[Music]
the ability of organizing a
contradiction is what touches the heart
of our Dutch DNA today I want to talk
about the importance of confusion in
relation to education but what is Dutch
DNA in order to answer this question
people often refer to the Dutch Golden
Age one could say that around three
hundred years ago this little country
was the centre of the world due to a
period of flourishing trade important
scientific breakthrough and
groundbreaking artwork but often people
also forget about the dark side of this
Golden Age history teaches us that this
was also a period of slavery colonial
conquest and war they often forget this
this dark side of the Dutch Golden Age
so I want to follow these traditions and
I put my blinders on so ask me or ask a
Dutch random person what defines his or
her character and nine out of ten times
you will hear the Dutch are open direct
and tolerant and these three values I
see them as typically Dutch and I also
value a society which is open and
tolerant however at the same time I see
that these values are under pressure for
example how open-minded are we we
surround our gardens with two meter high
fences and when we have secluded
ourselves within the privacy of our
homes then suddenly we can be very open
and direct on Twitter or Facebook this
points to apparent contradiction or
paradox
we used the Internet to expand our
horizons but on the other hand we have
created online echo chambers
specifically tailored to our personal
interests so what is the meaning of news
if we do not encounter descent the
Danish philosopher søren kierkegaard
would have said that this paradox this
paradox is the beginning of thought so
today I want to talk about uncovering
contradictions in your thinking I want
to tell you why you should embrace
uncertainty and I will conclude with
some practical tips but if we want to
uncover contradictions in your thinking
where do we start let me begin with a
short story about a personal quest that
keeps me awake for years it all started
in the oldest university town of the
Netherlands I moved to Leiden when I was
seventeen and not because of the will to
study but because of the dream of
becoming a professional water polo
player at the age of seven I start
playing water polo the oldest Olympic
team sport and little by little water
polo became more and more meaningful to
me
I got appreciation people were looking
up to me and they had faith in my
potential in short everything went as
planned and in no time I would have made
my Butte Inn the highest water polo
league but it all came to an end because
of health problems I suffered from heavy
sneezing because of swimming
and I was forced to stop because these
Seifer sneeze attacks kept me awake
every single night of the week and by
stepping out of my daily swimming
routine suddenly a whole new world
opened up to me and for the first time I
realized that a sports club is much more
than a place where you can practice in
order to become better and to win
matches a sports club has also a great
social function a sports club is a place
where all layers of society meet yeah
and in this individualized world sports
club may play the most important role
for the foundation of a healthy society
a sports club is a place where you can
practice the ability of working together
with different people well had this
inside come to my mind if someone told
me about the social aspect of a sports
club when I was still in the pool for
six days a week I don’t think so
to come to new inside it is apparently
necessary to be confronted with a
different reality and this may sounds
however this was not the case it was a
period of complete confusion I had to
look for something different
I had to redefine myself in order to
stand firm my orientation began at the
building academy at the end of 2014 a
few students gathered their heads in a
cafe in Amsterdam like you do as a
student in Amsterdam
and they believed as I did that we need
a different type of education a type of
education that fits better the world of
today and tomorrow and these students
with different values different
backgrounds and different perspectives
decided to build this education
themselves bottom-up and this world of
students that is still growing and
together with experts from all kinds of
fields such as education business art
and research did we build what is now
the building Academy so what is this
building education all about well we
believe that education should be out of
person as a whole about a head about the
heart of the hands thinking feeling and
doing we believe that education should
enable students to act to make the real
they want to make but how do you
stimulate such an attitude to be honest
there are many roads you can take that’s
why I want to focus on one of the most
important principles of our education
the counterpoints in other words
organizing your own contradiction in
thinking and why is this ability so
important the ability to organize your
own counterpoints well it allows cutting
edge self development in relationship to
others it is the ultimate exercise in
silence so that’s why I want to ask you
and you can do this immediately to think
about something you are absolutely
certain about and when you’ve done this
think about who or what can be a
do you have to buy the biography of the
Nostrum do you have a good conversation
with your neighbor about climate change
or do you need your lover to not forget
your emotional life I wish you all
constructive confusion and good luck
[Applause] [Music]
the ability of organizing a
contradiction is what touches the heart
of our Dutch DNA today I want to talk
about the importance of confusion in
relation to education but what is Dutch
DNA in order to answer this question
people often refer to the Dutch Golden
Age one could say that around three
hundred years ago this little country
was the centre of the world due to a
period of flourishing trade important
scientific breakthrough and
groundbreaking artwork but often people
also forget about the dark side of this
Golden Age history teaches us that this
was also a period of slavery colonial
conquest and war they often forget this
this dark side of the Dutch Golden Age
so I want to follow these traditions and
I put my blinders on so ask me or ask a
Dutch random person what defines his or
her character and nine out of ten times
you will hear the Dutch are open direct
and tolerant and these three values I
see them as typically Dutch and I also
value a society which is open and
tolerant however at the same time I see
that these values are under pressure for
example how open-minded are we we
surround our gardens with two meter high
fences and when we have secluded
ourselves within the privacy of our
homes then suddenly we can be very open
and direct on Twitter or Facebook this
points to apparent contradiction or
paradox
we used the Internet to expand our
horizons but on the other hand we have
created online echo chambers
specifically tailored to our personal
interests so what is the meaning of news
if we do not encounter descent the
Danish philosopher søren kierkegaard
would have said that this paradox this
paradox is the beginning of thought so
today I want to talk about uncovering
contradictions in your thinking I want
to tell you why you should embrace
uncertainty and I will conclude with
some practical tips but if we want to
uncover contradictions in your thinking
where do we start let me begin with a
short story about a personal quest that
keeps me awake for years it all started
in the oldest university town of the
Netherlands I moved to Leiden when I was
seventeen and not because of the will to
study but because of the dream of
becoming a professional water polo
player at the age of seven I start
playing water polo the oldest Olympic
team sport and little by little water
polo became more and more meaningful to
me
I got appreciation people were looking
up to me and they had faith in my
potential in short everything went as
planned and in no time I would have made
my Butte Inn the highest water polo
league but it all came to an end because
of health problems I suffered from heavy
sneezing because of swimming
and I was forced to stop because these
Seifer sneeze attacks kept me awake
every single night of the week and by
stepping out of my daily swimming
routine suddenly a whole new world
opened up to me and for the first time I
realized that a sports club is much more
than a place where you can practice in
order to become better and to win
matches a sports club has also a great
social function a sports club is a place
where all layers of society meet yeah
and in this individualized world sports
club may play the most important role
for the foundation of a healthy society
a sports club is a place where you can
practice the ability of working together
with different people well had this
inside come to my mind if someone told
me about the social aspect of a sports
club when I was still in the pool for
six days a week I don’t think so
to come to new inside it is apparently
necessary to be confronted with a
different reality and this may sounds
however this was not the case it was a
period of complete confusion I had to
look for something different
I had to redefine myself in order to
stand firm my orientation began at the
building academy at the end of 2014 a
few students gathered their heads in a
cafe in Amsterdam like you do as a
student in Amsterdam
and they believed as I did that we need
a different type of education a type of
education that fits better the world of
today and tomorrow and these students
with different values different
backgrounds and different perspectives
decided to build this education
themselves bottom-up and this world of
students that is still growing and
together with experts from all kinds of
fields such as education business art
and research did we build what is now
the building Academy so what is this
building education all about well we
believe that education should be out of
person as a whole about a head about the
heart of the hands thinking feeling and
doing we believe that education should
enable students to act to make the real
they want to make but how do you
stimulate such an attitude to be honest
there are many roads you can take that’s
why I want to focus on one of the most
important principles of our education
the counterpoints in other words
organizing your own contradiction in
thinking and why is this ability so
important the ability to organize your
own counterpoints well it allows cutting
edge self development in relationship to
others it is the ultimate exercise in
silence so that’s why I want to ask you
and you can do this immediately to think
about something you are absolutely
certain about and when you’ve done this
think about who or what can be a
do you have to buy the biography of the
Nostrum do you have a good conversation
with your neighbor about climate change
or do you need your lover to not forget
your emotional life I wish you all
constructive confusion and good luck
[Applause] [Music]
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