Finally got the Internet to work. Blogging live from TAG with Luc Duchesne.
Information is easier than ever to get a hold of. Luc is explaining that when he did his Bachelor's degree in 1979, his first assignment was to go to the library and write a report on 2 different types of plants. Information was much harder to access at the time. He had to go to the card catalogue, go to the stacks and if the book was gone he had to "recall" the book, wait 3 weeks and go back, find the book, read the book and discover that it isn't the book he needs. Now a student can go on the Internet and find the information they need within a tenth of a second.
He is speaking about a dataset. There is a positive correlation between the birth of children in Germany and the number of nesting/brooding storks on rooftops. The correlation is 0.975. Essentially it has just demonstrated that babies are delivered by storks! That is the correlation. This is his favourite dataset. :)
Earlier Luc had an interesting example about EROEI (energy return on energy investment). In 2050 our children will not eat bananas because the cost to import them from Costa Rica will be too much as the cost of fuel continues to sky rocket.
Luc brings up an interesting challenge for those in information technology. How do we sort out all of the information? How do we know what is important? Luc has an example that he coined himself known as "The Fast Sperm Syndrome." In his example you are driving from the Soo to Wawa and there is somebody who you cannot pass the who way there. In business this is a question of execution. The solution has already been done. It is not because someone has thought about it...that is not what makes a significant difference. An idea is great, but what are you going to do with it? That is what is important.
To wrap up, there are a lot of ideas and notions that we don't follow up on because we don't know how to do them, don't have the wisdom or don't understand our own psychology. As an example, Luc recommends Malcolm Gladwell's "The Outliers" (on a personal note I highly recommend this book!). In the book Gladwell examines a number of datasets to explain success. Gladwell discovered that most hockey players are selected by their date of birth (the earlier in the year they are born the more likely they are to become professional hockey players due to the cut off date for selecting players. It favours those born earlier).
Luc also says that we must look at the impact of culture on our behaviour, we need to learn to "stick it to the man" and must look at the impact of era/context. For example, when we look at Rockafeller, we must consider the era in which he lived.
How New Ideas/policies Are Deployed Luc explains that it isn't a question of knowledge that is critical for us to move around. It's critical that we are able to create the right model. Those in information technology already know 80% of what we need to know. How do we use this information?
Wisdom From the Big Mac Luc explained earlier that "we're screwed" based on the Big Mac. If you look at the energy used to make a Big Mac versus the energy we gain from eating a Big Mac, it's not very good! He had many numbers explaining this point...I will post his presentation on SSMIC.com later.
Information Technology as a Contributor to the Bioeconomy Luc believes the carbon footprint situation is "highly overrated" and that we should look more at EROEI.
Action Plan: What this all Means Now Luc is explaining where we go from here in the Algoma district. Information technology will be critical. He suggests reading Odum and Odum. a prosperous way down. Principles and policies and Malcolm Gladwells Outliers
Oh cool, finally someone has an Internet connection. I was there, but couldn't connect.
We are at the question and answer period now. Derek is asking for an example about teaching to the differences of ideas versus execution for university and college students. Most university courses are about theory. How would you change the academic environment?
Luc's answer to Derek's question In answer to this, Luc says there are 12 ways that the brain works. Typically university works on level 2 (0, 1 is the lowest of the foodchain, 12 is the most complicated). Level 2: Information that is related that leads to a conclusion but there is no real flow to it. A metaphor illustrating this is if you were to go to university, take a course in sociology, a course in stats and a course in biology...where is the linkage of these discplines? it doesn't matter as long as you pass. Level 3 for the brain would be to link them together (but this isn't the way we are learning at university). Level 2 is a very linear thought process. If you are an entrepreneur you need to manage many linear thought processes at the same time. (Information technology, personal finances etc). This is "one level higher than a Phd," says Luc.
Question: Have we reached the breaking point? Luc says the oil sands of Alberta is an excellent example of this. If we had an economist actually look at the cost of those decisions, we are well past the breaking point. The amount of resources used to get the oil is a lot... Also in terms of looking at the photovoltaic cell, you must look at the life cycle (do a life cycle analysis). How much does it take to make a cell? How much are we able to gain from this cell? (EROEI!) Luc is looking out for the cell that would have the right balance of this. So far he hasn't seen it but it doesn't mean it's not there. Once we see that there may be a significant impact.
A final point in terms of the tar sands/oil sands in Alberta. It is not the amount of oil that is in the ground that is important, it is how much you are able to get out of it based on your resources! Luc has finished the presentation now. Look out for more on www.ssmic.com.
Mei Ling
Gerry Kirk
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