The world changers we shape: Stephen Rankin at TEDxSMU
The speaker argues that understanding how we see the world (our categories) and what kind of people we must become are the two essential questions for enacting world change. He illustrates this by contrasting the limited categories provided by *Time Magazine*'s "200 Moments" with the complexities of modern demographics and by citing the founders of the Investors Exchange who realized they were "selling trust." ## Speakers & Context - Speaker is a chaplain at SMU (Southern Methodist University). - Addresses an audience of "World Changers shaped here." ## Theses & Positions - World change requires answering two fundamental questions: 1) what categories/concepts we use to view the world, and 2) what kind of people we must be to enact that change. - Viewing the world through limited categories (e.g., *Time Magazine*'s 200 Moments) is insufficient because it ignores complex realities like religious shifts in China or modern US demographics. - Technological advancement alone is insufficient for solving global problems; the "people factor"—moral vision—is crucial. - The core necessity is shifting focus from purely technical know-how to developing a moral understanding that prioritizes the well-being of the vulnerable. ## Concepts & Definitions - **200 Moments that change the world:** An interactive graphic from *Time Magazine* that categorizes world-changing events into Politics and Society, Economics and Industry, Science and Technology, Culture and Sports. - **Mindfulness:** A Buddhist concept used by Jeffrey D. Saaks to sketch a moral vision, defined as making one aware of the suffering of others, which in turn evokes compassion and leads to action. - **The People Factor:** The dimension of human virtue and moral consideration needed alongside technological advancement to achieve world change. - **Moral Vision:** A perspective (like that offered by Saaks) that grapples with real-life economic problems using ethical frameworks rather than purely technical ones. ## Mechanisms & Processes - **Categorical Limitation:** The "200 Moments" graphic simplifies history by grouping achievements into fixed categories (e.g., War I, Moon landing). - **Demographic Shift:** The US religious landscape has evolved beyond the visible categories (Protestant, Catholic, Jew) to include Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists. - **Market Innovation (Investors Exchange):** Traders realized they could profit by establishing a new Stock Exchange because they were "selling trust" and "transparency" that existing systems lacked. - **Ethical Economics:** William Easterly argues that developing a purely technical approach to poverty resolution, divorced from moral implications, is an illusion. ## Timeline & Sequence - **1959:** *Barbie* first hits the market. - **1964:** The Beatles and the British Invasion. - **1982:** Release of Michael Jackson's *Thriller* video (13 minutes, 47 seconds long). - **1950s:** Western observers thought the Christian Church in China was eliminated following the Cultural Revolution. - **1960s:** Congress passed a more liberal immigration law (1965). - **1980s:** Western observers began realizing Christians still existed in China. - **Recent Past:** The development of the high-speed fiber optic cable leading to the Flash Boys market mechanism. ## Named Entities - **Time Magazine:** Publisher of the "200 Moments that change the world" graphic. - **The Beatles:** Band associated with the British Invasion (1964). - **Michael Jackson:** Artist associated with the *Thriller* video (1982). - **China:** Country undergoing significant demographic and religious change. - **Jeffrey D. Saaks:** Economist who wrote *The Price of Civilization: Reawakening American Virtue and Prosperity*. - **William Easterly:** Economist who wrote *The Tyranny of the Experts: Economists, Dictators, and the Forgotten Rights of the Poor*. - **SMU:** Institution where the speaker is chaplain; emphasis on religious affiliation in education. ## Numbers & Data - **13 minutes, 47 seconds:** Duration of Michael Jackson's *Thriller* video. - **24 million:** Approximate number of Christians currently in China, according to the Chinese government. - **100 million or more:** Potential number of Christians in China estimated by other observers. ## Examples & Cases - **China's Christian Growth:** The church was thought eliminated post-Cultural Revolution (1950s) but exists today, with estimates ranging from 24 million to 100 million+. - **US Religious Demographics:** Shifts from visible categories (Protestant, Catholic, Jew) to requiring inclusion of Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists. - **Flash Boys Market:** Wall Street traders using high-speed fiber optics to gain a profit of a few cents per unit, multiplying into millions of dollars by quickly buying and selling the same stock. - **Investors Exchange:** A startup Stock Exchange founded by traders who recognized that trust and transparency were valuable commodities being "sold." - **Jeffrey D. Saaks's work:** Uses the Buddhist concept of mindfulness to propose economic improvement. ## Tools, Tech & Products - **Google:** Mentioned implicitly as a tool for research (though not used in the speaker's method here). - **High-speed fiber optic cable:** The enabling technology for the Flash Boys trading system. ## References Cited - *Time Magazine*'s "200 Moments that change the world" graphic. - *The Price of Civilization: Reawakening American Virtue and Prosperity* (Book by Jeffrey D. Saaks). - *The Tyranny of the Experts: Economists, Dictators, and the Forgotten Rights of the Poor* (Book by William Easterly). ## Trade-offs & Alternatives - **Technological Fix vs. Moral Vision:** The alternative to relying solely on technical fixes (like the high-speed trading or complex economic models) is incorporating a "moral vision." - **Scope of Change:** The alternative to the limited categories of the "200 Moments" is adopting broader, more complex cultural/religious groupings to understand demographic reality. ## Counterarguments & Caveats - The speaker acknowledges that no single piece of information can provide everything needed to understand the world. - The dependence on technology is noted, but its utility is argued to be incomplete without moral guidance. ## Methodology - Comparative analysis across historical and contemporary data points (e.g., comparing historical religious demographics vs. modern ones). - Utilizing philosophical frameworks (Buddhism) to guide economic critique. ## Conclusions & Recommendations - The goal is to integrate technical expertise with a robust conversation about human character—answering "what kind of people do we need to be." - Encourages thinking about one's own community resources (like the students at SMU) as the key resource for future change. ## Implications & Consequences - A failure to consider the "people factor" results in incomplete, unsustainable, or unjust systems, whether in economics (Flash Boys) or global development (poverty alleviation). - The responsibility for change falls on developing moral awareness, not just technical ability. ## Verbatim Moments - *"...what ideas do we use what concepts what terms what categories do we use to think about the world that we want to change..."* - *"how do we see the world that we're seeking to change"* - *"the growth of the Christian church in China"* - *"we are selling trust we're selling trans parency"* - *"mindfulness makes us aware of the suffering of others and that awareness evokes compassion and compassion leads to action"* - *"the idea that we can have a purely technical approach to resolving the problems of poverty without any moral implications is an illusion"* - *"to whom much is given much is required"*