all the information that we
receive a daily and we have to ask
ourselves what are the facts in this
gigantic whoo
of information from these factor
withdrawal conclusions and that this
process happens in the left side of the
brain by thinking empathetically we
focus on the other side subjective
feelings opinions and biases and how
they come about and this process happens
in the right side of the brain so first
how do we hold critical thinking in our
you many people would say just make them
asked a lot of questions but I would say
make them last alone why and how
questions because it’s why and how
questions that make us think of cause
and effect I went to a small abroad
college in the United States and I’ll
never forget that this path that I had
to take in my senior year it’s the kind
of class that that the love hate or
perhaps will correctly hate love
relationship and the course ad infinitum
controversy paradox perplexity and the
idea of the infinite or God was there
but right was that about vengers
infinity war or star wars infinities it
would have been fun but it was none of
these it was actually about the actual
concept of infinity which was so elusive
that all of us have struggled even in
our own imagination it was kind of like
a smorgasbord class with concepts of
infinity from various fields like a
Zeno’s paradox as an ancient Greek
philosophy calculus and mathematics and
for the ultimate infinite universe and
space in astronomy we were asked to
argue and defend all formulations of
infinity
yeah the fan of all formulations of
infinity we are we discussed why this
argument and how that argument and to be
honest most of the time I had no
freaking clue what the heck we were
talking about
no freaking clue so I got to press there
now I’m like why the heck I’m taking
this class for God’s sake
so then Tamina came to me right the
point of that class was thinking
critically by asking Laura why and how
questions which are of course hallmarks
of critical thinking equally important
to critical thinking is empathetic
thinking which unfortunately is much
less emphasized in all schools in a
diverse country like dear MA
we need to make sure that nation
building since the nation building
requires us to work together with many
people from diverse backgrounds races
religions ethnicity isn’t respected we
empathetic understanding why people feel
the way they do white people think the
way they do is crucial to building peace
and harmony Jaime empathetic thinking
however requires us to move from oh I
have experienced that before
so I understand you – oh I experienced
that before but I understand you at
Fermi Institute which I founded with a
group of my friends we have a week-long
research field trip to some villages
near Cologne and such a great excuse to
get out of this lovely city we’re
usually hiking miles stop in some
villages here and there then we talk to
villagers once the group of my friends
and I went to the house of the family
and the father was out and about the
mother was cooking dinner with her
daughter and we started chatting in the
chilly air and I asked her how many
children do you have
she said two other boys on earth without
seeing the
after where the boys the younger is out
with his dad with a slight pause she
said the older boy is in the city
working as a waiter I later learned that
the older boy was not even 13 yet and
these cases are not isolated cases this
is actually quite common throughout Nima
I for one had a thought and judge them
as short-sighted villagers but one
actually sat down and listened to his
ears in hopes we got to see a fuller
picture with fewer opportunities
available in villages they felt the
city’s provided a wider network and
older siblings working in cities meant
younger siblings would go to school and
many other reasons about I’m not trying
to justify child labor here on the
contrary a very act of exploring these
years in hopes help our students
understand the feelings behind it and
this led to constructive approaches
towards addressing child and labor field
trips and human interactions are vital
to cultivating empathetic thinking
Nelson Mandela once said that a good
head and a good heart are always
formidable combination and we need to
make sure that our youth have both so
that they could become future leaders of
this country critical thinking and
empathetic thinking of course are quite
different but yet they have quite
complementary as well critical thinking
in the left side of the brain and
empathetic thinking in the right side of
the brain must work together only a
brave there is hope it’s useful enough
to address challenges that are facing
our you thank you
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