Fabian Hemmert

Unthinkable? A Brief History of the Impossible

Understanding innovation. As an infinite puzzle.

Humans have a notoriously bad track record of estimating how »impossible« something really is. In this talk, we’ll jump into a time machine and go back, all the way to the onset of human civilization, and explore what we can learn from ancient and former »impossibilities« – for what we consider to be impossible today.

KEY POINTS

• ‘Impossible’ is just a feeling.
• Many things that are normal to us are former impossibilities.
• We can learn from how we misinterpreted impossibility historically for today’s impossibilities.
• Innovation is like a puzzle.
• New pieces must fit what we already have, the ‘problem landscape’.
• If they don’t, we end up with a ‘solution looking for a problem’.
• We’ll develop an image of all of human knowledge taking shape as an island in the ocean.
• This island consists of puzzle pieces and grows every day.
• It’s a self-accelerating process, as more knowledge makes gaining more knowledge easier.

Play: A Tool for Learning, Growing, and Thriving

The power of play to address real-world challenges – and how it can shape our future.

Play is often seen as something for children, but it’s time we rethink its importance. Play has the potential to be much more than just entertainment. In this talk, we explore how play can address serious, real-world problems, including the complexity of education, the pitfalls of social media, and our uncertain futures.

Play can help us navigate complex systems, rediscover our creativity, and safely explore possible futures, all while having fun.

KEY POINTS

• It’s time to rethink how we view play, especially as adults.
• Play can be used to address real-world problems.
• Play can help to take on new perspectives.
• Play can make complex topics accessible.
• Play can motivate us to keep going, even when it is difficult.
• Also, it can provide us a safe spot, from which we then explore what’s possible.
• It’s time to rethink how we view play, especially as adults:
• If we want to unfold our full potential, we should take it as what it is: a powerful tool for human development.

Artificial Intelligence: A Car for the Mind?

Thinking in the fast lane – or the path to mental obesity?

The current development we are observing in the field of AI is so rapid that it can be difficult to stay oriented. In this talk, I aim to provide this orientation. I outline an inner compass, calibrated in four different directions: four directions in which our lives could evolve with the help of AI.

The talk shows that possibilities and risks are often two sides of the same coin – and that, in the end, it is of course up to each individual to explore their own path into the future: in the direction that feels right, and with the appropriate ‘mental vehicle’.

KEY POINTS

• The current development in AI is rapid.
• This can be unsettling.
• We need orientation to know in which direction we want to go.
• Steve Jobs called the computer a ‘bicycle for the mind.’
• With AI, have we reached the ‘automobile age’ of thinking?
• What can we learn from the history of automation?
• AI enables developments in many directions.
• It can harmonize our relationships, do our work for us, flood us with information, and also set us free.
• Every day there is new, uncharted territory – discovering it is one of the central tasks of our time.
• Let’s approach it with joy and a spirit of discovery.