The speakers at the Afternoon of Conversation covered wide ground at the 2015 Aspen Ideas Festival. On education, innovation, and race, the speakers struck a chord not only by relating to the human experience, but also by pushing contrarian views.
Below, read highlights of some of the key moments across these common themes:
On Education
Sue Desmond-Hellmann, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, spoke of individual teachers’ incredible leverage:
The single most important variable in any classroom is the teacher. – @SueDHellmann #AspenIdeas pic.twitter.com/sQSFdV1PJ7
— Aspen Ideas Festival (@aspenideas) July 1, 2015
Valerie Jarrett, President Barack Obama’s senior advisor, made the dollars and cents case for early childhood education:
Every $1 we spend on early childhood education saves us $7 down the line. – @vj44 #aspenideas pic.twitter.com/KjMSvXkcWs
— Aspen Ideas Festival (@aspenideas) July 1, 2015
Innovation
Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, spoke of our reluctance as a culture to push for radical innovation:
What is it about our society that we are talked out of our interesting weird ideas? – @peterthiel #AspenIdeas pic.twitter.com/v9t2Fmw6BT
— Aspen Ideas Festival (@aspenideas) July 1, 2015
Desmond-Hellmann also explained what drives companies to abdicate their innovative DNA:
Even the best companies are at risk of the ABCs:
Arrogance
Bureaucracy
Complacency
- @SueDHellmann quoting @WarrenBuffett. #aspenideas
— Aspen Ideas Festival (@aspenideas) July 1, 2015
Race
Elizabeth Alexander, writer and Yale University professor, talked about how being multicultural equates to being American:
What is Americanness? It's many things. Multiculturalism is dynamic, but it is who we are. – @ProfessorEA #AspenIdeas pic.twitter.com/TBr3YUeDTc
— Aspen Ideas Festival (@aspenideas) July 1, 2015
Carly Bad Heart Bull, a Philanthropy Fellow with the Bush Foundation, illuminated how indigenous populations are overlooked in discussions of race:
Remember to include our indigenous people. When you look at disparities indigenous people are at the bottom-Carly Bad Heart Bull #AspenIdeas
— Aspen Ideas Festival (@aspenideas) July 1, 2015
The ideas discussed throughout the afternoon varied from the accepted to the controversial, but all held the common note of seeking to better the human experience.
Data and analytics provided by TrackMaven
