Douglas Engelbart: "The Man Who Invented the Future"

Valerie Landau, author of the fascinating January 2018 Smithsonian article The Man Who Invented the Future, notes a poignant truth about the subject of her article, Douglas Engelbart: "The great proponent of collaboration was, ironically, unable to collaborate." She observed that when he became frustrated with someone's inability to understand his concepts he would end the conversation by declaring, "You just don't get it."

In the 1950s, Engelbart envisioned much of the technology revolution that has transformed the world. Landau quotes Alan Kay, who ran Xerox' PARC lab in the 1970s, as saying, "I don't know what Silicon Valley will do when it runs out of Doug's ideas." There may not be a risk of that happening any time soon. Engelbart, who passed away in 2013, told Landau in 2006 that only "about 2.8 percent" of what he had envisioned had been achieved.

In the spring of 1951, Engelbart was newly married and well-established at his job. He thought about what would be most meaningful for him to accomplish. Landau writes:

"It just went 'click,'" he told me later. "If in some way, you could contribute significantly to the way humans could handle complexity and urgency, that would be universally helpful." He had a vision of people sitting in front of computer monitors, using words and symbols to develop their ideas, and then collaborate. "If a computer could punch cards or print on paper," he said, "I just knew it could draw or write on a screen, so we could be interacting with the computer and actually do interactive work."

Landau describes Engelbart's vision, and how Engelbart presented that vision in 1968 to a San Francisco audience of 1000 people: "Engelbart didn't just come up with the notion of using computers to solve the urgent and multifaceted problems facing humanity. He also gave the first-ever live demonstration of networked personal computing. Today, it's known as 'the mother of all demos,' a precursor to every technology presentation that’s happened since--and arguably more ambitious than any of them."

Engelbart's attempts to fully implement his vision were thwarted in the 1970s due to lack of funding. Xerox' PARC lab, under Kay, took the lead in the computing field but focused on developing the personal computer, not the network that Engelbart proposed. Only the mouse, which Engelbart considered the simplest of his innovations, was fully developed--and Engelbart could not understand why the three button mouse that he devised was "dumbed down" to a one button mouse by Apple.

Landau asserts that Engelbart not only foresaw the technology revolution to come, but that his proposed methods are still superior to the techniques utilized today:

Because his system was designed to present the same information from different angles, it was more than a rudimentary version of the software we use today. I believe it was better equipped than Apple's or Microsoft's programs to solving problems like peace, income inequality, sustainable development and climate change. He designed it for sophisticated knowledge workers--writers, designers, data analysts, economists. Even Google's collaborative apps are less ideally suited to do serious work that integrates libraries of data, documents, graphics, text and information maps. Engelbart's system came with a learning curve, but he believed the result was worth it. When people praised other software for being more intuitive, he asked them whether they'd rather ride a tricycle or a bicycle.

Engelbart's story demonstrates the frustrations inherent in being so far ahead of your time that the rest of the world simply "doesn't get it." Maybe in 50 years the world will catch up to Engelbart--but who is today's Engelbart, and what great ideas are now being relegated to languishing in the shadows of the mind of a lone visionary?

Inspirational Wisdom from Noah benShea's "Jacob the Baker"

Noah benShea wrote Jacob the Baker 30 years ago. This slim volume of just 113 pages tells the story of a fictional humble baker who, during his spare time at the bakery, jots down his thoughts and observations about life. One of those scraps of paper is accidentally baked into a loaf of bread, after which customers implore Jacob to regularly include his thoughts with the baked goods.

Here is one of Jacob's aphorisms about anger: "When our hand is closed in a fist, we cannot hold anything but our bitterness. When we do this, we starve our stomachs and our souls. Our anger brings a famine on ourselves."

The corrosive effects of anger are discussed in the wisdom literature in many cultures, and this is no doubt because anger is an emotion that many people struggle to control. Understanding that anger is self-destructive is a first step toward controlling anger, but even after that first step is taken there is still a long road to follow to calm anger, or at least redirect those negative energies in a positive fashion.

A customer asked Jacob how he found the strength to carry on when life is difficult. Jacob replied, "Each of us is alone. Each of us is in the great darkness of our ignorance. And, each of us is on a journey. In the process of our journey, we must bend to build a fire for light, and warmth, and food. But when our fingers tear at the ground, hoping to find the coals of another's fire, what we often find are the ashes. And, in these ashes, which will not give us light or warmth, there may be sadness, but there is also testimony. Because these ashes tell us that somebody else has been in the night, somebody else has bent to build a fire, and somebody else has carried on. And that can be enough, sometimes."

The capacity of the human spirit to not just endure challenges but to triumph over seemingly insurmountable obstacles should be a powerful inspiration to everyone.

Insights from "The Way of the Owl"

Frank Rivers earned black belts in multiple martial arts disciplines in addition to being a rock climber and a freelance writer. His 1996 book The Way of the Owl examines, as the book's subtitle puts it, "Succeeding with integrity in a conflicted world."

Rivers' focus in the book is the contrast between the fledgling and the owl. He describes the fledgling as an "awkward creature, his life is marked by anxiety, resistance, and struggle." The fledgling takes a rigid, dualistic view of how to approach life, and reacts to every challenge with either the passivity of a dove or the aggressiveness of a hawk; vacillating wildly between these diametrically opposing approaches, the fledgling rarely finds peace or success. In contrast, the owl "is a master of flight and adaptation." Rivers writes that the human owl "takes the middle path between hawk and dove."

The Way of the Owl is packed with concise bits of insight that reward careful thought, attention, and practice. Here are a few, along with my comments (in italics):

• "Conflict is woven into the fabric of life; opposition is normal...Do not be surprised when you encounter resistance. Meet it with grace and skill."Those who do not understand this truth subject themselves to needless suffering. Any positive, creative endeavor will inevitably be met with criticism, and it is impossible to improve the world without first disrupting the established order. 
• "The basic rule is simple: The wider the comfort zone, the greater the chances of survival."Adaptability is critically important. Adapt or perish! 
• "Whatever an opponent does, no matter how immoral, unjust, or illegal, is the artist’s medium. This is the material we have to work with." A sense of righteous indignation must be channeled into effective, positive action, and away from angry and/or frustrated rumination. 
• "Give up your resistance to resistance. Engage the enemy as you find him, not as you wish him to be. Once you embody this principle, you will realize an instant and dramatic improvement in your performance. When you abandon the inertia of analysis and judgment, you will no longer be stuck. You will remain fluid, active, and alert." Our adversaries are not obligated to fight fairly, or conduct themselves the way that we think they should conduct themselves. It is important to never lose focus on how to overcome whatever obstacles that our adversaries place in front of us. 
• "Never assume that victory will be easy or that you are totally safe. Never assume that your position is secure. There is always someone who is bigger, stronger, faster, smarter, or luckier. By paying respect, you keep your mind open and alert." Grandmaster Arthur Bisguier, a former U.S. chess champion, once looked at a risky move that I had played and he exclaimed, "Where is your sense of danger?" In life, as in chess, you must remain 100% focused on the task at hand, and never underestimate your opponent's resources/resourcefulness. If your position looks good, take great care to make it even better while restricting your opponent's options. In chess, your opponent is a threat until he resigns or until you checkmate him, and that principle applies to many other life situations as well.
•  "Treat difficult things as if they were easy and easy things as if they were difficult." Do not be afraid to tackle a daunting challenge, but also do not lose your focus when undertaking a task that seems simple and easy. One hallmark of a champion's greatness is the ability to maintain focus both in the face of extreme adversity and also when performing a routine task.