The Impossible Network

Guest Overview Futurist and humanist Caroline Chubb Calderon thinks a lot about what it will mean to be human in the age of intelligent machines. This child of the world that grew up speaking five languages and learned what it meant to be human at an early age from a mentally-ill mother and an inspirational father, gives us a glimpse into how we might just reimagine the future of humanity.  This interview is a two-parter. In Part-One we explore Caroline’s nomadic upbringing, the challenges of living with her schizophrenic mother, the inspirational role of her father, her focus on finding thin slices of joy, her love of curiosity, how vision and serendipity led her to working as an innovation consultant, and how the future called for her to create Hello Humanity — a company preparing humans to lead, live, work, and thrive in our AI future.We discuss her perspectives on the forces that are shaping our future, the possibilities and risks in an AI-driven world, the need for a global moral compass, and so much more... I hope you enjoy part one of this optimistic but contemplative exploration of humanity in the age of AI technology.  What we discuss Her international upbringing Living with her mother's schizophrenia and life lessons gainedHow she stayed resilient reveling in thin slices of joy and how her path took her to learn meditation and now even teach itThe two questions that define her journey: "What does the future hold?" And, "How we lead for it?"Issues facing us as we move into an AI worldSocial LinksLinkedin Links In the ShowWhat IfHello Humanity  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guest Overview Massachusetts born, a psychiatrist father and minister mother, drove his ambition to be a priest, but evolved to be an actor, musician, author and expert on the ethics of Artificial Intelligence is this week’s guest John C Havens. oh he’s also a wicked harmonica player -John is currently the Executive Director of The IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems (A/IS). Over the past three years, The Initiative produced Ethically Aligned Design, a free, creative commons book over 250 pages long written by 600 global experts created to ensure A/IS honors human rights and end-user values while prioritizing human wellbeing and ecological sustainability. John is the author of Heartificial Intelligence: Embracing Humanity to Maximize Machines, a frequent contributor to Mashable and The Guardian, a former EVP of a top ten PR firm, founder of a non-profit called The Happathon Project, and a former professional actor for over fifteen years. You can find John on twitter @johnchavens.John's views are his own on the show and don't necessarily represent and formal positions of the IEEE.In part one of this 2 parter, John and I discuss his upbringing, parental impact, the role of introspection on his journey and his early experiences acting alongside some of Hollywood’s finest.In part two we will dive deep into the ethics of AI and Johns vision for a more sustainable future society.I hope you enjoy Part One and insight into vision, passion, and faith of John C Havens.What we discussHis early yearsGrowing up overweightHis father’s impactIntrospectionCathartic impact of musicHis relationship with ChristFollowing his parent's guidanceWorth and lovePlay and acting in early developmentAttending a Christian collegeOn recognizing truth and loveEmpathy and kindnessThe influence of a theatre professorAttending Williamstown Summer theatreHis explanation of the craft of actingSteel PierHow he became involved in IEEE and developing AI Code of EthicsAsimov Laws of RoboticsFollow on Social TwitterLinks In The Show  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guest Overview Massachusetts born, a psychiatrist father and minister mother, drove his ambition to be a priest, but evolved to being an actor, musician, author and expert on the ethics of Artificial Intelligence is this week’s guest John C Havens. oh he’s also a wicked harmonic player -John is currently the Executive Director of The IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems (A/IS). Over the past three years The Initiative produced, Ethically Aligned Design, a free, creative commons book over 250 pages long written by 600 global experts created to ensure A/IS honors human rights and end user values while prioritizing human wellbeing and ecological sustainability. John is the author of Heartificial Intelligence: Embracing Humanity to Maximize Machines, a frequent contributor to Mashable and The Guardian, a former EVP of a top ten PR firm, founder of a non-profit called The Happathon Project, and a former professional actor for over fifteen years. You can find John on twitter @johnchavens.John's views are his own on the show and don't necessarily represent and formal positions of the IEEE.In part one of this 2 parter John and I discuss his upbringing, parental impact, the role of introspection on his journey and his early experiences acting alongside some of Hollywood’s finest.  In part two we will dive deep into the ethics of AI and Johns vision for a more sustainable future society. I hope you enjoy Part One and an insight into vision, passion and faith of John C Havens.What we discussHis early years Growing up overweight His father’s impact IntrospectionCathartic impact of music  His relationship with Christ Following his parents guidance Worth and lovePlay and acting in early development Attending a Christian college On recognizing truth and love Empathy and kindness The influence of a theatre professorAttending WilliamsTown Summer theatre His explanation of the craft of actingSteel Pier How he became involved in IEEE and developing AI Code of Ethics Asimov Laws of RoboticsFollow on Social TwitterLinks In The Show  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guest OverviewRussian born, New York raised, corporate lawyer, turned Facilitator, Speaker and entrepreneur with a mission to empower people and organizations to flourish through science-backed behavioral solutions - is this week's guest Elina Teboul. Graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Economics from New York University and a J.D. from Columbia Law School, Elina became a corporate lawyer at top NY Law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell.  Elina is a powerhouse of positive energy and focus. The legal world never stood a chance and it was not long until Elina found herself Studying Psychology at Columbia University in NYC. Realizing that powerful mindfulness techniques based on positive psychology weren’t easily accessible in most corporations, Elina started The LightUp Lab to address this gap in the market with the mission of cracking the code to happiness. We cover a lot of ground in this interview so we have made it a two-parter. In Part-two we get more into curiosity, creativity, education, passion, principles, and all our quick-fire questions I hope you enjoy this enlightening insight into Elina's fitness class for the mind. What We Discuss  Growing up in Brighton Beach to Russian Jewish Immigrant parentsThe impact of her family Being an only child Her school yearsHow she entered law Her evolution from law to philanthropy and foundation management Returning to NYC toPivoting to study psychology The Lisa Miller book SMBI The idea behind light up labMental healthLeadership Her training methodology Her themes Her view on technology Focus and flow Goal setting Social LinksLightUp Lab Linkedin Instagram  Links In The ShowDavis Polk Brighton Beach Allan GreyOrbisColumbia University SMBIThe Book Primed to Perform Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guest OverviewRussian born, New York raised, corporate lawyer, turned Facilitator, Speaker and entrepreneur with a mission to empower people and organizations to flourish through science-backed behavioral solutions - is this week's guest Elina Teboul. Graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Economics from New York University and a J.D. from Columbia Law School, Elina became a corporate lawyer at top NY Law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell.  Elina is a powerhouse of positive energy and focus. The legal world never stood a chance and it was not long until Elina found herself Studying Psychology at Columbia University in NYC. Realizing that powerful mindfulness techniques based on positive psychology weren’t easily accessible in most corporations, Elina started The LightUp Lab to address this gap in the market with the mission of cracking the code to happiness. We cover a lot of ground in this interview so we have made it a two-parter. Part-one covers her upbringing in Brighton Beach, her journey to creating the LightUp Lab, the value she delivers, her methodology, goal setting principles and the tools necessary to unlock and sustain the full potential of people in business.In Part-two we get more into curiosity, creativity, education, passion, principles, and all our quick-fire questions I hope you enjoy this enlightening insight into Elina's fitness class for the mind.What We Discuss  Growing up in Brighton Beach to Russian Jewish Immigrant parentsThe impact of her family Being an only child Her school yearsHow she entered law Her evolution from law to philanthropy and foundation management Returning to NYC toPivoting to study psychology The Lisa Miller bookSMBI The idea behind LightUp LabMental healthLeadership Her training methodology Her themes Her view on technology Focus and flow Goal setting Social LinksLightUp Lab Linkedin Instagram  Links In The ShowDavis Polk Brighton Beach Allan GreyOrbisColumbia University SMBIThe Book Primed to PerformLaurie Santos Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guest OverviewBorn in Spain, raised in Newark, a rebel against his catholic education, a Punk rock band tour manager, before building his stellar career, life and reputation in the art world, is this week’s guest, internationally renowned gallerists and owner of New York’s Team Gallery, Jose Freire. In the raw and candid interview Jose discusses the impact of his abusive upbringing. He discusses his innate curiosity, the role of shame in developing his image and desire to escape. How his experiences on the streets of 1970’s NYC helped him develop his identity, sense of taste, his aesthetic and style. Jose recounts his experience as a Punk Band Tour Manager, becoming a DJ and how a serendipitous late night encounter in a club called Berlin led him to begin a career in art and galleries. From 30 min in we explore the arc of his Jose’s life as one of the world’s most renowned and respected feeder gallerists. I hope you enjoy this raw and revealing exploration of the inspiring life journey of New York Gallerist Jose Freire. What we discuss His early memories His fear for his violent and absent father Supportive and caring motherThe lesson in shame and impact on self image and tasteCorporal punishment and abusive school environment Seeking safety in NYCMeeting strangers Developing his identity on the streets of NYCThe impact of drugs His death impulse Visiting cinemas and the home of men he met in the theatersHow it developed his sense of taste Power of his passions His punk period and tour managing How he developed his empathy for artists How serendipity opened the door to his entry into the art worldHis drug useGetting sober Getting his education in his 30’s Balancing education and his gallery Importance of passion His London experience Opening and building his own galleryMoving to Soho The market crash Opening Team His drive and competitive natureHis curiosity for the new  His enduring hunger Peaking in 2014 Going forward Shedding his past Looking after himselfBeing a feeder galleyBeing an impresario On art fairsPower of small galleries Living in the present His quickfire answers His impossible advice Connecting Team Gallery Links in the show The Talking Heads Virgin Prunes Dean Martin Klaus NomiClubs of the 70’s and 80’s Roxy Music Polly Apfelbuam303 Gallery Lisa SpellmanPaula Cooper Ryan McGinley Cory ArchangelSteve ParrinoCarol BovyDavid Zwirner Gallery Banks Violette Pace GalleryHauser and WirthBilly Wilder Garret Bradley  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Having heard the diverse stories from our season one guests, I've reflected on curiosity, mental health, and serendipity. However, in this final reflection, I want to focus on something that weaves through all three previous musings. Time; its value, it's scarcity and power.  We recently interviewed Carmen D'Alessio, Impresario behind Studio 54 and one of our first guests in Season 2. In the interview she references a great quote on time; The past is history, the future is a mystery, today is a gift, and that's why we call it the present. The concept that time is a precious gift was possibly best expressed bythe 17th Century Preacher, Jonathan Edwards, as he laid our reasons why.  - Time is precious in proportion to its importance or the degree it affects our welfare.  - Time is short and limited.  - We have no insight into its continuance or how long we have - And when it is past, it can not be recovered. Although serendipity has impacted the different journeys of all our guests, it's their value of time and the patterns that emerge around how they've used time that defines them. Psychologist Philip Zimbardo set out the optimal perspective on time - called the Optimal Temporal Mix that combines a positive view of the past with a life goal-orientated view of the future with a joyful view of the present. But critically it's the mental flexibility to shift between perspectives that lead to success. I witnessed this with Ryder Carroll and the focused intentionality of his Bullet Journal method, with and Andrew Santella during his interview on procrastination and in Shantell Martin through her enlightened and powerful insights into what is being human actually is, on her journey through time. So if there is one thing I'd urge all listeners to take from season one. It's to avoid squandering, undervaluing, or giving away our gift of time. As the Preacher said, once that moment is past it's never coming back. Every moment matters. All of us, regardless of age, education or experience have an innate and bountiful supply of creativity and imagination, and in every moment, with intentionality, we have an opportunity to mine it, nurture it and apply it to craft the future we desire. Whatever age you are, think about the aggregated moments of time you have on this blue planet we call Earth. Our time is precious, we can't earn more, we can't buy more, we can certainly save it, avoid wasting it but day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment we are spending it. Reflecting on our guests' impact has made me question my application of time. The past is the past, but it's made me more focused on becoming more intentional with how I spend my time in the future. It's why I am so concerned by how our time is increasingly controlled by technology that commands our attention in a manner that not only dilutes our intentionality but threatens to destroy our identities and societies. Whether we value it or not, our time has immense value, to what the center for humane technology call, the extractive attention economy, which mines our time and attention through well-designed mechanisms of mass distraction. To a greater or lesser degree, as we surrender our time without heed, to the digital addiction apps, we struggle to separate fact from fiction, fall victim to political manipulation and ideological polarization and increasingly suffer from social superficiality of shallow media that impacts the mental health of ourselves and our children. Instead of being distracted by the superficial commercial or transient content that bombards us, It is time for us to re-evaluate the preciousness of moments and the power we have to craft the future we desire. Writer and designer Nir Eyal considers the opposition of distraction to be traction, not attention. - the traction we have when we focus our time and att... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The science fiction novels, comic book, and movies of the past are full of technologies from the imaginations of writers that have since been transformed to science fact and reality by someone who believed, what most considered impossible, to be possible. I’m old enough to remember the phone-like device from Star Trek that only a few years later ended up in my hands branded Startac by Motorola Inventions like these just took time, curiosity, dedication, creativity and grit. Built on the foundation of a good education. However is an education system that by in large, was created to teach the skills needed to serve the workforce needs of the past, sufficient for the fast-approaching reality of the future. That’s why we ask our guest's what they would do to change the education system to help prepare youth for their uncertain future. Think about this. Children entering education in 2020 will be young adults in 2035. It’s on us to prepare them to remain economically and socially relevant in a world of discontinuity . They inhabit an environment full of technologies that have not yet been invented, they will be be required to solve problems that have not yet been imagined, and they‌ ‌will also fill jobs that have not yet been created. The unprecedented speed and array of technological developments, that promise never before imagined opportunities for human advancement, we need to embrace the reality that change will be the only constant. Or as our guestBeth Comstock said we need to learn be comfortable with ambiguity. That is a lot easier said than done.As I have alluded in previous reflections, and interviews it’s our generation's responsibility to educate our children for this world they will inherit. What’s the answer?Yuval Noah Harari in his recent book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century cites educational experts that argue for the need to teach creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication. that we down-regulate specialist technical skills and up-regulate general-purpose life skillsThe most important being to enable children to deal with change, learn new things, preserve mental balance in the face of unfamiliar situations and be prepare them to reinvent themselves again and again. Personally, living in New York in 2019 I feel this is the world I am living in that reality today For as the pace of change changes even the meaning of being human will mutate.To prepare them to overcome adversity and navigate this world of uncertainty, we need to nurture their soft skills of curiosity, creativity, and imagination. They will need more resilience and self-regulation; respect and appreciation for the ideas of others, empathy for the perspectives and values of those unlike them and embrace failure and rejection regularly. If we are to create a world where we all thrive our children's motivation must, as the OECD states, move beyond getting a good job and a high income; and extend to caring more about the well-being of their friends and families, their communities and the planet. To equip our children with a sense of agency, purpose, knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that will enable them to navigate the discontinuity, change, and instability that will be the reality of life in 2035 and beyond, we must relearn the act of learning, reeducate the educator's, and end the production line process of education.It starts with a renewed focus on the timeless wisdom, and the question of who we really are? It’s the big question at the heart of our guest Shantell Martin’s art and insight that too few of us ever question who we really are and explore who we want to be. This is important for all of us regardless of age. However For children retaining and nurturing their Individuality, and identity is the greatest challenge they face, losing it before it is ever discovered by th... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week I watched the Netflix Doc The Great Hack. It made me consider on how our minds and decisions are increasingly being manipulated, not just with elections. I fear we are surrendering our curiosity, questioning and decision making capacity to machines that increasingly learn how understand us, affect us and direct us. This made me reflect on the imperative for curiosity. Does this seem like a non sequitur? Ok let me expand. Let’s start with Einstein. Einstein said he was not a genius just passionately curiousIn Episode 8 I interviewed Dave Birss. In Dave's - Book How to Get to Great Ideas - Dave cites divergence as a crucial skill and ref­erences Einsteins youthful disruption in class; his failure to shine and divergence from the classroom norm that resulted in the failure and rejection, that in turn enabled him to to continue pursuing his unconventional thinking and thought experiments...without which he would not have developed his theory of relativity.If curiosity is a vital ingredient to invention and discovery I’d adapt the quote we have used many times to this  ‘success is not final, failure is not fatal, its having the curiosity and courage to continue that counts’ And maybe that is why in today’s world many autocratic consider curiosity to be a threat, challenging and disruptive. So this made me think more about disruption. We all strive for disruptive ideas in our industries as we to seek out competitive advantage, yet we discourage, marginalize or penalize the disruptors in our classrooms, schools, and universities, as we attempt to mould the unconventional to follow conventional thinking and suppress creativity. Ken Robinson was so right with his seminal 2006 TED talk. Why is curiosity and creativity more important than ever? Reality check: We live in a world that rewards specialization. As armies of digital specialists expand to fuel and power digital factories and output in a way that mirrors the specialisms of the Industrial Age, and the methods of Frederick Winslow Taylor’s scientific management approach, we need to face the near and present danger that AI and machine learning poses.  As AI encroaches on all industries, we as individuals need to cultivate new skills and knowledge to empower our ability to evolve and develop new creative domain experience and expertise we will need to remain relevant and employable in a world where new abilities, skills and jobs, and maybe never before imagined, will emerge.   Curiosity is our passport stamp to future survival.  We need to reconnect with that wondrous child like curiosity where we seek to learn more and question everything, especially the status quo.As algorithms increasingly influence and determine our decisions, based on recommendations, and as bad actors strive to hack our hearts and feelings, we humans are at risk of becoming the programmable automotoms, slaves to the machines we have built.An algorithmically curated world hinders divergent thinking. We are no longer exploring if we are served up everything. Curiosity must become our innately human act of rebellion against these machine driven and dictated recommender decision engines. Curiosity and non-conformist thinking must become our ultimate, inalienable and final human right. The freedom of thought, to wonder, and discover, through serendipity. The right to question and ask why? Or Why not? To challenge the answers we are given. We need the courage to dare, to desire and delight in being different, to sek out, summon and surround ourselves with those vital sparks that start a cascade of creativity, feed our yearning for learning, and delight in divergence.  So I leave you with this, I call on you all to activate, accentuate and accelerate your innate curiosity, to fuel creativity in yourself, you teams and most importan... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I want to reflect on mental wellness, technology, and sleep.During this first season we didn't set out to explore mental wellness but it became apparent that in the arc of their stories that mental fortitude, resilience, and strength were crucial to the achievements of our guests, even those that had experienced mental health challenges in their lives.Reflecting on these many interviews, intentionality seems to define our guests. Intentionality of how they live their lives and how they live with technology. Whether Ryder Carroll through his Bullet Journal or Debbie Millman’s life design methodology where she writes a projected vision of her perfect day five years in the future, defining their future selves seems to be a common trait. Outside of the Podcast, I did a breakfast interview with Fabrice Grinda, Forbes listed No1 Angel Investor, where he laid out his life planning approach, writing 20000-word letters to himself outlining his future life.  This for me is intentionality. We live in a world where It’s so easy to assume from the polished veneer of our socially connected world that everyone is happy, mentally strong and resilient. Contrast that with the common reality of the distracted lives of those who live in a constant state of what is often called Continuous Partial Attention. I’ll quote from the visionary thinker and thought leader, Linda Stone: ‘In large doses, it contributes to a stressful lifestyle, to operating in crisis management mode, and to a compromised ability to reflect, to make decisions, and to think creatively. In a 24/7, always-on world, continuous partial attention used as our dominant attention mode contributes to a feeling of overwhelm, over-stimulation and to a sense of being unfulfilled. We are so accessible, we’re inaccessible. The latest, greatest powerful technologies have contributed to our feeling increasingly powerless'.Just consider the neurological and neuro-chemical effects this is having a pandemic of global proportions - 320m people globally are suffering from depression and anxiety and that’s just the reported numbers  - 16.1 million American workers are affected by Major Depressive Disorder according to Workplacementalhealth.org - In the US alone the feeling of social isolation is on the rise - 50% of of the population claim to feel ‘alone...disconnected ...that no one really knows us’ - Since 2011 depression rates have risen 60% amongst 12-17-year-old teens and young adults.This is an individual and a collective problem44% of adults say stress has increased in the last five years 56% of employees say stress and anxiety impact their job performance 62% of missed workdays are attributed to Mental Conditions We need to confront this. I think most of us have experienced the negative impact that social media and technology can have on wellbeing.  But we can’t turn back the technology timeline and we need to face emerging challenges of rapidly changing world where our identity and purpose as humans will be challenged by the advances in AI and Machine learning -  - where they can out think us,  - outperform us  - and out reason us…Soon we will have to question more than ever  - who we are - what we want to be - and doSo as technology threatens to erode our humanity, we need to strengthen our collective identity and that starts with us to take action and confront the realities of how we live with technology today. If you are a parent check out CommonSenseMedia.orgIf your a business check out the Center for Humane Technology And I urge everyone to read the important book by Matthew Walker called Why We Sleep. If we are to start anywhere we need to reclaim our right to sleep. As our celebrity trainer guest, Josh Holland stated, fitness and wellness start with sleep.  - The WHO lists lack of societal sleep as a world health epidemic ... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.