Overall, the synthesis of Serge - Serge Soudoplatoff at TEDxBordeaux
The future is terrifying because the public is comfortable with the past, but building it requires "desire"—the energy to change—and "consideration," enabling a shift from individual to collective intelligence. This shift is powered by the Internet, which facilitates collaboration through infrastructure like optical fibre networks, exemplified by the successful creation of global knowledge bases like Wikipedia. The core message is that while services will be co-created, the fundamental work needed is building the underlying network infrastructure.
## Speakers & Context
- Presenter speaking at a TEDx event.
- Discusses the concept of "the future," arguing it is potentially changeable, contrasting it with the settled nature of the past.
- Notes the need for a driving force to change the future, identifying this force as "desire."
## Theses & Positions
- The future is terrifying because people are accepting of the past.
- The past is unchangeable, but the future remains mutable.
- Building the future requires "desire," which is the originating energy for change.
- Consideration is the necessary supporting force to embrace all elements required for world-building.
- The Internet is the tool that allows humanity to achieve a "collective speed" by moving beyond mere sums of individual speeds.
- The Internet's model leverages "abundance savings against rarity savings," contrasting with older communication systems.
- The most critical task is not creating services, but building the foundational "network."
- While individual life events (e.g., Rose) can inspire, the process of innovation and connection is paramount.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Desire:** The energy required to change things, etymologically derived from the Latin *desiderare* ("De" is a depriving prefix, and *siderare* from *sidus, sideris* meaning "star"). To desire is literally "to be deprived of your star."
- **Consideration:** The concept derived from *cum siderare*, meaning "to get all of the stars back," thus embodying the necessity of embracing all elements.
- **Group velocity / Phase velocity:** Mathematical terms used to describe achieving the simultaneous state of going both fast and far.
- **Community model:** An organizational structure historically present (e.g., Franciscans) that thrives on connection and mutual support.
- **Abundance savings vs. Rarity savings:** An economic model inherent in the Internet's packet protocol, contrasting with communication protocols based on rarity.
- **Intimacy:** A concept preserved in the Internet world, suggesting that public digital life does not necessarily mean the loss of personal connection.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **The mechanism of desire:** Originating the energy to change things by recognizing a lack (deprivation).
- **Co-creation process:** Described as the economic model of the future, where individuals create services for each other.
- **The Internet model:** Enabled by information sharing, allowing communities to express themselves at extremely low cost.
- **Packet protocol:** The core mechanism where messages are broken down into packets that travel via shared, shared-model roads, unlike proprietary, exclusive bandwidth.
- **Wiki article improvement process:** Demonstrated by the "history tab," the "Discussion tab," and the "language list" tab, showing collaborative refinement.
## Timeline & Sequence
- **Summer/Winter cycle:** Historical source for the concept of desire, linked to the disappearing stars leading to the wish to regain them.
- **1998:** Year of the Athletics World Cup, used to illustrate that baton passing (collaboration) was more critical than individual runner speed.
- **Before the talk today:** People were already seen actively building the future.
- **2008:** Year Ivy Bean discovered the Internet and joined Facebook, becoming the oldest person on the platform.
- **June 2010:** Date Ivy Bean died at the age of 104.
## Named Entities
- **Ivy Bean:** A British lady, born in 1906, who discovered the Internet and joined Facebook in 2008; died in June 2010.
- **HSBC:** Organization collaborating on a satellite network project.
- **Google:** Organization collaborating on a satellite network project, involved in the "The Other 3 billion" initiative.
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **Internet:** The primary tool enabling the shift from individual to collective speed/intelligence.
- **Online forum (Primary School Teachers Forum):** Example platform; utilized by 100,000 teachers to exchange 3.7 million messages, providing "how-to" content.
- **Wikipedia:** Quintessence of the Internet model, possessing features like history and discussion tabs.
- **Satellite network:** Technology proposed by Google and HSBC for "The Other 3 billion," enabling ISP emergence in areas lacking direct Internet access.
- **Optical fibre network:** The fundamental infrastructure highlighted as essential for the future.
- **Virtual worlds (Second life):** Immersive environments used for collaborative work and fun.
- **Cellular Phone:** Example of a low-cost, shared communication method contrasted with exclusive bandwidth usage.
## Numbers & Data
- **1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6:** Lottery combination played by the speaker.
- **7%:** Average speed difference between American and French runners in the 1998 relay.
- **1998:** Year of the Athletics World Cup.
- **100,000:** Number of teachers who used the primary school forum.
- **3.7 million:** Number of messages exchanged on the primary school forum.
- **500 euros a month:** Payment level associated with the teacher's forum economy.
- **2 euros:** Annual cost to set up the teacher's forum non-profit.
- **3%:** Minimum member contribution required to sustain the forum.
- **30€ a month:** Example price for a Triple Play service in the sharing economy.
- **278:** Number of languages present in Wikipedia.
- **3 million:** Number of articles in Wikipedia in the first language (English).
- **1.2 million:** Number of articles in Wikipedia in the second language (German).
- **1.1 million:** Number of articles in Wikipedia in the third language (French).
- **4895:** Maximum number of fans allowed on Facebook.
- **58,000:** Number of Twitter followers for Ivy Bean.
- **102:** Age of Ivy Bean when she discovered the Internet.
- **104:** Age of Ivy Bean when she died.
- **40 billion dollars:** Investment program amount cited for optical fibre in the Australian election context.
## Examples & Cases
- **The lottery play:** Playing the combination 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, demonstrating a low-probability, chance-based expectation.
- **The 1998 Athletics World Cup women's 4x100-meter relay:** Winning due to the energy used for baton passing, demonstrating that shared effort trumps individual speed.
- **California community mobilization:** Residents raising $120,000 to heal a girl with cancer, demonstrating community financial action.
- **The Franciscan order:** Group of people who escaped from the extreme Catholic hierarchy to build missions based on networks and flux rather than fixed assets.
- **Primary school teachers forum:** Example showing 100,000 teachers sharing practical "how-to" knowledge for a low annual cost.
- **"Thyroid" forum:** Community for people with thyroid issues, demonstrating left-brain (logic/analysis) and right-brain (empathy) functions through shared diagnosis experiences.
- **Trousseau Hospital project:** Kids with leukaemia in sterile rooms using a virtual world to socialize.
- **Australian elections:** Two independents supporting the Workers party specifically due to its $40 billion optical fibre investment program for Northern Australia.
- **Rose:** An elderly person depicted in a poster, symbolizing neglect and the human need for connection.
## Trade-offs & Alternatives
- **Reading the future in stars or cards:** Alternative to proactive building; relies on chance and external signs.
- **Going alone vs. going together:** Trade-off between high individual speed (alone) and increased constraints but greater distance/scope (together).
- **Telephone company protocol vs. Packet protocol:** Rarity-based bandwidth reservation (limited access) vs. Shared-model packet transmission (low cost, high reach).
- **Physical vs. Virtual life:** Comparison between traditional community structures and modern, shared online spaces.
- **Public life vs. Intimacy:** The necessary balance maintained online, where privacy "disappeared" but intimacy is preserved.
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- The speaker initially notes being "okay with the past," despite understanding the future must change.
- The initial American speed advantage in the relay was nullified by poor baton passing energy transfer.
- The "Discussion tab" on Wikipedia is often cited by the speaker as being more engaging than the finalized article content.
- The speaker cautions that the potential of a technology does not guarantee its implementation.
- Acknowledges that while the Internet is powerful, basic infrastructure is still lacking in some regions, such as Africa.
## Methodology
- **Etymological analysis:** Tracing "desire" back to its Latin roots to explain its origin and function.
- **Comparative study of organizational models:** Comparing the early decentralized networks of the Franciscans to modern digital communities.
- **Illustration via analogy:** Using the relay race and the concept of packet data transfer to explain complex concepts of speed and collaboration.
## References Cited
- *"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."* (A well-known guiding principle).
- **Tocqueville:** Author whose work was cited regarding the American tendency to prioritize community over city or state.
- **Kleinrock paper:** Foundational paper detailing the communication packet protocol.
- **Wikipedia:** Cited as a model of a decentralized, collaborative knowledge base.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- To build the future, one must channel "desire" into "consideration."
- The primary focus for policy and investment must be on building and maintaining foundational **optical fibre networks**.
- The role of the State should be viewed as safeguarding the fundamental infrastructure, allowing decentralized co-creation in the service layer.
## Implications & Consequences
- Failure to invest in infrastructure limits global participation, creating economic gaps (e.g., in Africa).
- The shift means that future innovation will happen through decentralized, shared networks, rather than centralized state control.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"The future is terrifying because we're okay with the past."*
- *"The energy required to change things originates in desire."*
- *"To desire is to be deprived of your star."*
- *"It's 'cum' C - U - M."*
- *"What can enable us to go from a sum of individual speeds to a collective speed?"*
- *"What's free built itself on a community."*
- *"The big issue to be solved is to continue with the network."*
- *"In the Internet world, you can discover Internet at 102 years old and die at 104 years old and being an Internet star."*