WEBVTT

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In 2013, riding the wave
of Google Flu Trends,

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our research group found

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that Google search queries from Thailand
could actually be predictive

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of the number of cases
of malaria in Thailand.

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But what would happen
when we looked a little bit closer

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is we found that some of the key queries

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that were matching what happened
in terms of the number of cases,

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actually had to do with
microscopes and not malaria.

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People were searching about
the function of a microscope

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or about different components
of a microscope.

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So what is the moral of this story?

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Well, more data can be good,
predictive, real-time,

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but if we actually want
to understand what's happening,

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we have to look a little closer.

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In this case, we had
laboratory technicians

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who were using microscopes

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to actually diagnose malaria
from blood smears

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or the ones who are doing
a lot of the googling

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and when there are more cases of malaria,

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we saw more Google searches
about microscopes.

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Is this something that's only relevant

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to the world of global public health,
or research, and academia?

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Actually no.

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This concept is affecting us,
each one of us, every day.

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That's because we're
in this new knowledge society.

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So what does the knowledge
society even mean?

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We can look to technical definitions
which talk about

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when an economy is more driven
by knowledge than previously

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such as things by agriculture
or other industries.

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But actually, each one of us is facing
this giant change on everyday basis.

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This is what we're seeing:
social media posts from our friends,

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2477 breaking news on the television,

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emails from our mom
about bananas that can cure cancer,

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rankings about where we should potentially
send our children to school,

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TEDx talks from all around the world.

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So how do we manage to use
all of this information

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we're being bombarded with?

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How do we make our journey
through the knowledge society?

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How do we turn data
into information, into knowledge?

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Previously, this was
a lot more straightforward

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when we had a more
hierarchical system of things;

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for example, if I wanted
to look up something,

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there was one encyclopedia I could go to;

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if I wanted to ask
a health related question,

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I would just wait
and talk to my doctor or nurse.

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But now, if I want to look up something,
I can go to Wikipedia, I can go to Google;

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if I have a health-related question,

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you or I can just,
right at home, access WebMD

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and learn about common symptoms
and treatments for different conditions.

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We actually made use of this
real-time and accessible features

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of the new knowledge society

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through our project "Go Viral"

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in which we were able to get
a more comprehensive sense

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of what's happening in terms
of disease in the community,

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so by connecting individuals
through Internet and their mobile tools,

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we can actually understand who is sick
and also what types of viruses they have

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rather than just waiting for information
from doctors offices and hospitals,

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which might generally capture
only the most severe cases

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and those who are able to access
these in healthcare institutions.

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But alongside all of these benefits,
of course, there are challenges.

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It's a two-sided coin, like many things.

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While we have real-time,
geo-location. high-resolution.

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The ability to capture
our daily footprints,

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we now also have challenges of privacy.

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Here we have access to diverse opinions,

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but that can also lead to what some dubbed
"the post-facts society,"

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where we have a lot of opinions
going around with no evidence.

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We can also have
major gaps in our knowledge

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by only being centered on certain sources.

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But this is not a new problem.

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Scientists have been looking
at and assessing information

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for centuries, if not longer,

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so there are a few themes
that we might be able to learn

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from how they accomplish this

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then we can incorporate
into our daily lives.

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One of them is critical thinking,
assessing content and being critical of it

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instead of getting satisfied

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with just a superficial snapshot
or a bit of information.

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Another is references and sources -

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actually looking at why something
is being said, from every source,

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instead of just accepting
or dismissing content

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based on the name or words from.

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Finally, data and research -

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looking towards evidence
for what is being said

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instead of simply accepting every opinion.

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These are all great things in theory,

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but it's not an easy problem.

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There's not a list of five websites
we can always go to

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and numbers and types of information
are always growing.

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How do we translate this into
our daily lives; some of this theory?

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One approach is that we can assess
what our values are

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and then let that guide what we do
and keep us centered

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just like these whirling dervishes
have to keep centered on something

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in order to keep going around.

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So for example, this can take
a lot of different approaches.

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One: do we really want
to accept diverse opinions?

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If so, do we assess what we have

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and actively search out information
that we might be missing?

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What do we want to do
with all this information?

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Do we want to achieve
monetary gain and sell things,

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or do we also want to be open
to helping people or other outcomes?

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Finally, do we want to take responsibility

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for what we share as part
of the knowledge society

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and take that time
to look through content

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that we're actually sourcing

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instead of just passing the buck
and hitting 'Send' on the next email.

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So this is not a TEDx talk
with all the answers.

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It's not sexy, I don't have
three lessons, lifelong lessons for you.

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But hopefully, we showed
how you and I are actually part

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of this knowledge society
every minute of every day.

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We're the ones that make it up.

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This talk will hopefully inspire you

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to think about how you want
to make that journey.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)