Rick: If you had help, could you pick up a rock that is bigger than you could pick up by yourself?
Students: Yes.
Rick: So then is it true that groups of people are better for society than individuals?
Students: No.
Rick: Why not? When everything we buy comes from the work of groups of people we start to believe that groups are better than individuals. Right?
Students: Yea.
Rick: But is it true? Are groups better than individuals at creating new things?
Rick: Mankind is the only creative species in the whole planet. Nothing was ever created by two men, not in music, in art, in poetry, in mathematics, in philosophy. Once an individual performs the miracle of creation, then the group can build on it, but the group never invents anything. The miracle of creation happens in the lonely mind of a single man or a single woman.
So what is the most valuable thing in the world? Is it gold? Is it stuff? No, the most valuable thing in the world in in here. (point to their heads). Most smart people believe we have learned about 1% of what there is to learn. 99% of what mankind will know in the future is still unknown. So if you get educated and you believe what I say is true, then you can be one of the people that finds out something important in the future.
But can you do that? Do you believe in yourself?
Here is a sad fact. Most kids in Bridgeport will not go to college. Here is a sadder fact. Most kids in Fairfield will go to college. What is the difference?
I'm a biologist. I know you are the same as those kids in Fairfield. So why will they go to college and not you?
The answer is that many people you will encounter in your daily lives will tell you you can't. Kids in Fairfield are told that they can. Not your teachers. They are not the ones I speak of. The ones I speak of are some of your friends and even some of your family. They will drag your dreams down into their reality. Have you ever hear of the term: Misery loves company? It does.
But I'm here to tell you that you have a moral obligation to be the best that you can be. You owe it to your Creator. You owe it yourself. To your teachers. To your parents if they agree with individual success. You owe it to your race, you and I are here to show the world that we are as good as any other human who walks the earth. African-Americans and Latinos are as good as any in the world. We can do anything anyone else can do and at times we can do it better.
So do you know who Chappelle is?
Students: He's a comedian
Rick: Emmett W. Chappelle is a black man. He is the recipient of 14 U.S. patents and was recently recognized as one of the 100 most distinguished African American scientists and engineers of the 20th Century.
How about Benjamin Banneker. The son of former slaves, Benjamin worked on the family tobacco farm and received some early education from a Quaker school. But most of his advanced knowledge came from reading, reading and more reading. At 15 he took over the farm and invented an irrigation system to control water flow to the crops from nearby springs. As a result of Banneker's innovation, the farm flourished – even during droughts. He also created the country's first clock.
The free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And we have a room full of young individuals and some not so young that can be the next round of creation that we experience.
One of you may have an answer inside your mind that can feed the world or power our cars more effectively or invent a way to take us to Mars. We must fight to make sure all of your minds are free to take any direction.
My prayer for you is this: That you all believe in the wonder that the Creator instilled in your minds. That you recognize your gifts and abilities. That you will use that gift to make this world better.
God Bless.
Rick: If readers of this blog recognize the influence of this talk, you are very good. My thanks to John Steinbeck and the blog: http://www.black-inventor.com/Benjamin-Banneker.asp.
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