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Good morning.

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When I was a little boy,

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I had an experience that changed my life,

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and is in fact why I'm here today.

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That one moment, one moment,

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profoundly affected how I think about

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art, design, and engineering.

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As background, I was fortunate enough to grow up

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in a family of lovely and talented artists

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in one of the world's great cities.

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My dad, John Ferren, who died when I was 15,

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was an artist by both passion and profession,

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as is my mom, Rae.

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He was one of the New York school

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abstract expressionists who,

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together with his contemporaries,

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invented American modern art,

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and contributed to moving the American zeitgeist

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towards modernism in the 20th century.

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Isn't it remarkable that, after thousands of years

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of people doing mostly representational art,

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that modern art, comparatively speaking,

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is about 15 minutes old,

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yet now pervasive.

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As with many other important innovations,

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those radical ideas required no new technology,

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just fresh thinking and a willingness to experiment,

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plus resiliency in the face of near-universal criticism

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and rejection.

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In our home, art was everywhere.

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It was like oxygen,

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around us and necessary for life.

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As I watched him paint,

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dad taught me that art

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was not about being decorative,

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but it was a different way of communicating ideas,

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and in fact one that could bridge the worlds

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of knowledge and insight.

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Given this rich artistic environment,

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you'd assume that I would have been compelled

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to go into the family business,

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but no.

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I followed the path of most kids

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who are genetically programmed

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to make their parents crazy.

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I had no interest in becoming an artist,

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certainly not a painter.

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What I did love was electronics and machines,

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taking them apart, building new ones,

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and making them work.

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Fortunately, my family also had engineers in it,

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and with my parents,

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these were my first role models.

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What they all had in common

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was they worked very, very hard.

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My grandpa owned and operated a sheet metal

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kitchen cabinet factory in Brooklyn.

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On weekends, we would go
together to Cortland Street

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which was New York City's radio row.

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There we would explore massive piles

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of surplus electronics,

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and for a few bucks bring home treasures

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like Norton bombsights

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and parts from the first IBM tube-based computers.

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I found these objects both useful and fascinating.

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I learned about engineering and how things worked

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not at school

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but by taking apart and studying

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these fabulously complex devices.

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I did this for hours every day,

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apparently avoiding electrocution.

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Life was good.

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However, every summer, sadly,

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the machines got left behind

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while my parents and I traveled overseas

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to experience history, art, and design.

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We visited the great museums and historic buildings

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of both Europe and the Middle East,

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but to encourage my growing interest

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in science and technology,

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they would simply drop me off in places

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like the London Science Museum,

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where I would wander endlessly for hours by myself

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studying the history of science and technology.

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Then, when I was about nine years old,

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we went to Rome.

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On one particularly hot summer day,

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we visited a drum-shaped
building that from the outside

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was not particularly interesting.

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My dad said it was called the Pantheon,

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a temple for all of the gods.

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It didn't look all that special from the outside,

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as I said, but when we walked inside,

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I was immediately struck by three things.

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First of all, it was pleasantly cool

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despite the oppressive heat outside.

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It was very dark, the only source of light

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being an big open hole in the roof.

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Dad explained that this wasn't a big open hole,

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but it was called the Oculus,

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an eye to the heavens.

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And there was something about this place,

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I didn't know why, that just felt special.

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As we walked to the center of the room,

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I looked up at the heavens through the Oculus.

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This was the first church that I'd been to

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that provided an unrestricted view

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between God and man.

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But I wondered, what about when it rained?

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Dad may have called this an Oculus,

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but it was in fact a big hole in the roof.

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I looked down and saw floor drains

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had been cut into the stone floor.

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As I became more accustomed to the dark,

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I was able to make out details of the floor

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and the surrounding walls.

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No big deal, just the same statuary stuff

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that we'd seen all over Rome.

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In fact, it looked like the Appian Way

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of marble salesman showed up

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with his sample book, showed it to Hadrian,

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and Hadrian said, "We'll take all of it."

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(Laughter)

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But the ceiling was amazing.

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It looked like a Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome.

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I'd seen these before,

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and Bucky was friends with my dad.

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It was modern, high-tech, impressive,

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a huge 142-foot clear span

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which not coincidentally was its exact height.

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I loved this place.

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It was really beautiful and unlike
anything I'd ever seen before,

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so I asked my dad, "When was this built?"

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He said, "About 2,000 years ago."

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And I said, "No, I mean, the roof."

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You see, I assumed that this was a modern roof

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that had been put on because the original

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was destroyed in some long-past war.

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He said, "It's the original roof."

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That moment changed my life,

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and I can remember it as if it were yesterday.

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For the first time, I realized people were smart

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2,000 years ago. (Laughter)

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This has never crossed my mind.

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I mean, to me, you know, the pyramids at Giza,

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we visited those the year before,

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and sure they're impressive, nice enough design,

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but look, give me an unlimited budget,

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20 to 40,000 laborers, and about 10 to 20 years

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to cut and drag stone blocks across the countryside,

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and I'll build you pyramids too.

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But no amount of brute force

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gets you the dome of the Pantheon,

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not 2,000 years ago, nor today.

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And incidentally, it is still the largest

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unreinforced concrete dome that's ever been built.

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To build the Pantheon took some miracles.

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By miracles, I mean things that are

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technically barely possible,

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very high risk, and might not be

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actually accomplishable at this moment in time,

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certainly not by you.

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For example, here are some
of the Pantheon's miracles.

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To make it even structurally possible,

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they had to invent super-strong concrete,

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and to control weight,

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varied the density of the aggregate

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as they worked their way up the dome.

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For strength and lightness, the dome structure

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used five rings of coffers,

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each of diminishing size,

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which imparts a dramatic forced perspective

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to the design.

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It was wonderfully cool inside

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because of its huge thermal mass,

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natural convection of air rising up

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through the Oculus,

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and a Venturi effect when wind blows across

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the top of the building.

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I discovered for the first time that light itself

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has substance.

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The shaft of light beaming through the Oculus

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was both beautiful and palpable,

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and I realized for the first time

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that light could be designed,

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further, that of all of the forms of design,

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visual design,

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they were all kind of irrelevant without it,

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because without light, you can't see any of them.

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I also realized that I wasn't the first person

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to think that this place was really special.

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It survived gravity, barbarians, looters, developers,

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and the ravages of time to become

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what I believe is the longest

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continuously occupied building in history.

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Largely because of that visit,

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I came to understand that,

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contrary to what I was being told in school,

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the worlds of art and design

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were not in fact incompatible

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with science and engineering.

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I realized, when combined,

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you could create things that were amazing

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that couldn't be done in either domain alone.

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But in school, with few exceptions,

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they were treated as separate worlds,

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and they still are.

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My teachers told me that I had to get serious

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and focus on one or the other.

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However, urging me to specialize

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only caused me to really appreciate those polymaths

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like Michaelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci,

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Benjamin Franklin,

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people who did exactly the opposite.

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And this led me to embrace

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and want to be in both worlds.

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So then how do these projects of unprecedented creative vision and technical complexity

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like the Pantheon actually happen?

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Someone themselves, perhaps Hadrian,

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needed a brilliant creative vision.

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They also needed the storytelling
and leadership skills

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necessary to fund and execute it,

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and a mastery of science and technology

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with the ability and knowhow

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to push existing innovations even farther.

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It is my belief that to create
these rare game changers

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requires you to pull off at least five miracles.

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The problem is, no matter how talented,

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rich, or smart you are,

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you only get one to one and a half miracles.

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That's it. That's the quota.

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Then you run out of time, money, enthusiasm,

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whatever.

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Remember, most people can't even imagine

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one of these technical miracles,

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and you need at least five to make a Pantheon.

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In my experience, these rare visionaries

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who can think across the worlds of art,

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design, and engineering,

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have the ability to notice

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when others have provided enough of the miracles

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to bring the goal within reach.

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Driven by the clarity of their vision,

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they summon the courage and determination

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to deliver the remaining miracles

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and they often take what other people think to be

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insurmountable obstacles

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and turn them into features.

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Take the Oculus of the Pantheon.

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By insisting that it be in the design,

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it meant you couldn't use much
of the structural technology

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that had been developed for Roman arches.

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However, by instead embracing it

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and rethinking weight and stress distribution,

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they came up with a design that only works

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if there's a big hole in the roof.

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That done, you now get the aesthetic

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and design benefits of light cooling

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and that critical direct connection with the heavens.

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Not bad.

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These people not only believed

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that the impossible can be done,

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but that it must be done.

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Enough ancient history.

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What are some recent examples of innovations

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that combine creative design

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and technological advances in a way so profound

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that they will be remembered

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a thousand years from now?

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Well, putting a man on the moon was a good one,

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and returning him safely to earth wasn't bad either.

272
00:11:36,866 --> 00:11:39,235
Talk about one giant leap:

273
00:11:39,235 --> 00:11:41,530
it's hard to imagine a more profound moment

274
00:11:41,530 --> 00:11:43,165
in human history

275
00:11:43,165 --> 00:11:44,938
than when we first left our world

276
00:11:44,938 --> 00:11:46,922
to set foot on another.

277
00:11:46,922 --> 00:11:48,988
So what came after the moon?

278
00:11:48,988 --> 00:11:52,092
One is tempted to say that today's pantheon

279
00:11:52,092 --> 00:11:53,842
is the internet,

280
00:11:53,842 --> 00:11:56,234
but I actually think that's quite wrong,

281
00:11:56,234 --> 00:11:58,474
or at least it's only part of the story.

282
00:11:58,474 --> 00:12:01,513
The internet isn't a Pantheon.

283
00:12:01,513 --> 00:12:04,242
It's more like the invention on concrete:

284
00:12:04,242 --> 00:12:06,740
important, absolutely necessary

285
00:12:06,740 --> 00:12:08,349
to build the Pantheon,

286
00:12:08,349 --> 00:12:09,690
and enduring,

287
00:12:09,690 --> 00:12:12,666
but entirely insufficient by itself.

288
00:12:12,666 --> 00:12:15,306
However, just as the technology of concrete

289
00:12:15,306 --> 00:12:19,277
was critical in realization of the Pantheon,

290
00:12:19,277 --> 00:12:22,430
new designers will use the
technologies of the internet

291
00:12:22,430 --> 00:12:25,690
to create novel concepts that will endure.

292
00:12:25,690 --> 00:12:27,702
Smart phone is a perfect example.

293
00:12:27,702 --> 00:12:29,525
Soon the majority of people on the planet

294
00:12:29,525 --> 00:12:30,781
will have one,

295
00:12:30,781 --> 00:12:32,966
and the idea of connecting everyone

296
00:12:32,966 --> 00:12:36,616
to both knowledge and each other will endure.

297
00:12:36,616 --> 00:12:38,054
So what's next?

298
00:12:38,054 --> 00:12:40,838
What imminent advance will be
the equivalent of the Pantheon?

299
00:12:40,838 --> 00:12:42,488
Thinking about this,

300
00:12:42,488 --> 00:12:45,022
I rejected many very plausible

301
00:12:45,022 --> 00:12:46,962
and dramatic breakthroughs to come,

302
00:12:46,962 --> 00:12:48,918
such as curing cancer.

303
00:12:48,918 --> 00:12:52,271
Why? Because Pantheons are anchored

304
00:12:52,271 --> 00:12:55,206
in designed physical objects,

305
00:12:55,206 --> 00:12:57,344
ones that inspire by simply seeing

306
00:12:57,344 --> 00:12:59,081
and experiencing them,

307
00:12:59,081 --> 00:13:02,277
and will continue to do so indefinitely.

308
00:13:02,277 --> 00:13:06,511
It is a different kind of language, like art.

309
00:13:06,511 --> 00:13:09,236
These other vital contributions that extend life

310
00:13:09,236 --> 00:13:11,899
and relieve suffering are, of course, critical,

311
00:13:11,899 --> 00:13:13,848
and fantastic,

312
00:13:13,848 --> 00:13:15,656
but they're part of the continuum of

313
00:13:15,656 --> 00:13:17,968
our overall knowledge and technology,

314
00:13:17,968 --> 00:13:20,584
like the internet.

315
00:13:20,584 --> 00:13:22,928
So what is next?

316
00:13:22,928 --> 00:13:24,632
Perhaps counterintuitively,

317
00:13:24,632 --> 00:13:26,760
I'm guessing it's a visionary idea

318
00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:28,568
from the late 1930s

319
00:13:28,568 --> 00:13:31,788
that's been revived every decade since:

320
00:13:31,788 --> 00:13:33,848
autonomous vehicles.

321
00:13:33,848 --> 00:13:35,710
Now you're thinking, give me a break?

322
00:13:35,710 --> 00:13:38,306
How can a fancy version of cruise control

323
00:13:38,306 --> 00:13:40,791
be profound?

324
00:13:40,791 --> 00:13:43,160
Look, much of our world

325
00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:46,488
has been designed around roads and transportation.

326
00:13:46,488 --> 00:13:48,271
These were as essential to the success

327
00:13:48,271 --> 00:13:49,800
of the Roman Empire

328
00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:51,831
as the interstate highway system

329
00:13:51,831 --> 00:13:53,640
to the prosperity and development

330
00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:55,528
of the United States.

331
00:13:55,528 --> 00:13:58,546
Today, these roads that interconnect our world

332
00:13:58,546 --> 00:14:00,952
are dominated by cars and trucks

333
00:14:00,952 --> 00:14:03,175
that have remained largely unchanged

334
00:14:03,175 --> 00:14:05,096
for a hundred years.

335
00:14:05,096 --> 00:14:08,527
Although perhaps not obvious today,

336
00:14:08,527 --> 00:14:13,265
autonomous vehicles will be the key technology

337
00:14:13,265 --> 00:14:16,273
that enables us to redesign our cities

338
00:14:16,273 --> 00:14:18,521
and, by extension, civilization.

339
00:14:18,521 --> 00:14:20,169
Here's why:

340
00:14:20,169 --> 00:14:21,968
once they become ubiquitous,

341
00:14:21,968 --> 00:14:24,305
each year, these vehicles will save

342
00:14:24,305 --> 00:14:27,521
tens of thousands of lives in the United States alone

343
00:14:27,521 --> 00:14:30,433
and a million globally.

344
00:14:30,433 --> 00:14:33,209
Automotive energy consumption and air pollution

345
00:14:33,209 --> 00:14:35,889
will be cut dramatically.

346
00:14:35,889 --> 00:14:37,633
Much of the road congestion

347
00:14:37,633 --> 00:14:41,104
in and out of our cities will disappear.

348
00:14:41,104 --> 00:14:43,777
They will enable compelling new concepts

349
00:14:43,777 --> 00:14:46,429
in how we design cities, work,

350
00:14:46,429 --> 00:14:48,305
and the way we live.

351
00:14:48,305 --> 00:14:50,882
We will get where we're going faster

352
00:14:50,882 --> 00:14:53,726
and society will recapture vast amounts

353
00:14:53,726 --> 00:14:55,494
of lost productivity

354
00:14:55,494 --> 00:14:58,566
now spent sitting in traffic basically polluting.

355
00:14:58,566 --> 00:15:02,070
But why now? Why do we think this is ready?

356
00:15:02,070 --> 00:15:04,110
Because over the last 30 years,

357
00:15:04,110 --> 00:15:06,142
people from outside the automotive industry

358
00:15:06,142 --> 00:15:08,235
have spent countless billions

359
00:15:08,235 --> 00:15:10,094
creating the needed miracles,

360
00:15:10,094 --> 00:15:12,718
but for entirely different purposes.

361
00:15:12,718 --> 00:15:15,470
It took folks like DARPA, universities,

362
00:15:15,470 --> 00:15:18,326
and companies completely
outside of the automotive industry

363
00:15:18,326 --> 00:15:20,950
to notice that if you were clever about it,

364
00:15:20,950 --> 00:15:23,588
autonomy could be done now.

365
00:15:23,588 --> 00:15:26,694
So what are the five miracles
needed for autonomous vehicles?

366
00:15:26,694 --> 00:15:28,446
One, you need to know

367
00:15:28,446 --> 00:15:31,486
where you are and exactly what time it is.

368
00:15:31,486 --> 00:15:33,894
This was solved neatly by the GPS system,

369
00:15:33,894 --> 00:15:35,438
Global Positioning System,

370
00:15:35,438 --> 00:15:37,734
that the U.S. Government put in place.

371
00:15:37,734 --> 00:15:39,934
You need to know where all the roads are,

372
00:15:39,934 --> 00:15:43,190
what the rules are, and where you're going.

373
00:15:43,190 --> 00:15:45,727
The various needs of personal navigation systems,

374
00:15:45,727 --> 00:15:47,714
in car navigation systems,

375
00:15:47,714 --> 00:15:50,254
and web based maps address this.

376
00:15:50,254 --> 00:15:53,025
You must have near-continuous communication

377
00:15:53,025 --> 00:15:55,096
with high-performance computing networks

378
00:15:55,096 --> 00:15:56,844
and with others nearby

379
00:15:56,844 --> 00:15:59,190
to understand their intent.

380
00:15:59,190 --> 00:16:03,176
The wireless technologies
developed for mobile devices,

381
00:16:03,176 --> 00:16:04,952
with some minor modifications,

382
00:16:04,952 --> 00:16:07,496
are completely suitable to solve this.

383
00:16:07,496 --> 00:16:10,339
You'll probably want some restricted roadways

384
00:16:10,339 --> 00:16:11,930
to get started

385
00:16:11,930 --> 00:16:13,992
that both society and its lawyers

386
00:16:13,992 --> 00:16:16,048
agree are safe to use for this.

387
00:16:16,048 --> 00:16:17,744
This will start with the HOV lanes

388
00:16:17,744 --> 00:16:19,617
and move from there.

389
00:16:19,617 --> 00:16:22,320
But finally, you need to recognize

390
00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:24,624
people, signs, and objects.

391
00:16:24,624 --> 00:16:27,554
Machine vision, special sensors,
and high performance computing

392
00:16:27,554 --> 00:16:29,296
can do a lot of this,

393
00:16:29,296 --> 00:16:31,408
but it turns out a lot is not good enough

394
00:16:31,408 --> 00:16:33,640
when your family is on board.

395
00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:37,208
Occasionally, humans will need to do sense-making.

396
00:16:37,208 --> 00:16:40,560
For this, you might actually have to wake up

397
00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:42,900
your passenger and ask them what the hell

398
00:16:42,900 --> 00:16:45,887
that big lump is in the middle of the road.

399
00:16:45,887 --> 00:16:47,740
Not so bad, and it will give us a sense of purpose

400
00:16:47,740 --> 00:16:49,884
in this new world.

401
00:16:49,884 --> 00:16:52,717
Besides, once the first drivers explain

402
00:16:52,717 --> 00:16:54,092
to their confused car

403
00:16:54,092 --> 00:16:56,140
that the giant chicken at the fork in the road

404
00:16:56,140 --> 00:16:58,206
is actually a restaurant,

405
00:16:58,206 --> 00:17:00,264
and it's okay to keep driving,

406
00:17:00,264 --> 00:17:03,777
every other car on the surface of the earth

407
00:17:03,777 --> 00:17:06,836
will know that from that point on.

408
00:17:06,836 --> 00:17:08,900
Five miracles, mostly delivered,

409
00:17:08,900 --> 00:17:11,100
and now you just need a clear vision

410
00:17:11,100 --> 00:17:13,860
of a better world filled with autonomous vehicles

411
00:17:13,860 --> 00:17:17,092
with seductively beautiful and new functional designs

412
00:17:17,092 --> 00:17:19,789
plus a lot of money and hard work

413
00:17:19,789 --> 00:17:21,601
to bring it home.

414
00:17:21,601 --> 00:17:24,468
The beginning is now only a handful of years away,

415
00:17:24,468 --> 00:17:26,260
and I predict that autonomous vehicles

416
00:17:26,260 --> 00:17:28,408
will permanently change our world

417
00:17:28,408 --> 00:17:31,916
over the next several decades.

418
00:17:31,916 --> 00:17:35,228
In conclusion, I've come to believe

419
00:17:35,228 --> 00:17:37,436
that the ingredients for the next Pantheons

420
00:17:37,436 --> 00:17:38,868
are all around us,

421
00:17:38,868 --> 00:17:41,102
just waiting for visionary people

422
00:17:41,102 --> 00:17:43,236
with the broad knowledge,

423
00:17:43,236 --> 00:17:45,004
multidisciplinary skills,

424
00:17:45,004 --> 00:17:46,700
and intense passion

425
00:17:46,700 --> 00:17:51,247
to harness them to make their dreams a reality.

426
00:17:51,247 --> 00:17:53,665
But these people don't spontaneously

427
00:17:53,665 --> 00:17:55,391
pop into existence.

428
00:17:55,391 --> 00:17:57,151
They need to be nurtured and encouraged

429
00:17:57,151 --> 00:17:58,976
from when they're little kids.

430
00:17:58,976 --> 00:18:00,714
We need to love them and help them

431
00:18:00,714 --> 00:18:02,432
discover their passions.

432
00:18:02,432 --> 00:18:04,599
We need to encourage them to work hard

433
00:18:04,599 --> 00:18:07,144
and help them understand that failure

434
00:18:07,144 --> 00:18:09,907
is a necessary ingredient for success,

435
00:18:09,907 --> 00:18:12,104
as is perseverance.

436
00:18:12,104 --> 00:18:15,248
We need to help them to find their own role models,

437
00:18:15,248 --> 00:18:17,720
and give them the confidence
to believe in themselves

438
00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:20,712
and to believe that anything is possible,

439
00:18:20,712 --> 00:18:24,206
and just as my grandpa did when
he took me shopping for surplus

440
00:18:24,206 --> 00:18:25,912
and just as my parents did

441
00:18:25,912 --> 00:18:27,780
when they took me to science museums,

442
00:18:27,780 --> 00:18:31,008
we need to encourage them to find their own path,

443
00:18:31,008 --> 00:18:33,765
even if it's very different from our own.

444
00:18:33,765 --> 00:18:35,388
But a cautionary note:

445
00:18:35,388 --> 00:18:37,729
we also need to periodically pry them away

446
00:18:37,729 --> 00:18:39,214
from their modern miracles,

447
00:18:39,214 --> 00:18:41,097
the computers, phones, tablets,

448
00:18:41,097 --> 00:18:42,856
game machines, and TVs,

449
00:18:42,856 --> 00:18:44,808
take them out into the sunlight

450
00:18:44,808 --> 00:18:47,321
so they can experience both the natural

451
00:18:47,321 --> 00:18:50,048
and design wonders of our world,

452
00:18:50,048 --> 00:18:52,352
our planet and our civilization.

453
00:18:52,352 --> 00:18:54,880
If we don't, they won't understand

454
00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:57,192
what these precious things are

455
00:18:57,192 --> 00:18:59,864
that someday they will be resopnsible

456
00:18:59,864 --> 00:19:01,992
for protecting and improving.

457
00:19:01,992 --> 00:19:03,789
We also need to them to understand

458
00:19:03,789 --> 00:19:06,312
something that doesn't seem adequately appreciated

459
00:19:06,312 --> 00:19:09,144
in our increasingly tech-dependent world,

460
00:19:09,144 --> 00:19:10,856
that art and design

461
00:19:10,856 --> 00:19:12,785
are not luxuries,

462
00:19:12,785 --> 00:19:14,626
nor somehow incompatible

463
00:19:14,626 --> 00:19:16,464
with science and engineering.

464
00:19:16,464 --> 00:19:21,502
They are in fact essential to what makes us special.

465
00:19:21,502 --> 00:19:24,462
Someday, if you get the chance,

466
00:19:24,462 --> 00:19:26,202
perhaps you can take your kids

467
00:19:26,202 --> 00:19:27,939
to the actual Pantheon,

468
00:19:27,939 --> 00:19:30,507
as we will our daughter Kyra,

469
00:19:30,507 --> 00:19:32,523
to experience firsthand

470
00:19:32,523 --> 00:19:36,919
the power of that astonishing design,

471
00:19:36,919 --> 00:19:40,571
which on one otherwise unremarkable day in Rome

472
00:19:40,571 --> 00:19:43,536
reached 2,000 years into the future

473
00:19:43,536 --> 00:19:46,024
to set the course for my life.

474
00:19:46,024 --> 00:19:48,448
Thank you.

475
00:19:48,448 --> 00:19:52,448
(Applause)