The New Citizenship - Pia waugh at tedxcanberrawomen

Pia: Hi everyone. Uh, thanks very much for the introduction and for having me here today. Um, I am really excited about, uh, giving this speech. It's, it's giving me an opportunity to coalesce and present to you a lot of ideas I've had for a lot of years in, um, uh, in a you know hopefully very exciting sort of way. But, what I wanna talk about is digital citizenship and how, uh, not only the geek will inherit the earth, if you don't mind me riffing on that particular little tidbit but, indeed, we already have. All the people just don't know it yet. But, we are in the most exciting of times. The most exciting of times. People, uh, connected from birth, uh, are, uh, engaged across the world. Uh, are, um, uh, uh, are more powerful as individuals than ever before. Uh, we have, uh, particularly in communities like Australia and societies like Australia, uh, we have population that have all of our basic needs taken care of so we got time to kill. And we've got, um ... Which means that over the last hundred years in particular we've seen, uh, the establishment of, uh, of rights, of perspectives of, you know, um, freedoms. And the idea that animals actually have feelings and, um, maybe shouldn't be treated awfully and just as food sources. We've had, um, these, these huge, enormous revolutions and thought and in perspective, uh, for a long, long time. Um, and it's just been growing exponentially. And, and, it's a combination of, uh, the growth in democracy and the, the concept of the individual, and the concept of rights, and the concept of, uh, being able to participate in the macro forces that, uh, that shape our world. Uh, but it's also a, a combination of technology and the explosion in, um, what an individual can achieve, um, as, as a individual but also en mass collaborating dynamically. Um, and it's the fact that, you know, we're all kinda fat, content and happy and wanting to make a bit of a difference now, which is quite exciting. Um, so what we've got is, uh, the massive distribution for the first time, unprecedented distribution of power. Um, we, we've got, um, the distribution of publishing. The ability to publish whatever you want. Um, whether you do it anonymously, whether you do it through formal mechanisms, you know. You can distribute to a global audience, uh, with, uh, with less barriers to entry than ever before. The ability to communicate with whomever your please. The ability to monitor. Uh, monitoring has traditionally been a top down thing to, to ensure that laws are and, and taxes are paid. Um, but, uh, people can monitor sideways, they can monitor up. They can monitor their governments. They can monitor their companies. Um, enforcement. This gets a little tricky because if anyone can enforce than anyone can enforce any thing. And, and you start to get a little bit of, uh, active concerns there but it is an interesting time and, uh, of course with the advent of 3D printing starting to get into mainstream society we, we're seeing the massive distribution of, of property. And if you think about these five concepts, these five power bases they've traditionally been centralized. You look at the industrial revolution and you look at the broadcast age as, as two majors sections in society and they're both actually part of the same era. Cause both of them are about the centralized creation of stuff whether it's stuff or information by a small number of people that could afford to do so, distributed to the massive population. The idea that anyone can create any of these things and distribute it to anyone else, or indeed for their own purposes, is, uh, is a whole new thing and very exciting. And what that means is that the relationship between people and governments and industry has changed quite fundamentally. Fundamentally. Um, and so traditional institutions and traditional bastions of any sort of power are struggling with this and, uh, finding it rather scary. Um, individuals, however, are thriving in this environment and, um, yeah there's always arguments about trolls, there's always arguments about, you know, whether the power's being used to just share what you had for breakfast and all these, you know, and, and the fact is that, you know, in internet isn't, um, all unicorns or all doom. It is, uh, but it is something different, it is something exciting and it is something that is empowering people in a way that's, uh, unprecedented. So, exciting times. What this has led to and you'll, again, have to forgive me for using the term singularity, singularity is, is, uh, is been one of those things that's been touted around by futurists and, um, and given this particular event you'll appreciate this quick story. I went and had a, um, a, a meeting once with a, a, a futurist hang out and I was introduced just casually. And one of the ... And it was all, all men and one of the guys said to me, Oh Pia! You should become a futurist! And I said, oh why? And he said, oh cause we need more chicks. I just said, well that's a great reason to want ... Anyway it was, uh, kind of funny. But, so the point is singularity has a very specific meaning which is kinda handy. The concept of the distance between things getting smaller. So, whether that's the distance between you and your publisher or you and, um, uh, food or you and your network or you and your device. Um, you know, the concept of approaching the singularity is about reducing the distance between. Now, of course the internet has reduced the distance between people quite significantly and I put to you that, um, we're in a period of a democratic singularity because the distance between people and power has reduced almost to nothing. People are now as powerful as a lot of the, um, institutions which, uh, frame and shape their, their lives. So to, to paraphrase and to slightly turn on the head. The quote by William Gibson. The future is here and it is widely distributed. Which is quite exciting. So we've, we've approached the democratic singularity and it's starting to turn democracy into a lot more, uh, a lot more participatory, a lot more democratic. Um, so, what does this mean in reality? What, what does this actually translate to in, in, for us as people as a society, as, as a global village, uh, to, uh, to go back to Marshall McLuhan is that there's massive and changing expectations of individual, individuals. Um, I see a lot and, I mean, I work in government but don't hold that against me. Um, I see a lot of people starting to and, uh, and have for the last few years in particular been really focused on the shift in power from the West to the East. You know the, the, the Chinese century and, and, um, and looking at, you know, what does it mean to have China and India in particular starting to become such a, and already, such major economic houses and power houses and, and, um, with India the world's biggest democracy. But, the more interesting shift that everyone seems to either forget or, or willfully ignore is the shift from institutions to individuals. So, that is the fascinating shift. Not just because we have power, um, in, in a lot of different sense but because it is changing our expectations as a society. And when you start to get a massive change of expectations across an entire community of people, that starts to change behaviors, change, um, economics, change socials patterns, change social norms. You get a lot of, of, um, really, really big changes, uh, happening through those changing expectations. What are those changing expectations? Well, the internet teaches us a lot of things. The foundation, technical principles of the internet are effectively shaping the social characteristics of this new society. Uh, which, uh, we're, we're sort of in the, well, possibly the fifth major iteration of, of society. This distributed society. Society 5. Let's call it something like Babylon 5. No. Um, but, this society some of the expectations are the ability to do, you know, to, to access what you want. The ability to talk to who you want. The ability to cross reference. When I was a kid and you did a essay on anything you had to go and, you know, we looked at Encyclopedia Britannica. It was a single source of truth. The concept that you could get multiple perspectives, some of which might be insane, um, by the way, um, but get the context of those different perspectives, get a little comparison. Maybe even talk to someone who is there right now. As a, as a point of comparison against the official source or the government source or the media report. Um, and start to understand that the world's actually a lot more gray than, um, than we, we are taught as, as particularly in school and such. And learning that the, the world is gray is great because you start to say, you know what? You could be right and I could be right and that doesn't make, uh, with a different perspective and that isn't a terrible thing. It, it doesn't have to be mutually expected, um, um, exclusive. It doesn't have to be a zero sum game. We can both have a perspective and, and be mutually respectful in, in a lot of cases and, um, and actually have a more diverse and interesting world as a result. So, you know, changing expectations. Anyone can, um, overcome any barrier that has traditionally stopped them from being socially successful, economically successful, reputationally successful and, um, and basically be a superhero which is kinda cool. I remember once I had, um, uh, I've been involved in online communities for a long time. Well, a long time in internet years I guess. So for probably 15, 16, 17 years ish. Um, and, um, uh, and I was working with one particular group and, uh, there was a guy who I'd been dealing with for 2 years and it'd been through, um, online chat, um, but it was a major project. We grew like a international initiative from 100 countries to 500 teams in about 150 countries. It was a very, very exciting project. And, um, I happened to be going to London. He said, oh drop in we'll grab a coffee it'll be, you know, lovely to catch up and I got to the address he gave me there were ramps. I was like, oh that's, that's kinda weird. And I got in and it turns out he was a full quadriplegic. Now, at the tender age of ... what, I don't know what I was. I was 23 or 22. It hadn't occurred to me, um, what it would mean working with someone, um, who was a quadriplegic. And what I found was that, um, I was, I was shocked in the first instance and I realized that I did have not necessarily an active, but a passive bias. And if I'd known that from the start I might have treated him differently. And in one fell swoop it completely wiped away the bias that I had. Because it re framed it, right? So the idea of on the internet no one knows you're a dog. Um, you have the ability to start to, um, overcome biases that you pick up subtly. And we pick up a lot of subtle biases, right? When I was 4 my, uh, my mum came home with 2 presents. Oh 5. She came home with 2 presents. A doctor's kit and a truck. She gave the truck to my brother and gave me the doctor's kit. And I burst out crying. I burst out crying. And, I, I ... She said Pia what, what is wrong? And I said, well obviously you've brought 2 presents for my brother. You don't love me. Um, and she said what? Why, why would you think that? I said, because women can't be doctors. At 4. It's not like, I haven't even got to school yet, right? So where have I got that perspective? It's, it's ... And my mum, you know, kicked my ***. Metaphorically, I can tell you. Um, but, um, but we pick up a lot of subtle biases. Um, uh, that we don't necessarily, aren't necessarily aware of and I think the internet is helping us to, to re frame and reshape and to transcend some of those. Uh, online communities can be one of the most exciting and powerful places to be because it starts to transcend and, and make it possible for people to excel in a way that perhaps traditionally they weren't able to. So, it's very exciting. Everyone can be a superhero and that's really, really cool. One of the other things this means ... I'll, I'll give you a second to read this but basically, you know, uh, you've got the US nuclear chain of command. And you've got the President and the Secretary of Defense. You've got all these wonderful, you know, power structures but at the end of the day there's a techy implementing the red button that you say go. Um, the role of geeks in this world is very important because we are the one ... Everything is basically based on technology, right? So ... And everything is reliant upon technology. We are exactly as free as the tools that we use. I just want you to think about that for a second. If the tool that you're using for social networking only allows you to talk to people in the same geographic, uh, geographic area as you then you're now limited. If the, uh, email tool you're using only allows you to send to someone who has another secure network then you're only as free as that tool. The, the digital literacy. Tech literacy defines your privacy. Because you might say to yourself, oh you know, I will never tell anyone where I am at a particular point in time cause I don't want someone to rob my house while I'm out on holiday. But, you know, you'll still put a photo up that you're Argentina right now, because that's fun. And, uh, now people know. Or there's geocoding on information. So, technical literacy, um, for the masses is really important and largely, at this point, confined to the geeks. Uh, the geeks ourselves, we're very, um, uh, we play an active role in all kinds of activities. And so, um, our ... So hacker ethos ends up being a really important part of this. And for those that don't know, hacker is not a, a rude word. It's not a bad word. It's, uh, the concept of having a creative and, um, constructive approach to technology and applying it in cool and exciting ways that you can show off to your friends effectively. Um, and, um, so hacker ethos is, is a very important thing because you start to say freedom is actually very, very important. It's very high on the list. And ethos, as technologists, um, uh, implement and facilitate technologies that actually hobble our fellow citizens then we're kinda screwing 'em over. And yes, it's true. Geeks will always be the most free in a digital society because we will always know how to route around the damage. Again, going back to the technical construct of the internet. Um, but, um, but fundamentally have a role to play to actually be leaders in this society and to help, um, you know, lead the masses into, to a, a, a better future. So, there's a, there's a very important role for geeks. And there's a lot of other sort of dangers. Um, so first of all. Indiscriminating tools. Of course, the same tools that can, you know, lead a, a, a wonderful social revolution or, or, um, or give freedom to individuals to say their stories is the same technology that can be used by criminals. You know. It's indiscriminate. Um, which is an important reason to say we shouldn't lock down the internet because someone can use it for a bad reason. Well, sure, let's take all the cars off the road too. That's a great idea. You know, the, the idea that we start to try to hobble technology because it's used in a bad way, um, is a highly frustrating one. Privilege cringe. In, in communities like Australia we're sort of taught to say, well, you've got privilege cause you've been brought up, you've got edu ... Uh, in a stable environment, you've an education, you've, you've got enough money. You've got a sense of being able to go out and conquer the world. Uh, and therefore you've gotta hide all of that because, you know, you've gotta be ashamed of the fact that maybe you were, maybe you have a sense of privilege or maybe you have an ability to actually engage in the world in a powerful way. I suggest to you all that you all in this room, and pretty much anyone that would probably come and watch a TED event or go to a TED talk or watch it online, is the sort of person who, um, is probably pretty reasonably privileged in a lot of ways. In a lot of ways. Certainly, you've got access to the internet which makes you one of a third of the world that has access. Um, but use that privilege to, for the power of good. This is the point. We are more powerful than ever before so if you're not using your power for the power of good. If you're not actually contributing to making the world a better place, what are you doing? Anyway. So. Hipsters are a major danger. Always. Because, uh, and Billy Bragg made the perfect quote which is, cynicism is the, uh, the perfect enemy of, um, of progress. Uh, and, um, you know, there is nothing more frustrating than actually making progress and then having people tear you down because you haven't done it exactly so. So, um, you know, trying to ... And, and, and we have a lot of people in Australia, in particular, who wanna do good. And that's very exciting and really cool. But they tend to say, so I'm gonna go to this foreign country and feed some poor people and that'll make me feel good and that'll be doing some good and that'll be great. Me personally, that would really not be good for people because I don't cook very well. Um, it's about how do you actually contribute to making the world a better place in a way that it's like a lever? Where do you push to get a major change rather than, rather than contributing to actually maintaining the status quo. How do you change the status quo? How do you rewrite the rules? How do you actually help those people that need help all around the world, including here in Australia, uh, in a way that actually helps 'em sustainably rather than reinforcing the status quo? Enthuse misdirection is I guess where I'm getting at. And of course, one of my, my most frustrated dangers is hyperbole. Is literally destroying America. Figuratively speaking. Um, so you know, there's a lot of dangers, there's a lot of issues. How many people here have been to a TED talk of some sort before? So keep your hand up if, after that, you went out and did something world changing. OK. So now you're gonna do that, yeah? Right. So next time we do this all of those hands will stay up. How many people who haven't been, uh, to a TED talk reckon you're contributing to the world in a cool way? Come on! Really? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Again, don't have cringe. Like, get up, show off the stuff that you're doing. It's, uh, it's um, it's important. So, a, a couple of last points I'll make. Um, that, my, my terrible little diagram there is the concept that if you look at the last 5,000 years, you know, the, the state of life for an individual in a society has sort of been down here somewhere. You know, it's kinda, Kings come and go. You know, people get killed, properties taken. All sorts of things happen and you're sort of very much at the [pest] of what's going on but it's OK you just keep plowing your fields, you should be all right. Um, so it's sort of gone here and then so it's come up a little bit and there's a little bit of rights starting to happen, little bit of concept of individuality, little bit of the concepts of, of maybe, um, maybe things could be better and you sort of start to get up and then you've sort of got, you know, democracy starting to kick off. Uh, all the different, um, um, rights of, of, of women, you know, starting to address racism, starting to address, you know, disability rights. And you, and, foomp! The last hundred years. The last hundred years. Boom! Up here somewhere. And I'm not tall enough to actually make the point, right? I need to get high heels obviously to make this point really important. But, foomp! This is so exciting! So where, where are we gonna go next? You know, how do we shape the future because if we're not involved in shaping the future as these powerful users, these powerful individuals someone else is gonna shape it for us. And this, this is the thing I've really learned by working in government, but working in the Minister's office, by working in ... And I specifically went to work in for a politician even though I'm very strongly apolitical and to work in the government, in the public service because I wanted to understand the executive, legislative, and administrative arms of the entity that shapes our lives so much. And I feel like I have a fairly good understanding of that now. Um, and, um, and yet you sort of look at all of these structures and you say, well there's a lot of people who influence your lives every day that you've got no idea about. So get involved in that because if you don't get involved then it gets shaped for you. So, we have this exponential approach ... So the point here is you may think, oh well, yeah but nothing's really all that different. Have we really hit this tipping point? You know, is it, is it really any different today than it was yesterday? Well, we've had this exponential progress, we've got a third of the world online, we've got these super human powerful individuals in a large chunk of, um, of different societies around the world. So, the question is to you, figure out your super power. How do you best contribute it to making the world a better place? Uh, for me, going and working in a soup kitchen will not help anybody. Um, I could probably design a robot that creates super delicious and nutritional food to actually feed people. Um, but, um, me doing it myself would actually probably give them food poisoning and wouldn't help anyone. Um, figure out your super powers. Figure out how you can contribute to the world. Figure out your Kryptonite. What biases do you have in place? What, you know, what weaknesses do you have? What things will actually get in the way of you trying to do what you're doing? I quite often see people apply critical analysis and critical thinking tools without any self-awareness and the problem is that we are super clever beings and we can rationalize anything we want if, emotionally, we like it or dislike it. So, uh, try and have both self-awareness and critical analysis and now you've got a, you know, a very powerful way to, to do some good. So I'm gonna just finish with, you know, a quote. What better place than here? What better time than now? All hell can't stop us now. Rage Against the Machine, of course. And I just wanna finish with a point which is, the future isn't, you know, it, it, it's being determined whether you like it or not. But it's not really being determined by the traditional players in a lot of ways. The power's been distributed. It's not just the politicians or the scholars or the, or the, um, the researchers or the, or, you know, the, the corporates. It's being invented right here, right now. You know? And you are contributing to that future either, um, passively or actively. So you may as well get up and be active about it. So, uh, you know. We're heading towards this and we've possibly even hit the tipping point of a digital, um, singularity and a democratic singularity. So, what are you gonna do about it? I invite you to share with me in the co-creation of the future together. Thank you very much. [applause]