Unfortunately (though I suppose fortunately in the eyes of some), technical difficulty has delayed my TED talk until Monday. I had practiced my talk for several hours and felt ready to present, however I will make the most of this delay by giving my TED talk another few days to settle in my mind.
I think the best way for me to further prepare at this point is to continue practicing my talk as if it was the real thing. Though this is the kind of practice that is typically done vocally, I will use this Works in Progress blog post to refresh myself on my topics and main ideas. This is entirely note-free free-writing, and it is also how I envision my talk sounding:
Imagine that you are putting on your socks one morning when you realize that they have holes in them and they are beginning to look worn. What would you do? If you are like most people, you probably throw your socks away and go to the store to buy new ones. Now imagine this same situation, but during the 1700s. Now what would you do? If you’re fortunate enough to be able to buy handmade socks, you will probably do that. If you are like most people at the time however, you will most likely have to knit your own socks, which would require both time and effort. As a result, you would probably value your handmade socks more than the socks you would buy at a modern-day store. This example illustrates the profound effects of industrialization on our society.
The Industrial Revolution began in the late 18th Century as a result of two important technological advancements, namely the steam engine and interchangeable parts. The concept of interchangeable parts is relatively simple. Take guns for instance: If guns are created by producing identical, standardized parts that fit together to create the same type of gun, than it is possible to make more guns than if each individual part was created specifically for each individual gun. Coupled with the benefits of steam power, which greatly reduced the need for human labor, the Industrial Revolution resulted in a mass production of goods at lower prices. Thus, a consumer culture was born.
The Industrial Revolution had several positive effects on society. For instance, women were welcomed into the workplace at unprecedented rates. This is especially true during World War II, when women were expected to fill the factory jobs of men while the men were off at war.
The Industrial Revolution also resulted in the birth of materialism. As I previously mentioned, industrialization created a mass consumer culture in which a lot of goods were available at low prices. This birth of materialism is often epitomized by the “keeping up with the Joneses” mentality of the 1950s. This era saw a shift from possessions being viewed as essential to survival to possessions being viewed as items of convenience and social status.
While the Industrial Revolution did have positive effects on society, there are certainly some negative impacts to be discussed. All of the goods that we need and want are made from materials. However, the Earth only has a limited supply of raw materials, and material shortage is a serious concern facing the world today. It is estimated that within 80 years, important materials such as phosphorous, a common ingredient in fertilizers, and tantalum, a metal used in cell phones, will be expended. The rate at which we are consuming the Earth material resources is not in line with the scarcity of Earth’s resources.
Other negative impacts of industrialization are pollution and global warming. As factories and industries produce goods, they emit pollutants, such as those seen in this picture of Mexico City, and they emit greenhouse gases, which trap the sun’s radiation on the surface of the Earth and contribute to global warming and climate change.
The realization that industrialization can have negative effects on the planet and its inhabitants is a relatively new concept. In 1962, Rachel Carson published her classic book Silent Spring, which analyzed the effects of DDT, a chemical that was commonly used in pesticides, on the ecosystem. The significance of the book is that it brought the topic of environmental pollutants to the public attention for the first time. Silent Spring is considered by many to mark the beginning of the Green Movement.
In the 1970’s, the National Academy of Sciences published a study which suggested that global warming may have detrimental effects on the planet. Though the study did not fully verify global warming, it did suggest that the problem should be further researched to discover what real impacts it may have.
This brings us to the modern day. In 2006, Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth was released in theaters. The significance of this film is extraordinary because it brought global warming into the mainstream and into popular culture for the first time. Most people have either seen, read, or at least heard of An Inconvenient Truth.
Clearly, the Sustainability Movement is becoming a prevalent part of our society. Energy is now a political issue that candidates must address to appeal to voters. Even little things such as recycling are now becoming commonplace. It is not uncommon to see a recycling bin on the street and when you walk out of a classroom, you are usually confronted with a variety of recycling options, all responding to societal concerns about material scarcity.
This is what is happening today, so let’s step back and take a look at the big picture. We see an initial shift from a preindustrial society where goods are mostly made by hand, to an industrialized society based on mass production and materialism. Now what we see today is a little bit different from what we saw during the 1950s because there is a change occurring towards a more sustainable, greener society in the future.
So “the future,” what is it? Well, we don’t really know for sure, although scientists and engineers are giving us hints about what it might look like. Whether it is solar farms in the countryside or iPhone cases made entirely of bioplastics, the future is certainly coming and it is certainly green.
Reflecting back on the idea of what you would do if you saw that your socks were wearing out. Let’s be honest: It’s the 21st. Century. You’re going to go to the store and buy new socks. But perhaps the question is not, “what would you do?” but rather, “how will you do it?” Will you go to the store and buy socks with the intention of throwing them away in a few months, or will you buy socks with the awareness and understanding the Earth’s energy and limited resources went into making these socks?
I would like to end with a quote to encourage you to think about the impacts and future of sustainability on our society: “When the winds of change blow, some build walls, and others build windmills.”
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