What if Everything You Know is Wrong: Bob McDonald at TEDxVictoria 2013

hours a day, 7 days a week. Pick it up there, broadcast it to the ground in a microwave. Do you

know

that one of those satellites, and this has been designed and thought through, one of those satellites could power all of Victoria, Vancouver, and Seattle? A satellite could do that. But we are not doing it. We are too busy freaking out about the fact that we can make a lot of money in the short term by burning things we dig out of the ground. So this is just technology, it's

know

ledge. In terms of our own numbers, that's a little bit more difficult because it's not just a scientific problem, it's a political and social problem.

But we can start with that perhaps by giving women equal rights all over the world. That might help. So there are many things we can do. (Applause) But -- along the way, along the way, as we find the answers to these questions, we have to keep the big picture. We have to take into account those 6 million years. We have to keep in mind the idea of ​​a single planet. If we don't, if all we think about is ourselves, if all we think about is the economy, if all we think about is our own country, our own family, we are narrow-minded and, in fact, we are as narrow-minded as we were when we were just looking around on the ground.

We have to be open minded. What it means to keep science alive, to have a scientifically literate society. We don't have to become scientists, but rather know science, and know that

what

we don't know outweighs

what

we do know, so that we can make intelligent and wise decisions. We can do this, and we need to do this because... this is it. That's all. Well? That's all! There are probably plenty of other nice planets that we're going to find, but they're going to be far away and out of reach. We can't even go to the moon, for God's sake. (Laughter) This is it.

So let's tackle this one first, before we start thinking we can go elsewhere. We can do that, but we still have a long way to go. You know, we can't even predict the weather beyond a week. We don't know when the next hurricane, typhoon or cyclone will hit. We do not know when the next volcano or earthquake will occur. We still have a lot to learn. But we are smart; I think we can do it. See you in 6 million years! Thank you so much! (Applause) (Cheers)