Bina Venkataraman: The power to think ahead in a reckless age
비나 벤카타라만(Bina Venkataraman): 무모한 시대에 미래를 내다보는 능력
Bina Venkataraman is an MIT professor and author of the forthcoming book "The Optimist's Telescope." Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
할머니 댁을 방문하러 갔었죠.
for the blood of the American-born.
좋아하는 모기들이 있었습니다.
I got an unexpected gift.
뜻밖의 선물을 하나 받았어요.
미래 사이를 이어 주는
at the time I got it,
저는 사실 그걸 깨닫지 못했어요.
a powerful metaphor for my work.
강력한 주제의식이 되었죠.
like there's no time but the present.
다른 시간은 없는 것 같이 느껴져요.
seems to dominate our lives,
우리의 삶, 경제와 정치를
in the number of steps we took today
유명인이 방금 트위터에 무엇을 올렸는지에
from a high-profile figure.
in making immediate profits
미래의 투자를 등한시하는 것도
for future invention.
for governments to stand by
양어장이나 농경지를 보존하는 대신
정부가 그것을
to feed future generations.
너무나 쉬운 일이죠.
to be remembered as good ancestors.
좀 어렵지 않을까 싶어요.
our species evolved to think ahead,
저희 인류는 앞을 내다보도록 진화했죠.
that we have "mental time travel,"
"정신적 시간 여행"이라 부르고,
everything we call human civilization,
마술을 부리듯이 만들어낸
그리고 인터넷에 이르는
using this superpower quite enough,
사용하고 있는 것 같진 않아요.
의문이 생기죠.
businesses and institutions are designed.
기업들이 설계된 방식입니다.
that's impairing our foresight.
설계되어 있으니까요.
about the three key mistakes
세 가지 실수를
측정하는 대상입니다.
profits of a company
단기 주가 지수 등의
is going to grow its market share
알 수 있는
that kids bring back from school,
시험 점수에 집착할 때,
what's great for those kids' learning
장기적인 학습과 호기심에
what really matters in the future.
측정하지 않고 있습니다.
that impairs our foresight
두 번째 실수는
or a business leader
해결한 재앙이나
those disasters in the first place,
홍수로부터 공동체를 보호하거나,
by protecting communities from floods
연구와 교육에 투자함으로써
that impairs our foresight
세 번째 실수는
on predicting exactly what's next,
예측하는데 집중하죠.
or algorithms to do that.
이 현상은 동일합니다.
all the possibilities the future holds.
우리는 너무 적은 시간을 씁니다.
emerged in 2014 in West Africa,
에볼라가 퍼졌을 때,
had early warning signs
에볼라가 어떻게 퍼져나갈지를
that outbreak might spread,
in time to intervene,
실패하였습니다.
to kill more than 11,000 people.
만천 여명 이상의 목숨을 빼앗아갔죠.
and good forecasts
how dangerous they can be.
상상하는데 실패하죠.
that I've described,
better decisions about the future
하기 위해 필요한 것은
돕는 도구입니다.
like the telescopes
when they scanned the horizon.
across distance and the ocean,
across time to the future.
도구입니다.
few of the tools
the long game pay now.
하는 것입니다.
I spent some time with in Kansas.
웨스 잭슨입니다.
are grown around the world today
필요한 비옥한 표층토를
of the fertile topsoil
대부분의 농작물이
with a group of scientists,
which have deep roots
고정시킬 수 있게
and protecting future harvests.
보호하였습니다.
to grow these crops in the short run,
성장시키기 위해서는,
the annual yields of the crops
to make cereal and beer using the grains
제조할 회사를 찾아야 한다는 것을요.
by doing what's good for tomorrow.
현재에도 이익을 거둘 수 있도록요.
by George Washington Carver
after the Civil War
of Carver's 300 uses for the peanut,
300가지 땅콩 사용법을 들어보셨을텐데
that he came up with
why Carver did that.
했는지는 모르죠.
poor Alabama sharecroppers
도우려고 노력했어요.
peanuts in their fields
토양을 비옥하게 하여
would be better a few years later.
to be lucrative for them in the short run.
있어야 한다는 것도 염두에 두었습니다.
about another tool for foresight.
도구에 대해 얘기해 보죠.
as keeping the memory of the past alive
보존하는 것과 같다고 생각합니다.
상상할 수 있도록 말이죠.
쓰나미 이후 방사능이 유출되었는데,
of the nuclear reactor disaster there
and tsunami of 2011.
about the Onagawa Nuclear Power Station,
오나가와 핵발전소에 대해 알게 됐죠.
to the epicenter of that earthquake
후쿠시마 다이치보다
that we all know about.
actually fled to the nuclear power plant
피난처로 삼고
거의 받지 않았습니다.
to build that power plant
해안가에서 멀리 떨어진
and with a higher sea wall.
이야기를 알고 있었죠.
in the year 869 after a tsunami.
침수되었다는 이야기를요.
that allowed him to imagine
다른 사람들은 할 수 없었던 것을
as creating shared heirlooms.
비슷하다고 생각합니다.
on the Pacific coast of Mexico,
바닷가재 어부들입니다.
이 방법을 가르쳐 주었죠.
their lobster harvest there
바닷가재 수확량을
by treating it as a shared resource
그동안 수집해 온 지식을
children and grandchildren.
공유 자원처럼 여겼기 때문이죠.
주의 깊게 살펴보고,
the breeding lobster out of the ocean.
수확해가지 않았습니다.
there are more than 30 fisheries
vaguely similar to this.
in the fisheries known as catch shares
수확하는 것이 아니라
from the ocean today
좋은 동기부여가 됩니다.
many more tools of foresight
선견지명의 도구는
beyond near-term stock prices,
미래를 내다보는 투자 회사,
of campaign financiers.
as many of these tools as we can
최대한 많이 모아야 합니다.
to imagine what lies ahead.
용감해지고 싶다면요.
as you can imagine.
쉽지 않을 것입니다.
we can pick up in our own lives,
찾을 수 있는 것이고,
in businesses or in communities,
찾아야 하는 것이고,
is the instrument I shared with you.
제가 말씀드렸던 악기에 있습니다.
for my great-grandfather.
music and art critic in India
to protect this instrument
전당포에 내놓던 당시,
was pawning off all their belongings,
보호할 선견지명이 있으셨죠.
to the next generation,
보존하셨습니다.
the sound of this instrument,
in the Himalayan fog.
방랑자의 소리처럼 들렸어요.
a voice from the past.
듣는 것 같았죠.
playing the dilruba.
연주하는 모습입니다.
like a cat's dying somewhere,
죽어가는 소리가 났을 테니,
than just owning it for today.
더 의미있게 느껴집니다.
as both a descendant and an ancestor.
그리고 조상으로 만들어 줍니다.
bigger than my own.
한 부분인 것처럼 느끼게 하죠.
we can reclaim foresight:
가장 강력한 방법이라는 것을요.
as the good ancestors we long to be,
우리 자신을 바라보고,
can resonate for generations.
울려퍼질 것입니다.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Bina Venkataraman - Writer, futuristBina Venkataraman is an MIT professor and author of the forthcoming book "The Optimist's Telescope."
Why you should listen
For more than six years, Bina Venkataraman has been traveling around the world studying how people and communities think about the future. Her curiosity as a former journalist, and her firsthand experience in the Obama White House, led her to question whether the shortsightedness rampant in today's societies is inevitable -- or actually "a choice we're making."
During the Obama years, Venkataraman built partnerships among communities, companies and government to prepare for coming pandemics, wildfires and rising seas. In 2014, she launched the White House Climate Data Initiative to bring actionable climate science to people making decisions around the globe. Previously, she was a science journalist for the New York Times and the Boston Globe. Now, she teaches students at MIT to use scientific knowledge in service of society.
As Venkataraman writes: "For as long as I can remember, I have suspected that the future of humanity depended on the future of the planet. I have since found this to be the most compelling story of our time. As I imagine what lies in our shared future, from gene-editing to the climate crisis, I see both dangers and extraordinary potential."
Venkataraman wrote her first book, The Optimist's Telescope (to be published by Riverhead on August 27, 2019), to help people today better shape their own future and that of coming generations.
Bina Venkataraman | Speaker | TED.com