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The Impossible Network episodes

October 08, 2019 043: Say Hello To Humanity In An AI World - Pt. 2 - Caroline Chubb Calderon

Guest Overview
Futurist and humanist Caroline Chubb Calderon thinks a lot about what it will mean to be human in the age of intelligent machines. This child of the world that grew up speaking five languages and learned what it meant to be human at an early age from a mentally-ill mother and an inspirational father, gives us a glimpse into how we might just reimagine the future of humanity.

In Part-Two of this interview we explore Caroline’s perspective on how we recapture our humanity
The imperative for businesses to invest in helping people rediscover their humanity, to lead as custodians of this world and lead for humanity. The wisdom we need to develop, what it means to be human and the empathy to be able to hear other people.

We discuss her perspectives on the forces that are shaping our future, the possibilities and risks in an AI-driven world, the need for a global moral compass, and so much more...

I hope you enjoy part two of this optimistic but contemplative exploration of humanity in the age of AI technology.

What we discuss
Her focus on driving more human intelligence and intentionality
The three human competencies - imagination, insight and inspiration
For imagination - engineering moments of unstructured time with curiosity
The importance of connecting to nature to unlock creativity
For Insight - the ethical and moral reasoning and express your values
The understanding mindfulness
For Inspiration - communities of people to come together and be human together
The leadership capacities to paint a visionary future
Building trust, community and safety
Building with early movers
Why companies can not afford to invest in this
The negative economic impact of human replacement by Robots and Machines
How she is creating a path for industry leaders to follow
The lack of thought around the implications AI advances
The lack of a picture of what humanity could look like
Caroline’s perspective on the future of education
Then we do our quick fire questions

Social Links
Linkedin

Links In the Show
Center For Humane Technology
Hello Humanity
Invisible Woman Book
Between The World And Me
Tina Kelly
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
38 min
October 01, 2019 042: Reclaiming Our Humanity With Caroline Chubb Calderon
Guest Overview
Futurist and humanist Caroline Chubb Calderon thinks a lot about what it will mean to be human in the age of intelligent machines. This child of the world that grew up speaking five languages and learned what it meant to be human at an early age from a mentally-ill mother and an inspirational father, gives us a glimpse into how we might just reimagine the future of humanity.

This interview is a two-parter.

In Part-One we explore Caroline’s nomadic upbringing, the challenges of living with her schizophrenic mother, the inspirational role of her father, her focus on finding thin slices of joy, her love of curiosity, how vision and serendipity led her to working as an innovation consultant, and how the future called for her to create Hello Humanity — a company preparing humans to lead, live, work, and thrive in our AI future.

We discuss her perspectives on the forces that are shaping our future, the possibilities and risks in an AI-driven world, the need for a global moral compass, and so much more...

I hope you enjoy part one of this optimistic but contemplative exploration of humanity in the age of AI technology.

What we discuss
Her international upbringing
Living with her mother's schizophrenia and life lessons gained
How she stayed resilient reveling in thin slices of joy and how her path took her to learn meditation and now even teach it
The two questions that define her journey: "What does the future hold?" And, "How we lead for it?"
Issues facing us as we move into an AI world

Social Links
Linkedin

Links In the Show
What If
Hello Humanity
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57 min
September 26, 2019 041: Ethics, AI and Collective Happiness With John C Havens
Guest Overview
Massachusetts born, a psychiatrist father and minister mother, drove his ambition to be a priest, but evolved to be an actor, musician, author and expert on the ethics of Artificial Intelligence is this week’s guest John C Havens. oh he’s also a wicked harmonica player -
John is currently the Executive Director of The IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems (A/IS). Over the past three years, The Initiative produced Ethically Aligned Design, a free, creative commons book over 250 pages long written by 600 global experts created to ensure A/IS honors human rights and end-user values while prioritizing human wellbeing and ecological sustainability. John is the author of Heartificial Intelligence: Embracing Humanity to Maximize Machines, a frequent contributor to Mashable and The Guardian, a former EVP of a top ten PR firm, founder of a non-profit called The Happathon Project, and a former professional actor for over fifteen years. You can find John on twitter @johnchavens.
John's views are his own on the show and don't necessarily represent and formal positions of the IEEE.
In part one of this 2 parter, John and I discuss his upbringing, parental impact, the role of introspection on his journey and his early experiences acting alongside some of Hollywood’s finest.
In part two we will dive deep into the ethics of AI and Johns vision for a more sustainable future society.
I hope you enjoy Part One and insight into vision, passion, and faith of John C Havens.
What we discuss
His early years
Growing up overweight
His father’s impact
Introspection
Cathartic impact of music
His relationship with Christ
Following his parent's guidance
Worth and love
Play and acting in early development
Attending a Christian college
On recognizing truth and love
Empathy and kindness
The influence of a theatre professor
Attending Williamstown Summer theatre
His explanation of the craft of acting
Steel Pier
How he became involved in IEEE and developing AI Code of Ethics
Asimov Laws of Robotics
Follow on Social
Twitter
Links In The Show
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
56 min
September 24, 2019 040: The Vision, Passion and Faith of AI Expert John C Havens
Guest Overview
Massachusetts born, a psychiatrist father and minister mother, drove his ambition to be a priest, but evolved to being an actor, musician, author and expert on the ethics of Artificial Intelligence is this week’s guest John C Havens. oh he’s also a wicked harmonic player -

John is currently the Executive Director of The IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems (A/IS). Over the past three years The Initiative produced, Ethically Aligned Design, a free, creative commons book over 250 pages long written by 600 global experts created to ensure A/IS honors human rights and end user values while prioritizing human wellbeing and ecological sustainability. John is the author of Heartificial Intelligence: Embracing Humanity to Maximize Machines, a frequent contributor to Mashable and The Guardian, a former EVP of a top ten PR firm, founder of a non-profit called The Happathon Project, and a former professional actor for over fifteen years. You can find John on twitter @johnchavens.

John's views are his own on the show and don't necessarily represent and formal positions of the IEEE.

In part one of this 2 parter John and I discuss his upbringing, parental impact, the role of introspection on his journey and his early experiences acting alongside some of Hollywood’s finest.
In part two we will dive deep into the ethics of AI and Johns vision for a more sustainable future society.

I hope you enjoy Part One and an insight into vision, passion and faith of John C Havens.
What we discuss
His early years
Growing up overweight
His father’s impact
Introspection
Cathartic impact of music
His relationship with Christ
Following his parents guidance
Worth and love
Play and acting in early development
Attending a Christian college
On recognizing truth and love
Empathy and kindness
The influence of a theatre professor
Attending WilliamsTown Summer theatre
His explanation of the craft of acting
Steel Pier
How he became involved in IEEE and developing AI Code of Ethics
Asimov Laws of Robotics
Follow on Social
Twitter

Links In The Show
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
37 min
September 18, 2019 039: Agitating For Happiness - Elina Teboul - Part 2
Guest Overview
Russian born, New York raised, corporate lawyer, turned Facilitator, Speaker and entrepreneur with a mission to empower people and organizations to flourish through science-backed behavioral solutions - is this week's guest Elina Teboul.

Graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Economics from New York University and a J.D. from Columbia Law School, Elina became a corporate lawyer at top NY Law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell.

Elina is a powerhouse of positive energy and focus. The legal world never stood a chance and it was not long until Elina found herself Studying Psychology at Columbia University in NYC.

Realizing that powerful mindfulness techniques based on positive psychology weren’t easily accessible in most corporations, Elina started The LightUp Lab to address this gap in the market with the mission of cracking the code to happiness.

We cover a lot of ground in this interview so we have made it a two-parter.

In Part-two we get more into curiosity, creativity, education, passion, principles, and all our quick-fire questions

I hope you enjoy this enlightening insight into Elina's fitness class for the mind.

What We Discuss
Growing up in Brighton Beach to Russian Jewish Immigrant parents
The impact of her family
Being an only child
Her school years
How she entered law
Her evolution from law to philanthropy and foundation management
Returning to NYC to
Pivoting to study psychology
The Lisa Miller book SMBI
The idea behind light up lab
Mental health
Leadership
Her training methodology
Her themes
Her view on technology
Focus and flow
Goal setting

Social Links
LightUp Lab
Linkedin
Instagram

Links In The Show
Davis Polk
Brighton Beach
Allan Grey
Orbis
Columbia University
SMBI
The Book Primed to Perform
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
37 min
September 17, 2019 038: Elina Teboul - Cultivating The Happiness Habit
Guest Overview
Russian born, New York raised, corporate lawyer, turned Facilitator, Speaker and entrepreneur with a mission to empower people and organizations to flourish through science-backed behavioral solutions - is this week's guest Elina Teboul.

Graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Economics from New York University and a J.D. from Columbia Law School, Elina became a corporate lawyer at top NY Law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell.

Elina is a powerhouse of positive energy and focus. The legal world never stood a chance and it was not long until Elina found herself Studying Psychology at Columbia University in NYC.

Realizing that powerful mindfulness techniques based on positive psychology weren’t easily accessible in most corporations, Elina started The LightUp Lab to address this gap in the market with the mission of cracking the code to happiness.

We cover a lot of ground in this interview so we have made it a two-parter.

Part-one covers her upbringing in Brighton Beach, her journey to creating the LightUp Lab, the value she delivers, her methodology, goal setting principles and the tools necessary to unlock and sustain the full potential of people in business.

In Part-two we get more into curiosity, creativity, education, passion, principles, and all our quick-fire questions

I hope you enjoy this enlightening insight into Elina's fitness class for the mind.

What We Discuss

Growing up in Brighton Beach to Russian Jewish Immigrant parents
The impact of her family
Being an only child
Her school years
How she entered law
Her evolution from law to philanthropy and foundation management
Returning to NYC to
Pivoting to study psychology
The Lisa Miller book
SMBI
The idea behind LightUp Lab
Mental health
Leadership
Her training methodology
Her themes
Her view on technology
Focus and flow
Goal setting

Social Links
LightUp Lab
Linkedin
Instagram

Links In The Show
Davis Polk
Brighton Beach
Allan Grey
Orbis
Columbia University
SMBI
The Book Primed to Perform
Laurie Santos
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
1 hr 3 min
September 10, 2019 037: The Artistic Passion, Perspective and Persistence of Jose Freire
Guest Overview
Born in Spain, raised in Newark, a rebel against his catholic education,
a Punk rock band tour manager, before building his stellar career, life and reputation in the art world, is this week’s guest, internationally renowned gallerists and owner of New York’s Team Gallery, Jose Freire.

In the raw and candid interview Jose discusses the impact of his abusive upbringing. He discusses his innate curiosity, the role of shame in developing his image and desire to escape.
How his experiences on the streets of 1970’s NYC helped him develop his identity, sense of taste, his aesthetic and style.
Jose recounts his experience as a Punk Band Tour Manager, becoming a DJ and how a serendipitous late night encounter in a club called Berlin led him to begin a career in art and galleries.

From 30 min in we explore the arc of his Jose’s life as one of the world’s most renowned and respected feeder gallerists.

I hope you enjoy this raw and revealing exploration of the inspiring life journey of New York Gallerist Jose Freire.

What we discuss

His early memories
His fear for his violent and absent father
Supportive and caring mother
The lesson in shame and impact on self image and taste
Corporal punishment and abusive school environment
Seeking safety in NYC
Meeting strangers
Developing his identity on the streets of NYC
The impact of drugs
His death impulse
Visiting cinemas and the home of men he met in the theaters
How it developed his sense of taste
Power of his passions
His punk period and tour managing
How he developed his empathy for artists
How serendipity opened the door to his entry into the art world
His drug use
Getting sober
Getting his education in his 30’s
Balancing education and his gallery
Importance of passion
His London experience
Opening and building his own gallery
Moving to Soho
The market crash
Opening Team
His drive and competitive nature
His curiosity for the new
His enduring hunger
Peaking in 2014
Going forward
Shedding his past
Looking after himself
Being a feeder galley
Being an impresario
On art fairs
Power of small galleries
Living in the present
His quickfire answers
His impossible advice

Connecting
Team Gallery

Links in the show
The Talking Heads
Virgin Prunes
Dean Martin
Klaus Nomi
Clubs of the 70’s and 80’s
Roxy Music
Polly Apfelbuam
303 Gallery
Lisa Spellman
Paula Cooper
Ryan McGinley
Cory Archangel
Steve Parrino
Carol Bovy
David Zwirner Gallery
Banks Violette
Pace Gallery
Hauser and Wirth
Billy Wilder
Garret Bradley
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1 hr 23 min
September 01, 2019 036: Reflections On Time
Having heard the diverse stories from our season one guests, I've reflected on curiosity, mental health, and serendipity. However, in this final reflection, I want to focus on something that weaves through all three previous musings. Time; its value, it's scarcity and power. We recently interviewed Carmen D'Alessio, Impresario behind Studio 54 and one of our first guests in Season 2. In the interview she references a great quote on time; The past is history, the future is a mystery, today is a gift, and that's why we call it the present. The concept that time is a precious gift was possibly best expressed bythe 17th Century Preacher, Jonathan Edwards, as he laid our reasons why. - Time is precious in proportion to its importance or the degree it affects our welfare. - Time is short and limited. - We have no insight into its continuance or how long we have - And when it is past, it can not be recovered. Although serendipity has impacted the different journeys of all our guests, it's their value of time and the patterns that emerge around how they've used time that defines them. Psychologist Philip Zimbardo set out the optimal perspective on time - called the Optimal Temporal Mix that combines a positive view of the past with a life goal-orientated view of the future with a joyful view of the present. But critically it's the mental flexibility to shift between perspectives that lead to success. I witnessed this with Ryder Carroll and the focused intentionality of his Bullet Journal method, with and Andrew Santella during his interview on procrastination and in Shantell Martin through her enlightened and powerful insights into what is being human actually is, on her journey through time. So if there is one thing I'd urge all listeners to take from season one. It's to avoid squandering, undervaluing, or giving away our gift of time. As the Preacher said, once that moment is past it's never coming back. Every moment matters. All of us, regardless of age, education or experience have an innate and bountiful supply of creativity and imagination, and in every moment, with intentionality, we have an opportunity to mine it, nurture it and apply it to craft the future we desire. Whatever age you are, think about the aggregated moments of time you have on this blue planet we call Earth. Our time is precious, we can't earn more, we can't buy more, we can certainly save it, avoid wasting it but day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment we are spending it. Reflecting on our guests' impact has made me question my application of time. The past is the past, but it's made me more focused on becoming more intentional with how I spend my time in the future. It's why I am so concerned by how our time is increasingly controlled by technology that commands our attention in a manner that not only dilutes our intentionality but threatens to destroy our identities and societies. Whether we value it or not, our time has immense value, to what the center for humane technology call, the extractive attention economy, which mines our time and attention through well-designed mechanisms of mass distraction. To a greater or lesser degree, as we surrender our time without heed, to the digital addiction apps, we struggle to separate fact from fiction, fall victim to political manipulation and ideological polarization and increasingly suffer from social superficiality of shallow media that impacts the mental health of ourselves and our children. Instead of being distracted by the superficial commercial or transient content that bombards us, It is time for us to re-evaluate the preciousness of moments and the power we have to craft the future we desire. Writer and designer Nir Eyal considers the opposition of distraction to be traction, not attention. - the traction we have when we focus our time and att...
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6 min
August 22, 2019 035: Reflections on Education
The science fiction novels, comic book, and movies of the past are full of technologies from the imaginations of writers that have since been transformed to science fact and reality by someone who believed, what most considered impossible, to be possible. I’m old enough to remember the phone-like device from Star Trek that only a few years later ended up in my hands branded Startac by Motorola Inventions like these just took time, curiosity, dedication, creativity and grit. Built on the foundation of a good education. However is an education system that by in large, was created to teach the skills needed to serve the workforce needs of the past, sufficient for the fast-approaching reality of the future. That’s why we ask our guest's what they would do to change the education system to help prepare youth for their uncertain future. Think about this. Children entering education in 2020 will be young adults in 2035. It’s on us to prepare them to remain economically and socially relevant in a world of discontinuity . They inhabit an environment full of technologies that have not yet been invented, they will be be required to solve problems that have not yet been imagined, and they‌ ‌will also fill jobs that have not yet been created. The unprecedented speed and array of technological developments, that promise never before imagined opportunities for human advancement, we need to embrace the reality that change will be the only constant. Or as our guestBeth Comstock said we need to learn be comfortable with ambiguity. That is a lot easier said than done.As I have alluded in previous reflections, and interviews it’s our generation's responsibility to educate our children for this world they will inherit. What’s the answer?Yuval Noah Harari in his recent book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century cites educational experts that argue for the need to teach creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication. that we down-regulate specialist technical skills and up-regulate general-purpose life skillsThe most important being to enable children to deal with change, learn new things, preserve mental balance in the face of unfamiliar situations and be prepare them to reinvent themselves again and again. Personally, living in New York in 2019 I feel this is the world I am living in that reality today For as the pace of change changes even the meaning of being human will mutate.To prepare them to overcome adversity and navigate this world of uncertainty, we need to nurture their soft skills of curiosity, creativity, and imagination. They will need more resilience and self-regulation; respect and appreciation for the ideas of others, empathy for the perspectives and values of those unlike them and embrace failure and rejection regularly. If we are to create a world where we all thrive our children's motivation must, as the OECD states, move beyond getting a good job and a high income; and extend to caring more about the well-being of their friends and families, their communities and the planet. To equip our children with a sense of agency, purpose, knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that will enable them to navigate the discontinuity, change, and instability that will be the reality of life in 2035 and beyond, we must relearn the act of learning, reeducate the educator's, and end the production line process of education.It starts with a renewed focus on the timeless wisdom, and the question of who we really are? It’s the big question at the heart of our guest Shantell Martin’s art and insight that too few of us ever question who we really are and explore who we want to be. This is important for all of us regardless of age. However For children retaining and nurturing their Individuality, and identity is the greatest challenge they face, losing it before it is ever discovered by th...
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6 min
August 14, 2019 034: Reflections on Curiosity
Last week I watched the Netflix Doc The Great Hack. It made me consider on how our minds and decisions are increasingly being manipulated, not just with elections. I fear we are surrendering our curiosity, questioning and decision making capacity to machines that increasingly learn how understand us, affect us and direct us. This made me reflect on the imperative for curiosity. Does this seem like a non sequitur? Ok let me expand. Let’s start with Einstein. Einstein said he was not a genius just passionately curiousIn Episode 8 I interviewed Dave Birss. In Dave's - Book How to Get to Great Ideas - Dave cites divergence as a crucial skill and references Einsteins youthful disruption in class; his failure to shine and divergence from the classroom norm that resulted in the failure and rejection, that in turn enabled him to to continue pursuing his unconventional thinking and thought experiments...without which he would not have developed his theory of relativity.If curiosity is a vital ingredient to invention and discovery I’d adapt the quote we have used many times to this ‘success is not final, failure is not fatal, its having the curiosity and courage to continue that counts’ And maybe that is why in today’s world many autocratic consider curiosity to be a threat, challenging and disruptive. So this made me think more about disruption. We all strive for disruptive ideas in our industries as we to seek out competitive advantage, yet we discourage, marginalize or penalize the disruptors in our classrooms, schools, and universities, as we attempt to mould the unconventional to follow conventional thinking and suppress creativity. Ken Robinson was so right with his seminal 2006 TED talk. Why is curiosity and creativity more important than ever? Reality check: We live in a world that rewards specialization. As armies of digital specialists expand to fuel and power digital factories and output in a way that mirrors the specialisms of the Industrial Age, and the methods of Frederick Winslow Taylor’s scientific management approach, we need to face the near and present danger that AI and machine learning poses. As AI encroaches on all industries, we as individuals need to cultivate new skills and knowledge to empower our ability to evolve and develop new creative domain experience and expertise we will need to remain relevant and employable in a world where new abilities, skills and jobs, and maybe never before imagined, will emerge. Curiosity is our passport stamp to future survival. We need to reconnect with that wondrous child like curiosity where we seek to learn more and question everything, especially the status quo.As algorithms increasingly influence and determine our decisions, based on recommendations, and as bad actors strive to hack our hearts and feelings, we humans are at risk of becoming the programmable automotoms, slaves to the machines we have built.An algorithmically curated world hinders divergent thinking. We are no longer exploring if we are served up everything. Curiosity must become our innately human act of rebellion against these machine driven and dictated recommender decision engines. Curiosity and non-conformist thinking must become our ultimate, inalienable and final human right. The freedom of thought, to wonder, and discover, through serendipity. The right to question and ask why? Or Why not? To challenge the answers we are given. We need the courage to dare, to desire and delight in being different, to sek out, summon and surround ourselves with those vital sparks that start a cascade of creativity, feed our yearning for learning, and delight in divergence. So I leave you with this, I call on you all to activate, accentuate and accelerate your innate curiosity, to fuel creativity in yourself, you teams and most importan...
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5 min

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The weekly podcast tells the stories of curious-minded, purposeful people, creating positive change for social good.

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