Transcriber: Ijae Kim Reviewer: David DeRuwe
Let me paint you a picture.
It's a humid day, and you're walking in a deep, thick forest.
You hear the sounds of millions of particles of water
hitting the surface of a river.
The chirping of the birds is drowned out
by the thunderous spitting of a towering waterfall.
It's beautiful.
You stand there, admiring the constant change that nature sustains.
You might want to put your hand in this stream of water,
but what would that do?
You wouldn't be able to stop the flow.
Because whatever you tried to do, the water would find its path,
streaming around your hand and through your fingers.
Liquid modernity is that constant flow of water.
The sociologist Zygmunt Bauman
originally coined this term to refer to our current world,
where there are constant advancements and changes.
This is different from solid modernity,
which refers to traditions in Europe and North America
in the late 18th and 19th centuries
involving developments in democracy and industry.
Right now, our current world is constantly changing
with new technology at every corner
and new medical discoveries crowding pages and pages of published journals.
Recently, I was asked something
that deeply impacted the way I saw change.
A teacher once asked me,
"What do you want to create in the future?"
He explained, quoting Malcolm Gladwell,
that "successful innovation really depends
on being in the right place at the right time."
But what if we don't know when the right place or the right time is?
It seems like stability has vanished.
The result of these uncertain changes causes a deep fear for the future.
But why are we so afraid?
It's tricky to control things when they're in constant motion.
Have you ever tried to capture steam in your hands?
Let me save you some time.
It's completely impossible.
The gaseous particles in steam are moving at random, with no pause.
Similarly, with liquid modernity, you can watch a stream of events pass by,
but diverting their path is hopeless.
There can never be a standstill.
No pause button.
Even if you take a deep breath to try and slow down the minutes in your day,
liquid modernity speeds them up.
To our brain, the idea of things moving at random
forever and always is a red, blaring alarm.
It's registered as an error in our brain and given the fancy name
"the air of uncertainty."
Neuroscience research, led by Dr. David Rock,
suggests that when our brain registers this error, it tries to correct it.
Our brain wants to be in complete control and take charge.
That's why we're more comfortable
knowing the certain negative outcome of a situation,
than anxiously waiting for the verdict.
Let me simplify.
The neuroscientist Marc Lewis has a great analogy for this theory.
Imagine you're in your car.
You slide your keys in and program the location
for the important meeting you're about to attend.
In one scenario, you get a flat tire
and are certain you are going to miss the meeting.
In the second scenario, you get stuck in terrible afternoon traffic.
According to this theory,
you'll experience more stress in the second scenario
because you are unable to predict the outcome.
Liquid modernity instills fear because we cannot see our future clearly.
We lack the 20/20 vision our brain craves.
So, what do we do?
We seek to resist any change.
But that makes things worse because whatever we resist persists.
A study published by the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
outlines this resisting mindset.
In this study, two groups of people were shown the same painting.
One group was told that the painting was completed in 1905.
The other, in 2005.
The group who was told that the painting was done in 1905
rated the painting much more aesthetically pleasing.
Why was the older painting preferred?
Well, the idea that the painting had been established for longer
gave a sense of comfort to the audience.
These results show that embracing change is definitely not our forte.
But liquid modernity is a change we have to adapt to
because there's nothing we can do that stops the stream of advancements
that are no longer trickling but flooding into our daily lives.
So how can we accept change better?
Don't worry, I wasn't going to leave you wondering.
We have to take a moment and realize that we can't control everything.
Especially not uncertainty.
We have to acknowledge what is going on in our minds.
Maybe that's where we can find a solution to stop resisting uncertainty.
This is crucial, especially with the rise of liquid modernity.
Of course, this is easier said than done,
but it's so important to encourage people to realize that change surrounds us
and there's no time machine to reverse this.
Although it may seem as if we're being swept away
by the currents of liquid modernity,
we do have an alternative.
Even multiple.
Innovate. Adapt.
The only way to stay afloat in a world of trickling creativity
is to become a source.
Or let it stream through your fingers.
Instead of being directed, it's possible to be disruptive
or simply present in the moment.
This fear that liquid modernity has created can be avoided
if we accept uncertainty.
Maybe we don't need to see our future with perfect 20/20 vision
as long we are focused on living in the now and accepting change.
Thank you.
(Applause)