Know the World and Make it Better

No one at a technology conference is operating in a vacuum. The platform, your team, our community, the infrastructure—we are in a certain place in history, and our actions today affect which tomorrow becomes our yesterday. As technologists, we are the ones bringing the future. We are the catalysts accelerating the workflows that steer our civilization toward our shared destiny, for better or for worse. Our ability to navigate accurately relies on knowing where we are, and how we got here. We cannot responsibly build the future without having at least a basic understanding of the recent past.

This will be the latest in a series of talks about things I’ve learned since leaving Apple to travel the globe, experience different cultures, and think about the world’s problems. This talk is not for everyone. This is a serious talk for people who want to change the world. We will be talking about subjects not talked about, and you will see things, learn things, and feel things you may not be comfortable with. If you attend this talk, you must be prepared to be confronted with the world as it is, and to leave feeling the weight of a burden carried by all who would seek to know the world and make it better.