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№ 2015.001 — Arizona State University — Commencement address
John Seely Brown
Field: science
John Seely Brown tells ASU graduates they are entering an exciting networked, digital age and encourages them to become entrepreneurial learners who learn through interaction with the world. He recounts his own career at Xerox PARC and the inventions developed there, framing the present moment as a new technical and social 'Cambrian Explosion.' He contrasts past career trajectories with the unpredictable 'white water world' graduates now face, urging them to use imagination, skill, and clear seeing to navigate it.
Key moments
- 01 Defines graduates as entrepreneurial learners in a networked age
- 02 Recalls inventions and culture of Xerox PARC during the digital revolution
- 03 Describes the current era as a new technical and social Cambrian Explosion
- 04 Uses the white water kayaker metaphor for navigating an unpredictable world
- 05 Closes with quotes from Schopenhauer, Weiser, Turing, and Ruskin
Transcript
The full transcript is hosted by the original publisher. Commencement Archive links to the source rather than republishing copyrighted text.
Read the full transcript at source →Provenance
Imported from NPR commencement archive; cross-referenced with Open Commencement DB
NPR archive last updated in 2015; destination availability has not been exhaustively rechecked | Open Commencement DB transcript; not independently verified against the original recording