If Mandela Had Tweeted - Jonathan MacDonald at TEDxYouth@Manchester

Jonathan MacDonald, co-founder of This Fluid World and a marketing strategist wonders if the availability of mobile technology would have made a difference to people who changed the world and asks if what's in your heart matters more than what's in your hand.

Thank you very much.

13 months ago my son's classmate,
Robyn Higgins,

was diagnosed with something
called Neuroblastoma,

which is a rare form
of aggressive childhood cancer.

And all my son could think of was,
how can my dad and mum help her?

So, we rallied together and we created
a little blog, we created a Facebook group.

I know Facebook is popular here.

And we tweeted about things,
and the problem was that we had

to raise 300,000 pounds within about 8 weeks
so that Robyn could fly to America,

which is the only place
where she could actually be treated.

As the person in charge of --
well, self volunteered in charge of

trying to coordinate the diligent efforts
here and rallying support.

I just did what I'd normally do and collaborated
with as many people as possible,

and it got about 10,000 people involved, actually.

So I was just one small cog
of a very large wheel.

And a few months ago, Robyn had
her tests back from the operation.

We did raise the 300,000 pounds
and she's now all clear.

And she is gonna live.

(Applause)

And that was when
this presentation started in my head.

Because I'm a geek,
I don't know if you can tell.

I'm a nerd.
I'm geek and I'm proud.

I even have glasses as well
because apparently all geeks

have to wear glasses
it's some strange stereotype.

So as a technologist,
which I prefer the term of,

I have been looking back
at what happened and thinking,

"Was this only possible, raising a third
of a million pounds, by and large,

was it possible
because of technology?"

You know, we were able to tweet information
that was retweeted and retweeted

and retweeted to such an extend
that even the BBC picked it up.

It was on the home page
of the BBC, the Evening Standard,

it went worldwide,
because of technology.

So it got me thinking,
what else is possible if we can do this?

We raised 300,000 pounds
in 8 weeks, 9 weeks,

using the tools
that we have in our hands.

Surely we can do
so much more than just that.

And to cut a short story long, I eventually ended up
with these ridiculous philosophical questions

such as "What about if
Mandela had tweeted?"

And that's how we get
to where we are today.

It's not to do with Twitter
that I'm fascinated with.

It's not necessarily to do
with Nelson Mandela,

who I have a private passion for,
but that's not really the point.

The point is
if the people

who have changed the world
and had a massive difference,

actually had the tools
and technologies in their hands

that we do today,
what else could have had taken place?

You know, some people who've changed the world
for millions of people rather than just for one person.

Of course through the eyes of Robyn,
her world has fundamentally changed.

She had a life or death,
and she has a life.

Which is as much of a change of world
as anyone could possibly have.

So, then I started thinking
"Well what about if da Vinci had Photoshop?"

(Laughter)

Bear with me.

It's just starting to wonder how the tools
that we have now, so readily available,

would actually impact the people
that have made fundamental difference.

What about if Einstein had Google?

What would that mean? How would that
actually have changed the work that he did?

What if Ernesto "Che" Guevara
had had mobile?

All he had was 'Radio Rebelde', Radio Rebel.

What about if all of his troops in his guerrilla war
that took down Batista with Fidel Castro,

had actually been armed

with weapons of mass communication
rather than mass destruction?

And believe me, the more
you start thinking about this,

the more you get caught up
in this kind of thing,

it's produced many sleepness nights
as anyone who knows me will tell.

But maybe it's actually the fact
that the Vitruvian man

is geometrically perfect anyway,

so therefore, it doesn't matter
that da Vinci didn't have Photoshop.

It's arguable E=mc^2
is actually the ultimate answer,

therefore, what would Google
have done for him?

Computers are only as good as the data
that we put into them after all.

And finally, with someone
like "Che" Guevara, who knows?

All we can go is as far as who cares
but there's a limited amount of time

that you think about these things
until you brain starts hurting.

Well, in my case anyway,
because it's not much to hurt.

But it's something
which I've been amazed by

when you start thinking
about the tools

that we have today,
what can we actually do.

So to answer this question, is it the tools?
Is it what's in our hands?

Or is it what's in our hearts
that actually makes those differences?

With Robyn Higgins,
the tools for sure helped.

But looking at the seven characteristics
of the people that changed the world,

and by the way, the more you read up about people
who've changed the world and how,

there's writing all over the place,
you can find 11 characteristics, 20 characteristics.

You've got Covey's "7 Habits
Of Highly Effective People",

there's lots of writing, etc.

But actually the ones that I have found
the most resonant, is that, sometimes,

to change the world,
you just have to be genius.

That's quite handy.

I wouldn't know of course.

The second one is the absolute conviction
of belief as shown by MLK [Martin Luther King Jr.]

The third, shown by someone
like Tim Berners-Lee.

The imagination of seeing something
that any sane person

would've found absolutely improbable
or arguably impossible.

The passion of the Wright brothers.

The Wright brothers
who were in competition

with a certain gentleman
from the Smithsonian Institute

to be the first people
to have a flying machine.

He was funded --
the guy from the Smithsonian Institute,

was funded with grants from Kings and Princes
and he very much wanted to win.

He very much wanted
to be the first person.

The Wright brothers who actually,
eventually, became the first,

the day afterwards the guy
from the Smithsonian cancelled his project.

You'd think why would he cancel his project?

The thing was that he didn't want to fly,
he wanted to win.

The Wright brothers wanted to fly.

The persistence of someone like Churchill.
Especially on this day of awe.

And for those watching us on video
this is Remembrance Day, hence the poppies.

The compassion of someone like Ghandi.

How many tools did he have?
How many Facebook accounts,

How many Facebook likes did he receive?

So when I start looking at these things,
I start thinking to myself,

"Hold on a minute, these guys
didn't have any tools."

They had an old radio station here and there,
and a chalk board and some chalk.

And finally I have my 7 anyway,
with no disrespect to Neal and Buzz,

the first people we've ever put on the moon.

This guy here, the stones of someone
like Yuri Gagarin, the first man into space.

Of course, landing on the moon
was when all the awards were handed out.

But the bravery that's needed to act
in these ways of changing the world,

is something which isn't related in any way,
to necessarily using the modern tools of technologies.

So looking at what we have today,
these tools, are they actually irrelevant?

We look at something
like Barack Obama's first campaign,

not reflecting his most recent results,
but the initial campaign,

that got him into the White House,

is an arguably way
of using modern technology

to connect multiple hearts,
his case across the middle America.

People who have never necessarily felt represented
before, using common tools and technologies

for donations
and for news bulletins, etc.,

for urging people on
to go and actually vote.

So in this instance here,
the tools really did help.

The tools also can increase the speed of emotion
with the Haiti earthquake appeal.

Ushahidi.com is a site
where people can pledge support.

And it's very sad to hear
the most recent events in Haiti,

but Ushahidi's efforts,
or their tools, their technologies

that actually sped up the ability for people
to emote and support is unarguable.

The tools helped that unendingly.

And finally, the magnification of feeling.

Like we see from how the world's AIDS day,

is actually able to use the emotions,
not just as a physical manifestation as the bow,

but also throughout the tools,
platforms and channels,

the Facebooks, the Twitters.

This is something which is magnifying
the feeling, not just from the transmitter,

i.e. the World's AIDS day
and the Foundation,

but the receptors as well.
Which is us.

Who then become transmitters
onto other receptors

who become more transmitters
onto other receptors.

So the technologies
aren't so vitally important.

But from the 7 characteristics
that I showed, not one of them

was called Facebook or Google.

So I went round,
and round and round

and I spoke with lots of people about it
and got myself in a bit of a pickle.

And eventually you end up back with the question,
"So what if Mandela had tweeted?"

What if he was able
to smuggle a phone into his cell?

And somehow mobilize his group?

What if that had happened?

Would it be the case that
he had been released earlier

because of the pressure from the crowds?

If you look into how the Berlin Wall fell,
it started with one person protesting.

The tipping point with that
was actually

when there were more people protesting
than it was possibly able to police.

It's the power of citizens,
[it] is immense if mobilized.

Maybe what would've happened with Mandela
is that the messaging from inside his cell,

which could only really be transported
by writings, at much later days

would actually have changed
the minds of people

around the world
to stop apartheid much earlier.

So the question, is it more to do
with what's in our hands

or is it more to do
with what's in our hearts?

How important is what is in our hands in relation
to the importance to what's in our hearts?

And this has confused
the hell out of me for a year.

And I think I have the answer
and it's a really simple one.

And I think the answer is this

it doesn't really matter what's in your hands
unless it's in your heart.

I don't believe that you can use the tools
in the most effective powerful way,

unless it's in your heart.

The people that submitted fundraising ideas
on the RobynHiggins.com website,

were offering to give away
their entire salaries.

Children saying I don't want any presents,
please use the money to donate.

It wasn't the technology that did it,
it was what was people's hearts that did it.

We just had the technology to transfer
that emotion, to magnify that feeling,

to connect to the multiple hearts
in the best way

and as we move forward,
you guys are half my age. Lucky group.

(Laughter)

When you're my age, think about the stuff
you're going to have.

We've just started with augmented reality,
virtualization of all physical.

Think about what you can do.

Think about how if it's in you hearts,
actually, things that are absolutely outrageous,

raising a third of a million quid in 8 weeks

for some girl in a school
in the middle of nowhere, where I live.

How all of this is it possible?

Somebody in your family is ill,
something needs to be changed on the roads,

new road system,
a law needs to be changed.

We can do this now.
We have the tools.

But we need to have first what's in our hearts
and that is the end of, I must admit,

a very long story, in my heart, that I finally
feel as if I've resolved on this stage.

I'd like to thank you for your patience.

And I'd like to wish you all the best
in changing the world

in whichever way
you see fit.

Namaste!
Thank you.

(Applause)