James Burke is a brilliant historian and sociologist who combines his knowledge to create relevant connections of how our world was changed and some of the problems with these changes. His statement here is an inspiration for approaching these problems. It is useful for a Solutioneer because it provides an approach to take and encourages us towards control of our own destiny:
"recognize within yourself the ability to understand ANYTHING....then go and ask for explanations. And if you're thinking right now, what do I ask for?
Ask yourself if there's anything in your life that you want changed. That's where to start."
From:
"In the end, have we learned anything from this look at why the world turned out the way it did, that's of any use to us in our future? Something, I think; that the key to why things change is the key to everything. How easy is it for knowledge to spread, and that in the past the people who made change happen were the people who had that knowledge, whether they were Craftsmen, or Kings.
Today, the people who make things change, the people who have that knowledge, are the scientists and the technologists who are the true driving force of humanity.
And before you say, "what about the Beethovens and the Michaelangelos?", let me suggest something something with which you may disagree violently; that at best the products of human emotion aren't philosophy, politics, music, literature. Our interpretations of the world that tell you more about the guy who's talking than about the world he's talking about.
Second hand views of the world made third-hand by your interpretation of them. Things like Artistic Interpretations as opposed to Scientific data. Art is easier to understand and take than say, Amino acids. This scientific knowledge is hard to take because it removes the reassuring crutches of opinion, ideology and leaves only what is demonstrably true about the world.
And the reason why so many people may be thinking about throwing away those crutches is because thanks to Science and Technology they have begun to know that they DON'T know so much, and that if they are to have more say in what happens to their lives, more freedom to develop their abilities to the full, they have to be helped towards that knowledge that they know exists, and they don't possess. And by help towards that knowledge I don't mean give everybody a computer and saying 'Help yourself'. Where would you even start?
No, I mean trying to find ways to translate the knowledge, to teach us to ask the right questions.
See, we're on the edge of a revolution in communications technology that is going to make that more possible than ever before. Or, if that's not done, to cause an explosion of knowledge that will leave those of us that don't have access to it to be as powerless as if we were deaf, dumb and blind. And I don't think most people want that. So what do we do about it? I don't know. But maybe a good start would be to recognize within yourself the ability to understand ANYTHING, because that ability's there as long as it's explained clearly enough, and then go and ask for explanations. And if you're thinking right now, what do I ask for?
Ask yourself if there's anything in your life that you want changed. That's where to start. "
-James Burke 1978