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Link: http://www.siconversations.org/shows/detail1040.html
I've been hearing a lot about Al Gore's travelling presentation on climate change, but until now not really had a chance to listen to the man myself. Stanford Business School recently hosted him and the presentation was recorded by the Social Innovations Conversations (which often has some excellent, thought-provoking content).
Al Gore didn't disappoint. Even without the visuals for which his talk is renowned his ideas came across clearly and persuasively. His closing section on looking back at Earth from the Voyager spaceprobe in order to see things in perspective was particularly powerful - although, depending on your worldview, it could either lead you to do great things or send you into the depths of depression!
Listening to this, and reading TearFund's recent magazine brings me back to a question I keep asking myself: "How can IT, the internet, computers, learning technology, my skills & experience really help towards solving some of these big issues of climate change, TB, AIDS, etc, etc? Am I just wasting time on stuff because it's interesting & because it pays the bills, or is there a way in which that stuff can be channelled for the greater good, not just for those people who can afford the technology?"
I've been asking that since I started teaching ICT 20 years ago, and still haven't come to a definite conclusion. It's a matter of trying to link the "Why am I here?" question with the "What am I doing about it?" question....
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What I will say though, is that we each carry the responsibility to do what we can within our sphere of influence, no matter how small or large that may be. I get really frustrated with friends of mine who are lackadaisical about the little things because they feel that the difference they can make will be negligible. Lots of negligbles add up to something substantial.
So what can I do? I can be diligent about recycling, I can raise awareness among the people with whom I come into contact, I can lend my voice on the blogosphere to the call for increased social responsibility, I can buy fairtrade goods, I can educate my children, I can make donations to organisations who are involved at the coalface (and do the research to find out who they are), I can blog what I'm doing to inspire others to do the same, and I can read other people's blogs and take some tips from them.
I may only be one person, but then I don't know anyone who isn't!