Inspiring address by Dean Kamen
Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway, among other things, gave an inspiring address to the graduating class at Bates College. Here are a couple of paragraphs from it. I encourage you to read the entire address.
"Let me make a couple of observations, because I'm sure some of you -- woe is you -- think you need sympathy. You've got student loans and all sorts of stuff to pay off. So, a little perspective on the world as I see it. Just pick up any newspaper. The polar caps are melting. There's terrorism everywhere. We're running out of fuel; we're running out of air; we're running out of water. The population is going to be nine billion people by the time you're in your mid-career. It's one depressing fact after another. Add to that, that a billion people on this planet live on less than a dollar a day. Four billion people, two-thirds of humanity, live on less than two dollars a day. So for those of you who are looking for sympathy -- not here.
"Students all over the world who are lucky enough to get an education ought to keep those facts in mind and keep asking yourselves the same question: If the world's got all these problems, and we seem to be in a rush to create new ones, and we all believe we want them solved, who's going to solve them? The four billion people who have a problem like, "Can I find water that won't kill me or my kids, my babies"? Who's going to solve them? People who are wondering whether there will be food around? The 1.6 billion people who have never used electricity?"