1 post tagged “algore ted ssbx learning”

So Brenda posted about speeches from TED being posted online. I watched the Mena Trott one first and smiled and giggled. I then watched the Ze Frank one and laughed heartily (although quietly) then I watched the Al Gore one and got a bit enraged. Then I watched this one with Majora Carter of the Sustainable South Bronx project and got weepy, a little bit. And then I laughed and then I had to check out their site. The kicker comes at the end where she mentions that she talked to Al Gore about her project and he thought she was asking for money. And she probably didn't turn it down. But, But! This young African-American woman comes up to him and talks about his project and his first thought is "she wants money" not "maybe I can learn from her". I can only assume that after hearing her speech, or hearing about it, he paused a minute and maybe thought more closely about what he'd said and hopefully even contacted her to find out what he could learn from her.

But its his reaction that has stuck in my mind. We, everyone, can learn something from anyone else. And as I wonder what use I can gain from certain people in my life who make me angry and bitter, I keep thinking "If only I could find something to learn from them I might be happier with them." Which may still be naive or idealistic, but its a truth that I've found repetitive in my life. "Learn something from everything and everyone." My mom told me as I was growing up that she hoped her children would be able to learn from her mistakes. And while I stuggled with wanting to know what she thought was a mistake (having kids, marrying my father, not finishing school) I incorporated her greater meaning into my personal philosophy to learn by watching other people's mistakes. And whether that was hanging out at Fat Cat Pizza in Lancaster, OH at the age of 12 and watching pushy boys play the new Donkey Kong game for quarter after quarter's worth of game and watching them die on the first screen several times, before plunking in my one quarter and making it to the third screen before I lost all my lives. (The realizationt that there are patterns everywhere was an amazing and enlightening experience that sugar-riddled afternoon, let me tell you!) Or whether it was seeing girls in high school fall for guy after guy who didn't care about them, but wanted to be cared about. Or whether it was recognizing that the reason two people disliked each other was becuase they were so much alike and then looking at people I disliked to see if we had similar characteristics.

And all this round-about comes to the main point that I gathered from her speech. No matter how important you are. No matter how much influence you have. There is always someone out there who can teach you something. Whether or not your open to learning is the test.