How Do You Rethink How the World Works? An Entrepreneur + an Engineer Answer | TED Intersections

Overview

This conversation between Kickstarter cofounder Yancey Strickler and scientist Jenny Du explores how unconventional thinking and personal struggles can lead to transformative ideas. They discuss reimagining systems, the role of resilience, and the importance of embracing individuality to create meaningful change.

Notable Quotes

- The things that hold you back when you're younger are your strengths when you're older. – Yancey Strickler, on the power of embracing one's uniqueness.

- Sometimes you hear something you can’t unhear, and it nags at you until you act. – Jenny Du, on the spark behind tackling food waste.

- The doors of transcendence are always locked by opposites, but the trick is to perceive the crack. – Yancey Strickler, on finding transformative opportunities in contradictions.

🌱 Embracing Nonconformity and Personal Struggles

- Yancey Strickler shares how growing up feeling like an outsider shaped his hyper-awareness and creativity. His inability to conform led him to forge his own path, which became a strength over time.

- Both speakers reflect on how societal systems, like education, often reward conformity but fail to nurture those who think differently.

- Strickler emphasizes that overcoming obstacles, even small ones like learning guitar as a left-handed person, deepens understanding and builds resilience.

🍎 Tackling Food Waste Through Science

- Jenny Du recounts how learning that one-third of global food is wasted sparked her mission to address food spoilage.

- Her team of material scientists and engineers approached the problem with a beginner’s mindset, asking fundamental questions about plant decay and protection mechanisms.

- Du highlights the importance of applying technical expertise to meaningful, impactful challenges, such as extending the shelf life of healthy foods.

🎸 The Power of Cultural Movements

- Strickler draws parallels between punk rock labels and the Royal Society, noting how both created frameworks for cultural and intellectual revolutions.

- He explains how these organizations didn’t just produce outputs (music or scientific papers) but also taught others how to adopt their worldview, amplifying their impact.

- This insight inspired him to explore how artists and creators can build structures that promote their values and sustain their work.

🚪 Finding Opportunity in Contradictions

- Strickler reflects on Joseph Campbell’s concept of the hero’s journey, where transcendence is found by identifying cracks in seemingly opposing forces (e.g., light and dark, life and death).

- He applies this idea to his work on creating an artist corporation, a new legal structure that challenges traditional corporate norms.

- The process of navigating opposition and systemic inertia, he notes, requires empathy and the ability to meet others within their local maximum of understanding.

🌍 Optimism Amid Challenges

- Both speakers discuss maintaining optimism in a world that often feels doomy.

- Du believes that over long time scales, positive change tends to prevail, driven by critical moments and collective action.

- They stress the importance of intentionality, resilience, and finding inspiration in others who are also working to reshape systems.