How does change happen? How can
we help push the stubborn gears of innovation in the right direction? A lot of
us agree: change is required and I offer up my hand of help, but where are my
efforts most needed, and how much impact will it really make?
Many
charity organizations, and even now the occupy movement, are criticized for
their impact factor or social merit. Frequently, we may ask ourselves: Is that
20 dollars a month to Friends of the Forest really making a difference? The
world mustn’t stay the way it is, but I'm just a little bitty! What is the most
effective way to contribute? Like any force of nature, a spark of change can
only travel so far. What I've discovered is that like ripples in a pond you've
got to start local. Each of us resides in many different types of communities
and through these people that we know and the connections that we share our
ideas can propagate and grow to set the groundwork for a better society to
live in.
A
community doesn't consist of just the people that live across the street and
next door. Communities are any party of people that are associated
through some common ground. It can be work related, kids, school, hobby
or an interest group. These communities represent some of the original
strengths of our species, a place for communication and the aggregation of
ideas. We possess the gift of language and the power of sharing ideas is
even stronger. Common ground within communities is an important as a
starting point. Once people are associated or joined together through a
mutual interest a bond of trust and understanding is formed. As ideas
cross flow between members, this initial bond allows for support and
reinforcement. This idea is most easily understood when considering
people of different backgrounds, whether it be cultural, educational or professional.
For example a politician is going to have a hard time coming into a
scientific community to induce any sort of change, just because there is no
trust between the two parties. However, a scientist within the community
itself might have a better chance.
This is where I stand right now.
I see a lot within our society that is completely broken, but
the big picture of it is an insurmountable problem, and not
clearly identifiable. Instead, I look into my own community, the
scientific community. Even within this structure and paradigm things have
gone askew possibly as a result of the broken society at large and the pressure
it puts on how communities function. However, making changes in this sort
of community could be an amazingly powerful catalyst for greater change.
As I was thinking about the issues presented in the Occupy movement I
began to notice analogous problems within the scientific community that people
rarely talk about. Most significantly, the issue of corporate
control of culturally influential commodities. Down on Wall St. the
voices are protesting for the release of media commodities from corporate
domination, but these grasps stretch further into all industries which
advertise as providing fulfilling and comfortable lives to the people of the
masses. Technology, as we all know, has grown to be the symbol of
prosperity, security and advancement in our nation, but what drives this
advancement and to what end? Not only have the everyday people been cast
under the spell of limitless information and social networking, but the
workers, the developers, the scientist of technology have also been enticed
into the same illusion of technical bliss and convenience. Engineers and
scientists are like any other people with a passion: devoted and determined to
their craft, but seeking purpose and career stability. This vulnerability
allows the great minds of our society to be lured into companies masquerading
as harbingers of innovation and change.
But when you strip away the altruistic façade, at the core of
all of these companies is a money making machine fueled by the success of
advertisement and marketing, building faster, smaller, more powerful, more
agile technology for a population that has been convinced of its necessity.
The solution I seek is simple. Awareness.
Breaking the hypnosis bound on so many unassuming engineers and scientists and
awakening them to their true responsibility and potential. The workers in these
fields have a unique power because of the extensive knowledge they posses. These perspectives on the complex workings of
the universe, small and large, have the ability to provide greater
understanding and advocacy in the formation of a more balance society.
This is my first small seed of an
idea. Rough and idealistic as it may
seem, I’m optimistic that through conversations and debates the seed will grow
and change into a stronger and more complex organism. As an engineering
graduate student I’m surrounded by eager minds pursuing a variety of scientific
endeavors. This is my community, and
these are the voices and perspectives I seek to commune with. I’m talking over
beers and free food events, during meetings and seminars, on the couch and
within my classes. I’m starting local.
