[Thomas]

Post your summary of the presentation.

[Aneudy Abreu]

Why don’t we solve big problems?

According to the speaker at the TED talk, America sent a rocket to the moon because it was hard, not just because of a political reason. The speaker also said that decades ago technology was advancing very rapidly and aggressively but has slowed down due to a failure in our political/government system. In addition to that, the speaker mentioned that we have the technology to use alternate energy sources or distribute food to every individual. However it is not possible because of bad governments. The focus has has been dragged from transformational ideas to means of enrichment. Ideas like going to mars seem unnecessary because we have bigger problems to solve in earth.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 10 months ago by Aneudy Abreu.

[Aneudy Abreu]

Why don’t we solve big problems?

According to the speaker at the TED talk, America sent a rocket to the moon because it was hard, not just because of a political reason. The speaker also said that decades ago technology was advancing very rapidly and aggressively but has slowed down due to a failure in our political/government system. In addition to that, the speaker mentioned that we have the technology to use alternate energy sources or distribute food to every individual. However it is not possible because of bad governments. The focus has has been dragged from transformational ideas to means of enrichment. Ideas like going to mars seem unnecessary because we have bigger problems to solve in earth.

[Joseph Tran]

The short clip “Can technology solve our big problems?” was a about how we as humans can come together to solve problems no matter how hard with the help of technology. The speaker Jason Pontin, starts off with an example of humans’ first venture to the moon. All the hard ship and challenges humans first faced when trying achieve the venture. Then he compares the first venture to the moon with the latest ventures. He then goes on to explain how much technology has grown using the example of Apollo 1 where the technology was not as advance and how the people of Apollo 1 lost their lives. As in now a trip to the moon is a simple 3 day trip. But he also talks about how technology can only grow and help us if we use it correctly. For this example he says the society would rather spend more time developing Facebook for our amusement instead of trying to solve hard problems. Another factor that he mentioned was how the government and politician only cares about themselves and using technology for the wrong reason.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 10 months ago by Joseph Tran.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 10 months ago by Joseph Tran.

[Troy D.]

The TED talk known as “Can Technology Solve Our Problems?” began with what is regarded as the pinnacle of technological innovation, the Apollo Project. In it, Jason Pontin tells us how the project which used roughly 4 percent of the national budget sent 12 men to the moon to collect very menial supplies of moon rocks. This however was a spectacle considering man could finally accomplish something well beyond its means such as travelling 250000 miles per hour. It has been nearly 50 years since the project ended and it seems that humanity has not come close to replicating the technological feat ever since. Pontin breaks down the reason why into a handful of reasons. Namely, market forces trying make a quick buck on tech startup companies and game developers rather than take risks in developing worthwhile technology. Things such as Martian colonies have been scrapped for they are not sound investments. Another reason is because we as humans don’t fully understand the problems that have arrived. In 1971, President Nixon declared a war on cancer. This declaration was long before we understood that there is more than one type of cancer and not all can be treated with the same type of therapy. Third is regarding politics. Famine is not caused by poor food supplies but by horrible distribution. Most people in the world go hungry because they simply cannot afford even the most rudimentary foods. The problems we have in modern society can be solved with technology if we repurpose the tech and retool our goals.

[Mr. Beckford]

Jason Pontin compares his past imagination of the future to what we now know as present day. High hopes of one day traversing the terrain of Mars turned to a harsh reality of small technological innovations such as smartphones and social media apps. The overall undertone of Pontin’s presentation was that technologists have sold themselves short. Instead of tackling real difficult problems we have diverted to creating gadgets and applications that are pointless. Pontin concludes by saying that the major issues could be solved if we chose to solve them. In order to complete this task political leaders and the public need to make the choice together.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 10 months ago by Mr. Beckford.

[ElvisRSanchez]

Summary on Jason Pontin TED talk, Can Technology solve our big problems:

The moon landing in 1969 was a milestone in the technological field. Before then, landing on the moon sounded like a pipe dream: how would we even get that far, how much would it cost, can people even survived the trip; but like what John F Kennedy said many decades back, they did it because it was hard. America was given a huge problem: they were in a war, they had to show that they got what it takes. They took what at the time was powerful pieces of technology and use it to solve the problem, and the outcome was one of the biggest times in history. This bears the question if technology can solve big problems, the answer is, yes. With even more advancements like the Internet, social media, and even more powerful devices, things became easier to do now. Storing info within a database, using the cloud to keep all files in one place, sending messages in real time. Technology has help solve what would be consider crazy dreams back in the days, to a reality.

[DineshAdhikari]

According to the anchorperson, he try to explain that technology were used meaninglessly. John F. Kennedy talked in a meeting that USA has the powerful rocket to show Soviet Union by launching Rocket on the moon. USA spent billions of dollars to go to the moon and in return didn’t get anything instead of just few old rocks when John F. Kennedy was the President of United States. Hopefully, if those money were used to feed hunger people, it would be much better o help those people who is in need in this universe.

[Leonel]

In the past they were a lot of traveling to the moon. They had a programs calla the Apollo, this programs were designed to plan/prepares trip to the moon. They have over four thousand people working in this programs. Also, they have around twenty thousand companies that participated in the programs. Thought the years the programs sent different rockets to the moon. According to what the speaker was saying that 41 man few to the moon during the different visit to the moon. During President Kennedy leadership the Apollo made a trip to the moon, which reached the most speed of all the other one, “President Kennedy wanted to show that his country was the best, it was a big thing to do, to land on the moon”; they flew at a speed of 25000 miles per hours. To conclude this was the last trip to the moon since that time no one has gone to the moon since that time Jason Ponting stated.

[Damika Green]

The TED Talk video we watched posed the question “Can technology solve our big problems?” According to Jason Ponting yes they can, but they won’t be solved any time soon due to the lack of urgency, funding and support from our political leaders. He started his presentation with discussing how monumental the Moon mission was. Saying that we as a nation went the Moon not simply to get back at the Soviet Union, but to better ourselves as a country. He later hinted out how we live in a capitalist society, mentioning how only 2% of the world is fueled by solar or wind energy, and the alternatives are a lot cheaper. During this presentation Jason is making a plea for people to care once again. As much as they did back in the 1960’s when technology problem solving was at an all-time high and we pursing bigger goals instead of look for ways to invent another Facebook.

[DineshAdhikari]

Summary: Ted Talk on “Can Technology solve our big problems?”
According to the anchorperson, he try to explain that technology were used meaninglessly. John F. Kennedy talked in a meeting that USA has the powerful rocket to show Soviet Union by launching Rocket on the moon. USA spent billions of dollars to go to the moon and in return didn’t get anything instead of just few old rocks when John F. Kennedy was the President of United States. Hopefully, if those money were used to feed hunger people, it would be much better o help those people who is in need in this universe.

[GwennethW]

Jason Pontin, “Can technology solve our big problems?” spoke at a TED Talks conference wherein he spoke about the big problems that technology was supposed to address, but that has not, as yet, been tackled because “big problems are hard”. He stated that on July 21, 1969 the first spaceship landed on the moon and while it was a momentous occasion, America did not do this to be a humanitarian effort, but rather because they wanted to be the first one in the East vs. West Cold War battle; that it was a big thing to do. He mentioned that although the launch, walk and return happened over three days and that twenty-four men were actually on the Apollo spaceship that the entire endeavor took: $400,000 billion (4% by today’s money standards); 400,000 people, over 200 universities and government agencies to realize the dream. Mr. Pontin also spoke passionately about why today’s big problems have not been addressed by the technological world and its applications. He believes that this occurrence has occurred due to a failing of the political agenda apparent, not only in America, but in throughout governments worldwide. Finally, Mr. Pontin stated four distinct areas that needed to be addressed if the larger problems that face humanity are to be corrected with the help of technology. These areas include: (a) political leaders and the public must want to solve the problems that exist; (b) Institutions must support the effort to solve; (c) a technology problem must really exist; and (d) we must understand it. This talk gave much food for thought and highlights disconnects between formulating/providing real change through technology of existing problems found in our world today and the roadblocks that hinder the progress.

[SSSimmons88]

We were promise “mars colonies” but instead we received “Facebook”. A basic summary of the TED talk video is where the funded money goes. While years ago we lived in a world where travel was no faster than “horse and sail”. Then we founded Apollo missions that were designed for search of life on the moon, but secretly President Kennedy just wanted to prove to be the best and that it could be done and America did so. Now we are taking send funded money and funding different startup companies.

[Jibriel]

The ted talk about by Jason Pontin called “Can technology solve our big problems?” was about technology has advanced however not in favor to solve big problems and has targeted only minor problems. For instance, the presenter showed a pics that said “I wanted colonies in mars instead I got Facebook”. Basically saying that the technology leap that was taken during 1969 mission apollo landing on the moon has taken a turn away from the bigger issue the world is in now. In addition, all we have to show for it is mobile phones and app that we carry around today. Also, the technology has advanced and can be used to make alternative to gas. For instance, solar power and wind however it’s more expansive then gas. As a result, no one would want to try to make it a reality. However, President Kennedy spent a lot of money at mission apollo to go to the moon because he wanted to show the soviets that US is more advanced and powerful.

[R]

According to Jason Pontin, he asked question himself about technology can solve a big problems?. He mentioned about a Apollo 10 was a first landing mission on moon in 1969. He added that after that President Kennedy launched a mission called Apollo 17 and became the first person to landed on moon from United States. According to him, this mission started by President Kennedy just to show a power of United States in world. Moreover, he mentioned that technology had been used to solve problem of human being.Unfortunately, many people died from malnutrition. He asked is technology can solve those problem?